KENDALLVILLE - A partnership of five area county economic development organizations announced Thursday they will sponsor a conference titled "Economic Development 201 - Developing Sites to Attract and Grow New Businesses."

The program will be Oct. 29 at the CrossPointe Church, 205 High Point Crossing, Kendallville. A free program will be presented from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The event is a follow-up to last year's "ED 101," presented in conjunction with Ball State University's Building Better Communities program.

The economic development agencies of DeKalb, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben and Whitley counties will host the conference as part of their "Grow Your Knowledge . Grow Your Community" series.

Lunch will be provided free of charge byy Northeast Indiana Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, NIPSCO and Indiana Michigan Power.

The featured speaker will be Chad Sweeney of Ginovus, a site-selection and incentive-procurement firm in Indianapolis. He will explain what constitutes a site, what makes a site competitive and how to stand out to a site selector.

The program also will feature a presentation by Dale Buuck, project manager with the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, on supply versus demand of sites in the five counties.

Other presentations will be given on programs and projects underway by the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership. a A round-table discussion will feature several case studies of sites that have been developed in northeast Indiana communities, including LaGrange, Wabash, and Whitley counties.

The program will be moderated by Richard Heupel, director of Ball State University's Building Better Communities program.

Space is limited to the first 200 registrations. Participants must by Oct. 22 by sending an e-mail message to aschreiber@lagrangecountyedc.com or by calling 499-4994.