Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership Issues 2008 Business Dynamics Report
FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, January. 28, 2009 - The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, in collaboration with the Community Research Institute (CRI), has issued the Northeast Indiana Business Dynamics Survey for the calendar year 2008. The Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly will release a portion of this survey in this week's publication. Download the full 2008 Business Dynamics Survey
The Business Dynamic Survey reports on all business activity including expansions, new business announcements, layoffs, closings, downsizings and acquisitions. Based on announcements and known activities, this report generates a snapshot of the regional business climate for 2008. Capturing this small part of all area activity also reflects the challenges and triumphs that local economic development offices are faced with.
The Survey provides a summary of business activity throughout the 11-county region and includes compiled data from northeast Indiana's six target industries; advanced materials, defense, food processing, insurance and financial services, medical devices and logistics. This year marks the first time in which all six target industries have been included in the data compilation, increasing the survey's breadth from previous coverage of only manufacturing related events.
John Stafford, director of the Community Research Institute at IPFW, highlighted northeast Indiana's resilience. "Given the severity of the national economic downturn, particularly the second half of 2008, it is very encouraging to see the number of investments made over the past year by companies in northeast Indiana."
The Survey reports that there has been an increase in the amount of jobs lost; however, 2008 still showed more jobs created in northeast Indiana than those terminated. With 3,950 new jobs in the area, over a billion dollars have been invested in the region with new business openings and expansions. The 2008 report also highlights expansions as the most active and recurring business event in northeast Indiana.
We are encouraged by the investment that has occurred in the past year as a foundation for the challenge of 2009.
About the Regional Partnership: Created in 2006, the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership's mission is to market the eleven-county region and team with local economic development organizations (LEDOs) to bring new jobs and commercial investment to the area. The Partnership concluded a successful Investment campaign in October of 2006 targeting an initial operating period of five years. The NEIRP's global marketing efforts will be on behalf of LEDO's in Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Grant, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties.
About Community Research Institute: The Community Research Institute(CRI) is one of IPFW's commitments at the Fort Wayne campus to the growth and development of northeast Indiana. The Institute serves as one of the portals linking the academic expertise at IPFW with the needs of the public and non-profit sectors in northeast Indiana by providing research and analytical support in the areas of socio-economic data, urban planning, municipal finance, public policy and economic development.