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NineStar Connect, a smart utility operating in east central Indiana, became the first rural co-op in the United States to offer four utilities under one umbrella organization: electricity, fiber optic communications, water and sewer services. The utility recently received its certificate of territorial authority (CTA) from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC), which licenses it to provide water and sewer services. NineStar Connect anticipates having its first customers at the end of September when it closes on its purchase of Sugar Creek Utilities at Riley Village in Hancock County and Greenfield Central wastewater plants in Maxwell and Eden. According to NineStar Connect President and CEO Michael R. Burrow, the expansion into wet utilities is in keeping with the utility''s mission to provide the infrastructure needed to empower thoughtful economic development and improve quality of place in rural Indiana. Two-thirds of the land in Hancock County currently is unserved by any water or sewer utility, and the lack of access to wet utility infrastructure is a hindrance to residential and commercial economic development, said Burrow. Traditionally, developers don''t want to improve land that is served by private well and septic system. NineStar is taking a Come and we will build it approach to water and sewer, building capability as it''s needed. NineStar''s ability to add wet utilities on demand opens up thousands of acres that now can be considered for development in Hancock County, said Nolan Skip Kuker, executive director of Hancock County Economic Development Council. The availability of wet utilities from NineStar Connect already has positively impacted economic development in Hancock County. County Materials Corporation, a manufacturer and distributor of high quality concrete and related construction products, recently made the decision to upgrade its existing Maxwell facility in Hancock County with the construction of a manufacturing plant, which will employ approximately 80 full time people during peak season. The availability of wet utilities from NineStar Connect was seen as a key positive for the company as they evaluated the construction of the new facility. More information on NineStar Connect''s planned wet utilities is available at https://www.ninestarconnect.com/wet-utilities. |
