Regional Effort Launches to Attract & Retain Talent

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 1, 2012

Regional Effort Launches to Attract & Retain Talent

From businessmen to bull riders and peace and quiet to rock and roll...
you can find it all MADE HERE in Northeast Indiana

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Today the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership announced the launch of a new strategy to attract and retain talent in the region. A press conference was held this morning at Joseph Decuis in Roanoke, Indiana, where representatives from local businesses, chambers of commerce, economic development groups and more gathered to preview a new website---www.YourStoryMadeHere.com---as well as to view one of the videos that will be housed on the new website, all showcasing Northeast Indianas great quality of life.

Your StoryMadeHere.com is a video-driven website at the center of an economic development strategy to grow talent in the region. The website will be supplemented with TV spots and Facebook ads to further promote quality of life in the region and an iBook is also in development to provide an additional resource for human resource professionals and others recruiting talent to the region.

"The goal of this strategy is two pronged," said Courtney Tritch, director of marketing at the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership. "We wanted to create a central, regional hub that showcases the impressive and diverse assets in the region that can be used to attract talented people to live in Northeast Indiana. We also wanted to create awareness within the region of the amazing assets we have in an effort to retain young professionals in particular. This region has much to offer and now we have a website that shows you exactly why living in Northeast Indiana is a great idea."

YourStoryMadeHere.com is built to share via multiple social media channels and it offers a variety of resources:

Over a dozen cinematic videos highlighting Northeast Indiana's incredible quality of life
A cost of living calculator shows why living in Northeast Indiana makes dollars and "sense"
Links to individual county contacts for relocation information and more
Ability with one click to share a page or video via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and more
 "It's an honor to participate in the Made Here Communication Campaign," Pete Eshelman, CEO of Joseph Decuis said. "The YourStoryMadeHere.com website is a valuable resource for our region. This type of quality marketing tool can assist businesses large and small with their talent attraction efforts on a national scale. It makes me proud to live in Northeast Indiana, and I think this type of pride will grow as more and more people discover this resource."

Growing talent in Northeast Indiana has been growing in regional importance over the past few years with the implementation of the Talent Initiative. And at the end of 2011, the Regional Opportunities Council, through Vision 2020, adopted a mission for the region to develop, attract and retain talent. While much is being done to develop talent across the region, this is the first concentrated effort on a regional scale to focus on attracting and retaining talent in Northeast Indiana.

"To become a demand-driven region and continue to increase our talent pipeline, we must listen to the needs of our businesses and provide them with resources they need to both attract top level talent and retain young professionals," said John Sampson, president and CEO of the Regional Partnership. "Made Here means exactly that. It's Your Story-Made Here. We want to help people discover their own stories right here in Northeast Indiana."

What does Made Here mean to you? Discover Your Story Made Here at www.YourStoryMadeHere.com to see for yourself.

To request a complimentary web button to place on your website to link to www.YourStoryMadeHere.com, contact Courtney Tritch at courtney@neindiana.com.

About Vision 2020 & Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership
The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership was formed in 2006 to help build a globally competitive economy in Northeast Indiana. It is a public-private partnership focused on generating business leads and building regional capacity through product development and effective regional collaboration. In 2010, the Partnership launchedVision 2020 to bring the region together around five key areas for economic growth: 21st Century Talent, Competitive Business Climate, Entrepreneurship, Infrastructure and Quality of Life. Through its combined efforts in business development and capacity building, the Partnership supports its 10 member counties: Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties.

The Talent Initiative , established by a $20 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., is a 10-county regional program focused on accelerating education and training initiatives in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The primary goals of the Talent Initiative are to increase the base of highly skilled workers to meet the needs of the defense/aerospace and advanced manufacturing industries, while increasing job quality and reversing the current decline in regional per capita income. The program receives financial oversight from Community Partnerships, Inc., a supporting organization of the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne and operational oversight from the Northeast Indiana Fund, a supporting organization of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership.

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