BizVoice November/December 2016

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November/December 2016 – BizVoice/Indiana Chamber 99
“We have several companies we’re incubating both inside
Micropulse and outside, and we’re building a 36,000-square-foot
building in the Park 30 Industrial Park for one of our most recent
start-ups,” Emerick reveals.
He explains the center tailors its services to best help
entrepreneurs.
“We don’t have a sign hanging out that says ‘Orthovation
Center,’ but we’ve coined that term for what we do,” Emerick notes.
“It can take a lot of different shapes. We provide space, but more
importantly provide guidance, counseling, engineering and accounting
services, corporate governance, fundraising, providing capital,
manufacturing, IT, you name it. We have four companies we’re
involved with – all in orthopedics.”
Getting schooled
Education is an ongoing focus as Whitley County residents plan
for its economic future.
“We’re lucky in that we have three really good public school
systems in the county,” Myers contends. “Being a small enough
county, the communication is much better here than other places
around the country or state. (The EDC) works with schools to do a
quarterly Industry Immersion Program where a local business will host
teachers from different schools to show them what they do (at that
company) and how they do it.”
The program fosters experiential learning for both teachers and
students.
“It’s really been a great program because then those teachers can
go back and give real life examples of why math skills are important
and why you should take chemistry, and why you need to be able to
write in a clear and concise manner,” he adds. “Right before this
interview, I was talking to the superintendent of Columbia City High
School, and we were talking about the great feedback she’s received
from the teachers who had that opportunity to go out and see how
those things are done.”
Outside of school, the EDC’s Agribusiness Initiative seeks to spur
development in that important industry. It presents case studies and
career opportunities.
Move toward a million
A team approach is now the modus operandi in Northeast Indiana,
and the region was one of three to receive state funding through the
Regional Cities Initiative. Northeast Indiana’s “Road to One Million
Plan” encompasses 41 regional development projects with investments
totaling over $471 million.
“If you look at Northeast Indiana as a whole, one of the big goals
for all of us is to take our population base to one million people,”
Myers notes. (Northeast Indiana’s Regional Cities Initiative submission
listed the population as nearly 790,000 in 2015, with the goal to
enhance economic conditions so that number reaches one million by
2031.) “That goes back to attracting talented people who want to do
the jobs we have here.”
Emerick believes collaboration among the region’s 13 counties is
critical for progress.
“It used to be in the old days it was every man for themselves,” he
recalls. “Allen County was the big shark and all the little counties were
fighting for their crumbs. Maybe there’s still a little bit of that, but
people in the other counties have gone so far in regional thought.”
While the region grows, Whitley County will look to capture not
just employers and employees, but residents as well.
“There may be more amenities in Fort Wayne or Warsaw, so
people may prefer to live there,” Myers concludes. “So what can we
do to promote ourselves as a place to live and raise a family and have
the quality of life amenities that other places have? I think any
businesses you talk to in the county will tell you they’re concerned
about keeping the talent pipeline full and recruiting people to do some
of the high-end work that we do.”
RESOURCES: Jerry Busche, Impact CNC, at | Brian Emerick, Micropulse Inc., at | Jon Myers, Whitley
County Economic Development Corporation, at
Be Adaptive Equipment – a producer of hunting and fishing gear for disabled outdoorsmen – and orthopedic manufacturer Micropulse exemplify the
innovative companies that call Whitley County home.