Fort Wayne, Ind. (September 14, 2009) — New Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance President Andi Udris wants efficiency and accountability in the local economic-development community.
Developers and others are telling him they are confused about which organization handles the development process in Fort Wayne and Allen County. Is it the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Improvement District or city or county government? It is easier to do business in a large city like Chicago where the pathways for developers to follow are simpler, Udris said in an interview with Business Weekly.
While the Regional Partnership, as it is intended, markets northeast Indiana and serves as the face of its development, in Allen County, Udris thinks it is “murkier.” He said if a role or responsibility appears to have been left undone at any level, one development group or another will take it on whether it is supposed to or not.
Udris’ point is not new, but he believes one organization should be tasked with making sure the system is as efficient as possible. Udris is offering the Alliance, which he wants to re-establish as the clear leader for local economic-development efforts.
“We want to do things in the community that will draw people to the community,” said Udris, who took over the group this summer after Rob Young departed. “We need to make sure we’re the organization people are running information through.”
The Alliance also is talking with similar organizations in town to see if some services are being duplicated. Udris said his organization, along with the Regional Partnership and other economic-development groups, have information-technology staff, marketing personnel and business managers. He questioned whether that is necessary, and also said several groups, including the Alliance, are talking about locating under the same roof for efficiency’s sake.
Today the Alliance is located near the intersection of Wayne and Calhoun streets. The Downtown Improvement District is in a different building near the same intersection. The Regional Partnership, Indiana Economic Development Corp. regional office and Workforce Development administrative offices all are located a few blocks away near Main and Barr streets.
Udris said there are no plans for one organization to take over the other groups.
“There are ideas about reorganization, realignment, that make it easier for all of us,” Udris said. “‘Co-habitating’ is the word we’re using.”
Udris said the Alliance should be the single point of contact for developers interested in any project intended for Allen County, and the group is not supposed to be marketing the city and county outside the northeast Indiana region.
Udris wants to create several committees to deal with specific areas, including downtown development and services for existing businesses. He also wants to establish an industrial land bank, a committee that would be responsible for acquiring and preparing a 1,000-acre site for development and recruit users for it.
Udris said there is no one agency in charge of ensuring sites are “shovel-ready,” meaning utilities and roads have been designed and approved and development incentives are in place. There are two shovel-ready sites in Allen County, and both are privately held, he said.
“There’s plenty of developable land,” Udris said. “The problem is it’s not owned by an agency for economic-development purposes.
“We’ve always had the ability (to acquire the land),” he said. “It gets back to the issue of who’s accountable for it.”
A couple of companies have expressed interest in establishing a logistics hub in the county, which another Alliance committee would oversee. Udris said the operation would combine rail and truck service, as well as the Fort Wayne International Airport, into an intermodal facility for local businesses.
Udris said a 300-acre site the city owns on Adams Center Road would be an ideal location for such a hub.
“The question is how to make it happen,” he said. “The region should always have its list of top projects.”
Source: Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly