Another auto dealership is receiving a spit shine.Fort Wayne Nissan-Infiniti, 4909 Lima Road, is in the midst of a $2 million renovation that includes a 7,000-square-foot addition, featuring a new customer lounge with flat-screen TVs,When new businesses open in northeast Indiana, the Northeast Indiana Foundation takes note. When existing employers expand, the organization keeps tally.
And when companies close or whittle their staffs in downsizings … you guessed it. The local non-profit tracks that, too.
The Northeast Indiana Foundation's 2009 Business Dynamic Report, released this month, includes lots of jobs-related numbers for the 10-county area. The net result is a loss of 1,320 jobs.
But comprehensive data reflects more on the efforts of the foundation than on the region's economy, said Michael Hicks, director of the Bureau of Business Research at Ball State University.
Economic development officials are responsible for attracting and retaining the businesses they work with, Hicks said. They don't focus on restaurants or grocery stores, for example.
Local officials try to woo businesses that can locate anywhere – "footloose" companies. Those include defense contractors and medical instrument makers, Hicks said.
Northeast Indiana's 10 counties reported more than $334 million in business investments last year, a respectable win for local officials, Hicks said. Economic development officials around the state point to the Northeast Indiana Foundation's efforts as an example of how such work should be done, he said.
The survey, prepared by the Community Research Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, offers insight into employers' decisions, Hicks said. Many similar organizations in Indiana aren't able to track their efforts with the amount of detail found in the report, he said.
The value of careful recordkeeping is that city and county officials can learn what factors kept some businesses from choosing northeast Indiana, Hicks said. They can choose to address issues, such as property tax rates, to make the area more attractive for business investors.
Not all business activity last year is included because not all companies announce job actions. The study tracked job changes in Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties.
For those who want a glimpse into the future, Hicks is sure that one year from now we'll be talking about net jobs added rather than net jobs lost.
