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Whitley County Road Tour Held

Name
Darrell Mowery
City
Indianapolis
Release Date

On October 26th, the Whitley County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) hosted a road tour event showcasing several area businesses.

The purpose of the Whitley County USDA Road Tour was to highlight several Whitley County businesses that have utilized funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development through grants, loans and EDC programming. The USDA has funded a large portion of the EDC Small Business and Entrepreneurship Initiative (SBEI), and the revolving loan fund program, a low interest loan program. Through SBEI programs, the EDC is able to provide small business coaching and mentoring, and partner with organizations to provide classes and training to start-up companies and small businesses in the county.

Most recently, the EDC partnered with Purdue University to offer a digital manufacturing assessment to Whitley County manufacturers.  From this assessment, Purdue will design a program specifically tailored to help manufacturers in Whitley County with implementing digital manufacturing.

“The USDA’s commitment to rural development has allowed us to provide a wide array of programs to our growing businesses in Whitley County,” said EDC President Jon Myers, “Eighty-eight different individuals have utilized programs and 13 companies have received loans from the EDC Revolving Loan Fund Program, all funded by USDA.”

Several representatives from USDA attended the event, including local elected officials, community leaders, several lenders, and business owners. The EDC Team, Mayor Ryan Daniel and Whitley County Commissioner George Schrumpf opened by welcoming everyone to the community.

The group toured local manufacturing business Impact CNC, downtown business Running Around Screen Printing & Embroidery, and finished the day at Precision Plastics. During lunch, Brian and Renee Kyler of Be Adaptive Equipment, Tad Varga of Three Birds Casual and Pete Allen of STAR Financial Bank & Insurance (represented Churubusco VFW project), joined the group to share their business stories, and their experiences with USDA funded projects.

“The USDA has many tools and resources to assist rural communities with economic and community development activities,” said USDA Business Programs Northern District Director, Anthony Kirkland, “The Whitley County EDC has certainly done a great job of utilizing the available resources. We were able to take a road trip and see several projects that have come to fruition with jobs being saved and/or created. The impact is what our mission statement is all about – Economic and Community Development; the Whitley County EDC, the Mayor’s Office, elected officials, and USDA Rural Development all working together to make things happen.”

To learn more about the USDA visit www.rd.usda.gov/in. Interested in starting or growing your business? Contact the EDC at 260-244-5506 or edc@whitleyedc.com

About Whitley County EDC -  The Whitley County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is the lead economic development agency in Whitley County, Indiana. The EDC works closely with local, regional, and state partners to support our industry clients' growth and success. Our mission is to lead a comprehensive economic development program that retains and expands employment opportunities for local residents and attracts business investment to Whitley County. The Whitley County EDC was established in 1992 and represents Whitley County, Columbia City, and the Towns of Churubusco, Larwill, and South Whitley. For more information about the EDC, visit: whitleyedc.com.