News
Vision for area's future sought
3/13/2010
Author: Bob Braley
Published by: News Sun
Noble County leaders had the opportunity to help give the county and nine others in northeast Indiana definition Friday in hopes of attracting economic growth over the next 10 years.
"Vision 2020 is going to help us define ourselves as a region," said Mark Becker of the Northeast Indiana Foundation. "Each county has an important role to play.
The stop in the Cole Rooms of the Noble County Public Library - Central in Albion Friday was the last of 10 stops the Vision 2020 group made in four days, according to Gianni Longo, the main facilitator for the event. Each county in the 10 county region - Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley - had a similar session.
"Vision 2020 isn't just about the strategies that are created," said Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership president and CEO John Sampson. "It is about tapping into the enormous potential of the diverse leadership and assets of this region to take responsibility for achieving sustained progress in our regional economy. It is about building a strong base of support and engagement that is essential for long-term success."
The idea is to give the region an identity that will shape the vitality of the regional economy, according to a press release. The coordinating group for Vision 2020 has 27 members with representatives from all over the area, including Kendallville Mayor Suzanne Handshoe and Dekko Foundation president Tom Leedy.
The region is trying to reverse a trend that has been in place most years since 1972, when the area's people had 99 percent of the average per capita income of the nation, Becker said. It fell for awhile, then went up briefly in the mid-1990s, but has fallen every year since 1995.
In 2009, regional residents were earning only 80.5 percent of the national per capita income, Becker said. "Actually, we're below 80 percent right now. . Everyone agrees, enough's enough."
The key is to have a regional identity that can be marketed, Becker said. "We're going to have a lot more success if we're together in this than if we're just going out on our own."
The regions that have turned their business climates around have had strong leadership, vision, planning, a sense that they're all in it together and have taken advantage of the place they are located, Becker said. "You need to have a sense of where you're going."
It is also important to explore the ideas some consider outrageous, Becker said.
Longo agreed. He quoted Albert Einstein, saying, "The problems that we have created cannot be solved with the same thinking that created them."
He also quoted a participant in an earlier session who said, "We need to change the story we tell about ourselves."
Longo had people hold discussions around five topics that he said are pillars of making a vision for the region work - a competitive business climate, 21st Century talent, quality of life, infrastructure and entrepreneurship. There is a lot of natural overlap among the areas, he said.
Among the ideas presented from the small groups Friday were:
. A more educated population would draw businesses to the area.
. Specific training might lend to specialization, such as has happened around medical instruments in the Warsaw area.
. Excellent teachers might be able to be shared among schools using modern technology.
. Access to broadband and other communications technologies is important to attracting and keeping businesses and people in today's economy and culture.
. Noble County is a good place for people to raise families and for "empty nesters."
. Noble County has a wealth of natural resources and is also close to several major cities.
. Noble County has a rich "soil" for entrepreneurship, with its proximity to export markets, talent and suppliers and its caring and helpful people.
. High-speed rail would be a big plus for the area.
. The county could develop a plan to be elder-friendly, taking advantage of many aspects of what it has to offer, both for active senior citizens and those in need of medical care.
All the ideas will be brought together for a series of five regionwide "pillar discussions" to take place in April and May, Longo said.
The results of those sessions will be used to prepare a Vision Economic Summit June 23 at 6 p.m. at the Grand Wayne Center in Fort Wayne, Becker said. Using keypad technology to allow the meeting to extend beyond those in attendance, the team will seek to measure the breadth and depth of support for the proposed vision that same evening.
Funding for Vision 2020 is being provided by the Northeast Indiana Corporate Council, the Northeast Indiana Foundation, the Olive B. Cole Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne, the English Bonter Mitchell Foundation, the Robert Goldstine Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Lincoln Financial Foundation.
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