Lake County is unique in many different aspects. It’s the second most populous county in Indiana, and is rich in culture, history, and pride. In some areas, you can experience the compact, palpable thriving of urban and industrial living. A little ways down the road, though, and it can feel like you’re years away from Chicago, surrounded by the beauty of rolling farmlands and the peaceful sounds of nature.
It’s this variety of life and the county’s uniqueness that makes Lake County so appealing to businesses around the world; there’s a little bit of everything here, and plenty to offer any business (and their employees) in any industry.
With recent success stories including Hoist Liftruck (East Chicago), Tri-State Automation (Hammond) and more than 49 projects in the pipeline across all of Lake County, the roles and responsibilities of the Lake County Economic IN Alliance (LCEA) are increasingly important to understand. The LCEA story is about an organization dedicated solely to economic success of Lake County while connecting businesses from all over the world with the assets and opportunities available here.
The Crossroads Regional Chamber, Lakeshore Chamber, Northwest Indiana Forum, NIPSCO and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation created the LCEA with the goal to centralize the economic development focus—one agency as a singular coordinated effort for Lake County. Lake County was the last of 92 counties to have some form of collaborative alliance for economic development activities.
As the concept evolved into a sustainable operation, the thought of who would run the LCEA came down to two people whose strengths balance each other: now President and CEO, Karen Lauerman, and Vice President of Economic Development, Don Koliboski. Working together for nearly a decade at the 7-county regional NWI Forum, the duo moved to the LCEA well prepared and aware of Lake County’s needs, economic development process and what it would take to deliver results.
“Don and I both excel at different areas of the LCEA mission,” Lauerman told IIMM. “Don is very adept at project management, siting ideal locations and municipal finance, while my expertise lies in marketing, communications and administration.”
And these strengths help Lauerman and Koliboski execute the main goals of the LCEA: attracting and retaining business for Lake County; promoting Lake County and all our communities as ideal places to do business; fostering relationships with companies, consultants, contractors for business development; and connecting the municipalities with each other keeping focus on the premise that when Lake County as a whole grows, everyone grows with it.
More importantly, LCEA fills the gap for communities without an economic development practitioner on staff and supports the efforts currently underway in cities that do have a professional on the team.
“There are many facets to the overall effort,” Lauerman, told IIMM. ”In a nutshell, it is our responsibility to respond and assist the site selectors and companies interested in Lake County and by doing so effectively and efficiently we serve and support our Investors who believe in Lake County’s potential.”
Essentially, this comes down to LCEA becoming Lake County’s marketing arm to attract business, following through, doing the work necessary to make sure the businesses that come to Lake County are given the guidance and help they need to thrive in the county.
And the benefits to having an established team dedicated solely to attracting and fostering business relationships in Lake County is two-fold as well, Lauerman adds.
“For all of Lake County, our job is to bring in investment and opportunities, jobs and potential income for residents,” she added. “We bring projects to the elected officials as they are the ultimate decision makers for their communities and we are right there with them to follow process, check tasks off the list and bring the project to fruition.”
It’s not just about land and buildings. It’s about relationships, trust and furthering a coordinated county-wide effort as communities together, one county united. She ended, “Borders are not important to Lake County economic development anymore. It’s all about collaboration, and that’s truly the key to our overall success.”
