Quality-of-life

Community Development & Wiener Dogs

 
We just came back from a trip to Cincinnati where we met with Mary Stagaman, the Executive Director of Agenda 360. We were there to attend the Story Project Workshop, a project focused on developing a strong master narrative for the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region. It is a really cool project, you should check it out.
 
Back to the wiener dogs. One of my favorite stories from the trip was told by one of the facilitators for the workshop. She was talking about the Oktoberfest Zinzinnati hosted by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, and the annual Running of the Wieners that takes place during the festival. When the staff made a strategic decision to purchase canine hot dog costumes to be worn by the competing dogs, the President of the Chamber said, “When I took this job, I never thought my duties would include approving invoices for wiener hot dog costumes.” A hilarious comment, but also an interesting one.
 
What sorts of crazy ideas can we come up with that can help enrich our community, impact the local economy, bring people together and are just freakin’ fun and funny?!? If you think that I may be a little too out there on this, consider the following information: A study by the University of Cincinnati Economics Center for Education & Research estimated that the major summer festivals in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region create an annual economic impact of more than $180 million a year.
 
If you haven’t bought in yet to the power of the wiener dog in community development, check out the following video and see for yourself: There Is Nothing Like Wiener Dog Races!
 
[Disclaimer: My brother and sister-in-law own three hilarious Dachshunds, so I may be biased.]
 
Katy
 

Country Star Shoots Video in Wabash

 
Former Trick Pony bassist, Ira Dean, has kicked off his solo career with a single titled “Somethin’ About A Sunday” for which he filmed the music video in Wabash, Indiana. Now the video is premiering at the Eagles Theatre in Wabash where portions of the video were shot.
 
What’s even more notable is that Dean didn’t shoot the video here by chance. Every year Dean visits Wabash and plays for several different schools and classes for the Honeywell Foundation. It was these visits that inspired the location for the “Somethin’ About A Sunday” music video. “It’s just a really cool town,” Dean said in a recent Country Weekly article, “I always said that if I ever got the chance to do a video, I wanted to film it there.”
 
About a year ago, the Economic Development Group of Wabash County (EDG) and the Honeywell Center contributed to some of the production expenses that allowed the video to be made in Wabash. “It has now been released and we think it has great promotional value, especially considering our efforts to transform Wabash into an Arts and Entertainment Center,” said Bill Konyha, President & CEO of the EDG of Wabash County.
 
Ira Dean & Friends will be performing Live at the Eagles Theatre for the premier of the “Somethin’ About A Sunday” video on March 27th at 7p.m. Dean will be joined by musical guests Brooke Burrows, Chad Warrix, James Otto, and Keith Anderson. Wabash will also welcome Storme Warren as he films a segment about the music video for Great American Country TV. Tickets are $20 General Admission and advance tickets are available only through the Honeywell Center Box Office. (260-563-1102 or tickets@honeywellcenter.org)
 

Stellar Communities – Congratulations Auburn!

 
The Stellar Communities Program is a multi-agency partnership designed to fund comprehensive community development projects in Indiana’s smaller communities. The Stellar Communities program embodies collaborative government partnerships and successfully leverages state and federal funding from multiple agencies to undertake large-scale projects. Through this program, Indiana is doing more with its current resources and making a bigger impact in communities, even on a slimmer budget.
 
This year’s contest consisted of seven finalists and Auburn, Indiana was one of them! Auburn is located in DeKalb County and has a little more than 13,000 residents. Each finalist receives $10,000 to prepare an in-depth Strategic Investment Plan proposal, and will also participate in a site visit with the state selection team. Root for Auburn in May as two finalists will be named the 2012 Stellar Communities!
 
For more information on Auburn’s Strategic Investment Plan proposal read Indiana Economic Digest: Auburn Among Seven Finalists for ‘Stellar Communities’ Grants.
 

What’s Happening Downtown?

 
How much time do you spend in your downtown? Do you work downtown? Do you go to festivals, markets, or walk the sidewalks and enjoy the parks downtown? A vibrant downtown can make all the difference in both the economic development and quality of life of a town; at least that’s how Tennessee feels, along with several other states. In the 1980’s, the National Trust for Historic Preservation created the National Trust Main Street Center and the top priority: develop downtowns.
 
The National Trust Main Street Center encourages public-private organizations to work together to make their downtown more vibrant. They created the Main Street Four-Point Approach which guides communities in developing strong, broad-based local organizations and creating a road map for implementation and management of the revitalization process. The four elements that make up the Four-Point Approach are organization, promotion, design, and economic restructuring.
 
The communities that have engaged in being a part of this program have seen many benefits. The benefits of Revitalization are clear as it helps protect the existing tax base, attracts industrial development, provides stability and a point of focus, and also gives the community a sense of pride and positive self-image. What more could you ask for!
 
Check out Tennessee’s Main Street Program. It’s pretty inspiring!
 
Until next time,
Erica
 

Importance of Early Childhood Programs

 
How many of you knew that Northeast Indiana has a cluster of nationally accredited early childhood programs both in family child care and center-based care AND are known around the state for our high-quality early childhood programs? Quite frankly, I didn’t know it either and as Katy and I talked with directors from area early childhood programs who are a part of the Early Childhood Alliance, we learned just that.  We met with these directors in January to talk about Vision 2020, 21st Century Talent and their role in helping to transform our workforce and our economy. Early Childhood programs are vital for our region and are the critical first step for building a workforce that can measure up and surpass other regions/counties workforces. If a young child doesn’t gain the fundamentals at an early age they spend the rest of their life catching up and struggling to gain the skills to be successful in the workforce.
 
At the same time, the ECA directors also taught us just how important it is to have a passion for what you do. They inspired us and showed us how they are already helping to change the story of Northeast Indiana.
 
As we move forward with Vision 2020, groups like the Early Childhood Program directors will play a critical role in transforming the region. We need them at the table; we need their passion and leadership. We need their stories and we are grateful for the time they shared with us.
 

“If you’re going to equalize the academic playing field,
you’ve got to get the kids in early childhood programs.” – Paul Vallas

 
Until next time,
Erica

In the picture above: We asked everyone to write an inspirational story or a game changing tactic down on a sticky note.

Priorities Revealed at Annual Meeting

 
A press conference was held yesterday afternoon at the IPFW Alumni Center by the Regional Opportunities Council to reveal the top priorities established for Northeast Indiana to achieve by the year 2020. Media and the general public waited anxiously to hear the long-awaited announcement.
 
Under the leadership of the Regional Opportunities Council, the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership has spent months garnering feedback from citizens across the 10-county region, establishing buy in from regional leadership and benchmarking successful regions across the country. As a result of feedback from the many partners and stakeholders working on Vision 2020, a final slate of priorities, which align with the five pillars, and a regional mission and vision were unveiled.
 
Throughout the Vision 2020 process, we have found that talent is the underlying current that ties the pillars of Vision 2020 together. Without a focus on developing, attracting and retaining talent, none of the five pillars will be successful. As a result, the Regional Opportunities Council voted at their October meeting to officially adopt a regional mission around talent: The mission of Northeast Indiana is to develop, attract and retain talent.
 
With multiple organizations, businesses and individuals moving Vision 2020 forward, maintaining alignment is critical for long-term sustainability. To affirm alignment with the mission, the Regional Opportunities Council also adopted an overarching vision for Northeast Indiana. The vision is for Northeast Indiana to become a top global competitor, exceeding the expectations of businesses and residents.
 
“A unified mission and vision for Northeast Indiana ensures that as we develop strategies within each pillar, we are doing so with focus, continuing to align with our core purpose for years to come. This is not about one organization aligning with these goals; it’s about all of us–education, business and civic leaders alike–agreeing that to be successful, we need to realize the power of speaking with one voice,” said Dr. Jerrilee Mosier, Chancellor of Ivy Tech Northeast and member of the Regional Opportunities Council. She discussed the importance of developing, attracting, and retaining talent in our region at yesterday’s press conference. She mentioned that if we don’t take the time to retain our educated individuals, we are simply educating someone else’s workforce.
 
Top Priorities set for Northeast Indiana
 
As mentioned above, the priorities revealed yesterday are long-term goals that the region will work on collectively to achieve in 2020. All of these priorities have been vetted extensively and have consistently been ranked by participants of Vision 2020 as both difficult to execute and highly desirable based on their potential impact to the region. As a result, the Regional Opportunities Council finds them to be game changers for the future of Northeast Indiana.
 
21st Century Talent
The BIG Goal
The BIG Goal, as set forth by the Lumina Foundation, entails increasing the proportion of Northeast Indiana residents with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60% by 2025. Currently, only 31.5% of residents in the region hold a degree. Reaching this goal will directly impact both the success of our businesses and the per capita income in the region.
 
 
Entrepreneurship
Quick Start
Quick Start is a one year pilot program that provides expert advisory services to accelerate entrepreneurial opportunities and small, high growth companies. It is a partnership of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), Elevate Ventures, Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and JumpStart. Quick Start will also coordinate efforts with the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center, Small Business Development Center, SCORE and the LEDO Council.
 
 
Infrastructure
Regional Internet Access
Regional internet access will provide our talent with the tools necessary to access global markets, develop and improve technological skills and improve communication. Considering models such as iMAN in Steuben County, we will work to become one of the most wired regions in the country.
 
Regional Interstate Accessibility
Focusing on regional interstate accessibility will improve access to major transportation corridors. With the limited amount of state and federal resources, we must work collectively to prioritize and advocate for those transportation projects that will transform our regional transportation system. The Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana’s efforts to bring community leaders together around the I-69 to Roanoke Project is the first significant endeavor towards addressing this priority.
 
 
Competitive Business Climate
Permitting
Streamlining the permitting and zoning processes across the region will create a more business-friendly climate, providing greater efficiencies to support our top industry talent. National research of permitting best practices tell us that successful efforts include the following: improvements driven by customer demand, common environmental interests, which serve as a catalyst for improvements, utilizing technology to make improvements sustainable, and the importance of empowering jurisdictions to lead and own these improvements.
 
Air Service at FWA
Increasing flight frequency as well as non-stop air service options will provide our regional talent with greater access to national and global markets. This ease of mobility will also encourage business and job growth and increase our capability to host major conferences.
 
 
Quality of Life
Downtown Riverfront Development
Riverfront development in downtown Fort Wayne will help create a vibrant and dynamic metro center for the region. Creating strong quality of place and offering increased social and cultural amenities will attract young talent and tourists as well as provide an asset for current residents. It could also align with trails, public transit and other waterways to serve as a catalyst for future developments throughout the region.
 
 
John Sampson, President and CEO of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership said “It shows great strength in our region that we were able to successfully collaborate on developing these priorities. Now we need you, the residents of Northeast Indiana, to help turn these plans into action.”
 
Until next time,
Erica
 

21st Century Talent Conference Recap

 
The Partnership staff helped area Mayors, WorkOne Northeast, and the Talent Initiative kick off the 21st Century Talent Conference on Wednesday, October 5. Regional Mayors Suzanne Handshoe of Kendallville, John Schultz of Decatur, Tom Henry of Fort Wayne, Norm Yoder of Auburn, John Minch of Berne, and Richard Hickman of Angola, along with Senator Kruse stood behind this effort as we brought together over 200 area educators and business persons to talk about the importance of developing a top-rated workforce. The event was headlined by two dynamic keynote speakers; Ian Jukes; Director of InfoSavvy Group, an international consulting group that provides leadership and program development and Dewayne Matthews; Vice President of Policy and Strategy for the Lumina Foundation.
 
The conference’s main goal: educate the region on the BIG Goal and importance of education and business to work together to achieve this bold initiative. The BIG Goal; first developed by the Lumina Foundation for Education (out of Indianapolis) challenges the region to increase the proportion of American’s with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60% by the year 2025.
 
Why does this matter? While the unemployment rate in Northeast Indiana and across the nation is still high; we have employers with jobs openings that they are unable to fill due to the lack of appropriate skills and education. This trend is only just beginning and is projected to get much worse.
 
The conference touched on a broad spectrum of issues related to developing our 21st Century Talent. John Stafford, Director of Community Research Institute for IPFW, and his business panel discussed the current reality of the workforce in Northeast Indiana. Mark Michael; President and COO of Fort Wayne Metals, and Scott Maddox; Site Executive for Northrop Grumman Corp. talked about the current and long-term skill needs of their companies and the difficulties of finding those skills in our region today.
 
Leonard Helfrich, Director of the Talent Initiative, shared “What is Happening Regionally”, highlighted programs of the Talent Initiative and other strong regional programs.
 
Ian Jukes keynote address titled, “Disruptive Innovation,” illustrated the rapid nature of change in today’s world and the critical need for the evolution of training and education to keep pace with this change. Jukes stated that “everything has an expiration date; including education… get ready for the reset button, it is time for a complete overhaul.” The audience enjoyed his enthusiasm and ideas about change.
 
So here comes the question of: are we heading in the right direction? According to the various business owners, politicians, and educators who attended, the answer is a firm “yes!” We, as a region, need to change now before we get left behind. Dewayne showed the importance of education and how the previous recession accelerated a longer-term decline in middle-skilled, middle-waged jobs. According to studies, 735,000 working-age adults have attended college, but don’t have a degree. Wow! This just proves that we need to act now and the BIG Goal should be the driving force of our action.
 
By: Erica Hahn, Vision 2020 Project Coordinator
Photo By: Daniel Scheerer (Pixel Perfect Photography)
 

CAP Creative Café

 
On Wednesday, September 28th, the Citizens Advisory Panel (CAP) met for the 2nd time this year at the downtown Allen County Public Library. Their task: discuss and provide feedback on the Top 8 regional priorities as determined by the Regional Opportunities Council (ROC). The Top 8 priorities, each aligning with one of the Vision 2020 pillars, discussed included: 21st Century Talent – The BIG Goal (Increase the proportion of NEI residents with postsecondary education to 60% by 2025); Competitive Business Climate – Permitting and Fort Wayne International Air Service; Entrepreneurship – JumpStart; Infrastructure – Regional Internet Access and Regional Interstate Access; and Quality of Life – Downtown Riverfront Development and a Multifaceted Public Art Program.
 
The meeting was orchestrated by CVC Communications CEO, Marilyn Moran Townsend. She introduced the idea of “Creative Café” where small groups are given 10 minutes to discuss one topic then rotate to the next topic for another 10 minutes and so on and so forth. “This isn’t a typical brainstorm” Townsend said, while introducing the idea of the project to the members of the CAP, “These ideas are going to get deeper and deeper as you circle around.” We had eight projects to discuss, each project occupied two tables making 16 tables; each table had a facilitator of the project or “expert” on the topic and a scribe who took notes during each discussion session, it was quite a scene.
 
The meeting lasted over 2 hours and when all was said and done CAP members were excited and enthusiastic about the night. At the end of the meeting, CAP members were asked to select the top priorities; first, by selecting the priority that they felt was the one that would have the most impact on the region and second, by selecting the priority that they felt would be most difficult, but that we as a region needed to take on none the less. The top three priorities that were selected through this process were: The BIG Goal, Riverfront Development, and Regional Internet Access.
 
Thanks again for everyone who participated in the event. It was a huge success and I think we made a lot of headway with the projects!
 
(Image above: Half of the room discusses the Top 8 priorities in the Creative Café format.)
 
By Erica Hahn – Vision 2020 Project Coordinator
 

Economics of the First Impression

 
Quality of place is an important element of economic development. When community members take pride in the area in which they live, the area benefits both economically and aesthetically. One city in our region, Fort Wayne, is asking for community input on their Gateway Plan, a plan to enhance the entranceways to the city.
 
The Gateway Plan focuses on the “economics of the first impression.” When someone first drives into your city, what image do you want to project? Fort Wayne is looking for help in designing something that promotes the city’s primary entranceways as well as the downtown area.
 
The City of Fort Wayne is hosting an open house on Monday, October 17 to offer the community an opportunity to review design solutions and give feedback. The open house runs from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm and from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at the Auer Center (300 East Main Street).
 
See the attached flier for more information.
 

Focusing on the Future of Flight by Erica Hahn

 
Last Wednesday Katy and I attended the 3rd Annual Air Service Luncheon hosted by the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Wayne – Allen County Airport Authority. William Swelbar, a Research Engineer in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s International Center for Air Transportation, was the key note speaker for the event. This was a great opportunity to learn more about the national issues impacting the airline industry and their influence on air service in Fort Wayne. It was very encouraging to see a room packed with community leaders who are actively engaged in supporting our efforts to further develop air service into the region’s primary airport.

 
Swelbar’s keynote address titled, “Airline Industry Structural Changes will force Air Service Strategy Changes,” focused on the opportunities and challenges that Fort Wayne International Airport (FWA) will experience in the years to come. According to Swelbar, 2000 was the peak year for air service with 680,000 men and women employed in the industry nationally and the predominating concern among industry experts was that fuel costs would exceed $0.81. Today fuel is now over the $3.00 mark and the air service industry only employs a little over 400,000 individuals. – Why?

 
The air service industry used to be a market share mentality industry, growing too big to be sustainable. With the downturns in the economy, both in 2001 and in 2008, and the sharp increase in fuel prices, the airlines were forced to shift to a profit share mentality. That being said, the air service industry is beginning to get healthier. In 2008 the industry lost $0.17 per every dollar raised, and in 2011 the industry actually gained $0.01 to every dollar. The entry and growth of low cost carriers is a major driver of this change, along with cost reduction and efficiency improvements.

 
What future trends will affect the airline industry? With the retirement of the baby boomers we are starting to experience a pilot shortage, which is most significantly impacting the regional jet sector as remaining pilots are seeking advancement in the mainline aircraft.  Whereas production standards for regional jets flown today average around 50 seats, regional jets of tomorrow will be produced with no less than 100 seats. Lastly, as 40% of the airports continually produce 97% of the demand, more consolidation needs to happen in order to move forward and for the industry to see an increase in profit.

 
So what does all of this mean for FWA? Fort Wayne International, although not quite there, is getting better. “Fort Wayne has promise because of the health of your strong manufacturing base” said Swelbar. Although Swelbar doesn’t believe that there is going to be much growth in the industry overall due to the increase in oil prices he believes that Fort Wayne can grow. “Take the opportunities that come your way. This is not an easy fix; it takes time. Fort Wayne has a good geographic position and you need to use that to your advantage.”

 
Erica Hahn is the Vision 2020 Coordinator for the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership. She accepted her position in August 2011. She previously worked for Culver Military Academy where she was a Research and Administrative Assistant for their Development Office. She has a bachelor’s degree from Manchester College in Finance and Economics, and is currently pursuing her Masters.