SOUTH BEND -- Already recognized as Michiana, a collection of seven counties from Michigan and Indiana are continuing efforts to promote themselves as a region.
The goal of the regionalization is to spur economic development in the three Michigan counties of Berrien, Cass and St. Joseph and the four Indiana counties of Elkhart, Kosciusko, Marshall and St. Joseph.
Plans for part of that project were outlined during Project Future's annual meeting Tuesday. Namely, Project Future, the economic development organization for South Bend, Mishawaka and St. Joseph County, is working with the seven counties to raise $250,000 to move the enterprise forward.
The funds will be used to establish a Michiana Region Economic Development office, said Don Kopis, spokesman for Project Future. By the end of 2008, a researcher will be hired and a Michiana brand created that can be incorporated into various advertising the individual counties do.
The seven counties were identified as a region based on commuting patterns, said Dorinda Heiden, president of the Economic Development Corp. of Elkhart County. Residents in the area are traveling regularly across the region for such things as jobs.
Consequently, Heiden explained, the counties are joining together and pooling resources to bring more jobs and different industries to the region.
"To the outside world, this is a region," said David Switzer, trustee of Project Future and chairman of the Economic Development Corp. of Elkhart County.
Along with establishing a budget, Project Future is coordinating a wage and benefits survey covering all seven counties. An expanded version of the survey done annually for St. Joseph County, Ind., the regional survey is expected to be published in June, Kopis said.
In addition, Project Future is joining the Northwest Indiana Forum, a privately funded regional economic development corporation serving Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties, to study the economic impact of a proposed intermodal transportation hub in LaPorte County.