"Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision is a waste of time. Vision with action can change the world." This is a quote from Joel Barker that I heard a number of years ago. It is now written on the wall of the Noble County Economic Development Corp. boardroom. The last line of this quote exemplifies the strategic planning process of the Noble County EDC.

One of the first actions completed by the Noble County EDC in early 2006 was a strategic plan, which was reviewed and updated in 2007. The actions of the Noble County EDC the last two years have been guided by the 2007 strategic plan. We believe these initiatives have positioned us well for the future.

The strategic plan focused on three main categories: marketing, site inventory and work-force development. Each of these are important individually, but a coordinated effort developed with a equal focus on all areas will create a great deal of synergy.

We have devoted a great deal of time to strengthening our relationships with existing industries and cultivating new relationships with site selectors. These efforts have paid off, as Noble County EDC has helped secure more than $1 million in work-force training grants for existing industries and secure state incentives in excess of $3.2 million. Noble County was recognized for our accomplishments in 2008, as we were: 10th in new jobs created per capita since 2005; and third in total number of deals per capita. Noble County was recognized by Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman as the No. 1 county per-capita in job creation in 2008.

We have recently completed Phase II of our Web site and our first-ever marketing plan, both of which align with the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership's efforts. We have also implemented other initiatives in cooperation with the Regional Partnership such as Executive Pulse, the regional site certification program and the benchmarking study.

Executive Pulse is a retention and expansion program that assists economic-development officials in the management of relationships with existing industries. Business retention is not about gathering data, it is about building long-term relationships that allow the economic-development team to understand the industries' needs and offer customized and creative solutions to meet those needs.

The economic team may include representatives from local and state government, work-force development organizations, utilities and other service providers. The composition of the team will change over time in response to the changing needs of the business. The Noble County EDC has worked hard to build a strong team environment and believes the implementation of this program will benefit the industries of Noble County for years to come.

The regional site certification program was developed in cooperation with a nationally recognized site-selection firm. Noble County is hopeful of getting a site in Albion certified through this process, and we currently have a 117-acre site in Ligonier certified "shovel ready" by the state. We believe this program will better position not only Noble County, but the region as a whole.

Benchmarking is the process of continually searching for the best methods, practices and processes and either adopting or adapting their beneficial features and implementing them to become the best of the best. While this may be a bit intimidating, the Noble County EDC believes this process will not only point out areas that need to be improved, but also affirm the things we are doing right. Careful assessment of the findings and the development of an improvement strategy may give us a competitive edge in the future.

As we realistically evaluate our current position, we are challenged by the high unemployment rate, as 11 percent of our work force was employed in recreational-vehicle-related manufacturing, and 13 percent were employed in transportation-related manufacturing.

There is still a great deal of uncertainty in the auto market, but we must look toward the future with a great deal of optimism. Noble County possesses an entrepreneurial spirit that can be matched by very few communities, a work force that is well-trained and devoted and skill sets that can be easily adapted to other industries such as orthopedic, wind energy, solar energy or any other manufacturing environment.

Examples of the entrepreneurial spirit of Noble County can be seen by looking at industries such as Structural Composites of Indiana, which recently began production of rail-car covers for the coal industry, or Busche's diversification into the manufacturing of refrigeration housings that will be used for reach-in coolers and dental applications. To be successful in the future, we will need to work to diversify our employment base, as opportunities may be right around the corner..

The leadership of the Noble County EDC soon will be revisiting our strategic plan, the outcome of which will not only include a vision for the future, but action plans to make that vision a reality, because we believe "vision with action can change the world."

RICK SHERCK is executive director of the Noble County Economic Development Corp.