Congressman Mrvan tours Gary businesses
‘I’m very proud to be here and to listen’
Traveling in a white camper-style van, U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan and area officials visited three business locations Thursday to see how business leaders are working to redevelop the city.
Before the tour started, Mrvan, D-Highland, told about a dozen people from the Gary Chamber of Commerce, the chamber’s economic and business development committee, city officials and other community members that he wants “to stay connected to the City of Gary.”
“I believe in it’s assets,” Mrvan said, naming Indiana University Northwest and the Gary-Chicago International Airport, as two examples.
Mrvan said the double tracking of the South Shore Line — which he credited former U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky for initiating — will expand business opportunity and encourage young people to come to Gary for school and work.
“We are on the cusp of greatness,” Mrvan said.
While in Congress, Mrvan said he voted in favor of the American Rescue Plan, which allocated funding for Gary and all American cities.
“As we tour, we’re not only seeing the businesses that exist but seeing where we can redevelop,” Mrvan said. “I’m very proud to be here and to listen.”
The first stop of the tour was at Smart Dog Technology, a shipping, packing, products and services company that supports small business. The owner, Milton Thaxton Jr., told Mrvan about how he started the company two years ago, and hopes to expand to the city’s Miller section.
Smart Dog Technology partners with area businesses for their shipping and logistic needs, Thaxton said, and partners with UPS, FedEx, Amazon and DHL to ensure packages are shipped.
Thaxton then showed Mrvan around the business, including the company’s 3D printer and laser engraver. Thaxton said he’s used the 3D printer to print a model of a building a company was proposing to build in the area.
Mrvan thanked Thaxton for his interest in Gary and for “believing in the city,” because logistics keeps Gary connected to other parts of the world.
“The City of Gary could use that type of service,” Mrvan said.
Thaxton said he was “honored” to be a stop on the business tour because he was able to show Mrvan the benefit of redeveloping and connecting Gary.
“Seeing him here today, it’s an energizing feel to see him and everyone to show this labor of love,” Thaxton said. “It’s about collaboration. Without community, you don’t have unity.”
Next, Mrvan visited the Gary East Side Community Development Corp., a nonprofit organization aimed at addressing the workforce and housing needs in Gary.
Dr. Marlon Mitchell, president of GESCDC, told Mrvan the organization focuses on addressing social, economic, cultural and education needs for area residents, which focuses on workforce housing and job training.
Mitchell said the organization is working toward becoming a Community Development Finance Institution, which would allow it to fund projects throughout Gary.
Becoming a finance institution, Mrvan said, would help the organization reinvest in the city. Mrvan said he supports the organization’s workforce housing and job training programs, because that is what the American Rescue Plan directly funded.
“You’re preparing the skills needed to do what the American Rescue Plan invested in,” Mrvan said.
Mrvan then toured a home to see how people who come to the organization in need of emergency housing are supported. The house had a spacious living room with sofa seats, rug and TV on the wall, a bedroom and a computer lab area for people to use to apply for jobs, Mitchell said.
“When they get in, they feel a sense of pride,” Mitchell said. “The whole thing is for people to maintain their dignity.”
Mrvan and the group then toured a nearby building to the home that had a conference room where individuals can meet with social workers to set goals, two classrooms, a day care room, a medical clinic and a barber shop.
The third stop on the tour was at the Old Salvation Army Building on 11th Avenue, where GESCDC will convert the 74,000-squarefoot building into a space that offers recovery and mental health services, job training services and education.
The main tower of the building will house about 40 women who need stable housing, and the old storefront space will be a child care and adult education center, Mitchell said.
The space has two industrial kitchens and Mitchell said the hope is to rent out the cafeteria space for community members to hold gatherings.
Mitchell said the GESCDC was able to expand its business through grants, so federal funding would benefit the center.
“The more money that we bring in the more community we bring in,” Mitchell said.
When he returns to Washington, Mrvan said he will draw on what he learned on the tour as appropriations and funding become available for grants.
Mrvan said his takeaway from the tour was “the greatness of Gary.”
“The people reinvesting their time, their energy and their resources with new businesses,” Mrvan said. “(Smart Dog Technology) helps other small businesses relocate here. With (GESCDC), that’s near and dear to my heart, helping the most vulnerable populations.”