How it works in Noblesville and Greenfield
Kevin Kelly, Noblesville's director of economic development, said his office has existed in the city government for the past five years.
As Noblesville grew larger and larger, he said the new department was a natural progression from the city's planning department. But even after the department was developed, Kelly said the city still contributes a significant amount of money to the Hamilton County Alliance, the county economic development group.
Noblesville works closely with the county effort as well as the Indy Partnership, a regional group, and the local chamber of commerce.
"Those relationships are very important," he said. "Any community, whether it's a standalone or a county organization, they need to maintain those positive relationships because they're all working for the same goal."
Last year the City of Greenfield also decided to follow Noblesville's example. But like New Castle, it also stopped financially supporting the countywide effort.
Mayor Brad DeReamer said he's currently running economic development through the his office. He decided to leave the county group because it would only pursue industrial companies. Retail and commercial development wasn't an option.
"I feel as the mayor, you need to sell all three of them," he said.
The decision wasn't a sudden one. DeReamer said he'd talked about making a change for six months before formally announcing it. He also asked the county to consider changing its model.
Bethany Tabb, Courier-Times Staff Writer
When it comes to economic development, most state directors seem to prefer a countywide approach.
The majority of Indiana counties follow a model similar to the New Castle-Henry County Economic Development Corp.
The City of New Castle isn't alone in handling its own economic development, but it doesn't have much company. And some cities with similar efforts, including Noblesville, continue to fund their county's groups.
Until last year, the City of New Castle and Henry County both funded the EDC. In December 2008, Mayor Jim Small announced the city would pull the $75,000 it put toward the EDC and fund its own Economic Development Directorate.
After the announcement, Small said other cities had similar models and pointed to Noblesville as an example. But the city economic development model isn't very common, said Mitch Frazier, director of media relations for the Indiana Economic Development Corp.
His research concluded that most economic development organizations in the state are countywide groups.
Why county efforts?
In Wayne County, Bob Hansen has seen economic development run both ways. He can remember when there were several different groups all working toward economic development.
Today he's the manager of business retention and expansion for the Economic Development Corp. of Wayne County. The results from a combined effort are much better, he said.
"People interested in site selection are not interested in having to deal with several different people in a particular county," he said. "They want a smooth process, and they basically want one point of contact."
Each community in its countywide effort contributes funds to the group. The City of Richmond alone provides more than half of the EDC's budget, Hansen said.
So far the model has brought Wayne County success. Its two industrial parks have seen significant development, including the new organic food production and distribution center, Really Cool Foods.
"Going with a countywide or regional model is really the way that it seems like most economic development is going," Hansen said.
The model also works well for Huntington County. EDC Executive Director Mark Wickersham said he worked for the IEDC before coming to Huntington eight months ago.
He's seen success with a variety of formats, but in Huntington, having the city and county in one organization works well. Its EDC is also supported by the City of Huntington, which has a population similar to that of New Castle.
From conversations with business consultants, Wickersham said he's been told economic development should be approached as a team.
"It works best when everybody's headed in the same direction in agreement," he said. "That isn't always easily done, quite frankly."
Roy Budd has seen a variety of efforts succeed in his position as executive director of Energize-ECI, a regional economic development group that claims Henry County as a member.
New Castle's city organization could be effective, he said, though there is no other county in his region currently using that model.
In Budd's opinion, he likes to see more collaboration between cities and counties. His preference is for countywide economic development, he said, but city models can work too.
"The more collaboration, the more partnership, the better and more effective the economic development program will be," he said, "and the more success we'll see."
Regional approach to economic development has no boundaries
At the Indiana Economic Development Corp., Mitch Frazier, director of media relations, said the team approach should even go a step further. Communities should instead take a regional approach to economic development.
Geographical boundaries don't matter to companies looking for new locations, he said. And communities still draw benefits from new developments in surrounding areas.
"We really see that as the way ahead," he said. "It really is the future of economic development. It is no longer about cities and counties."
Several regional groups are already operating throughout the state, Frazier said. One of those is Energize East Central Indiana, whose members include Henry and Wayne counties.
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