HOBART — A vision for an industrial airport in North Texas grew into a logistics hub that has brought more than $130 billion worth of investment to the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, an example of regional economic development the Calumet Region could learn from.

Northwest Indiana similarly needs to dream big, capitalize on the momentum of recent years and pursue an ambitious economic development vision, leaders said at the One Region Block Party Luncheon at Avalon Manor in Hobart Wednesday.

"It's not enough to simply admire what others have built. We have to show up and build our own future," One Region President and CEO Matt Wells said. "The market is shifting. Capital, talents and opportunity are moving faster than ever before. The places that will thrive understand where that momentum is headed, drive in that direction and move with it. That means making our Region more attractive to that next generation."

Businesspeople from across Northwest Indiana gathered at the banquet hall to hear from the exclusive membership organization of influential leaders that works to foster economic growth and drive positive change in Northwest Indiana. One Region cited the slew of recent economic development projects that have come to the Calumet Region and called for more regional collaboration to move Northwest Indiana forward.

"When bold projects emerge, whether it's a new mixed-use development, a quantum commercialization center, a transit expansion or any other kind of catalytic project, don't stay on the sidelines," Wells said. "Use your voice. Show up. Write the editorial. Attend the public hearing. Talk to your network. The future of our Region will be decided by those who show up for it. If the business community can collectively drive that economic development vision, it will help create that snowball effect we've seen in places like Alliance Texas. I believe we can get that right in Northwest Indiana. We can be a region that acts with courage, that grows with intention and chooses to lead on a national, even global stage."

One Region brought in Hillwood Urban President Mike Berry as a keynote speaker. Berry helped develop the 27,000-acre Alliance Texas master-planned development, a logistics hub home to more than 500 companies, including many Fortune 500 corporations.

He shared insights on how to pursue ambitious and visionary economic development plans.

"First of all, regional enthusiasm is pretty important," Berry said. "Vision, commitment to a vision, infrastructure and human infrastructure are critical to making successful economic development programs."

Ross Perot Jr. helped create the initial industrial airport to grow and attract new industries to Texas after the recession in the late 1980s. The savings and loan, real estate and gas businesses had all crashed.

"We were in a position where we were looking to jump-start our economy and rebuild," Perot said.

He acquired thousands of acres of open prairie miles from downtown Dallas and Fort Worth. The idea was to build an airport that would neither be commercial nor generation aviation but would handle the needs of large manufacturers in the region, such as in the aerospace industry.

It pursued a public-private partnership with the city of Fort Worth, which annexed and extended utilities to the city. The airport was built in the then-record 18 months. It's now home to major users like FedEx, Amazon and Meta, which operates its largest data center there.

Companies like a rare earth mining firm now occupy millions of square feet there.

"A very diverse array of industry users have come together," Perot said. "It all started because of the infrastructure."

Alliance sought to improve highway connections to Dallas, Fort Worth and the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. It developed an intermodal facility that unloaded containers from railcars, including many that brought goods from Asia through the ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach. It effectively serves as a global inland seaport.

"We changed our original vision of an industrial airport to a broader vision of a global inland port," Perot said. "It helped open (the) door for us to go after different industries that we had not envisioned in the early days. Commitment to the plan is important but also flexibility. We wouldn't have been able to bob and weave and adapt and go after different industries if we had just done everything around the idea of an airport."

 


One Region Board Chairman and Times of Northwest Indiana President Thomas Schager said economic growth helps drive quality of life in Northwest Indiana.

"This time next year, One Region will be reflecting on 20 years in the Region," Schager said. "In 2006, this organization was originally called the Quality of Life Council before changing to One Region in 2015... Fast forward to the fall of 2023. One Region started to fortify our strategic vision. We attracted a lot more leaders to come into the organization, both public and private sector. Now we're embarking on a broader strategic vision for the Region. It's cohesive. It's bonding. We're hopeful it's going to be handed down through generations."
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