Nine counties work to build business

LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Nine mid-west Indiana counties will now be working together to build business in the area.

Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman announced the formation of MidWest Indiana Economic Development.

The group is made up of representatives from Benton, Carroll, Cass, Fountain, Montgomery, Pulaski, Tippecanoe, Warren and White counties.

The organization aims to market the nine-county region as a whole and share strategies to attract business.

Grant Whaley of the Benton County Economic Development Organization and Connie Neininger of White County Economic Development both said the new approach to marketing has significant advantages.

"We see more and more that organizations, site consultant especially they don't want to talk with just one county or one town. They want to talk with a region," said Neininger.

"We are such a rural area that it's hard to generate the attention on a national or even worldwide scale. By being a part of a region we're able to tap into all kinds of resources now," said Whaley.

Neininger says Midwest Economic Development has launched a website to help keep the public informed about the group's progress as well as provide information about individual counties.