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City gets kudos from NIRP business group

Huntington officials celebrate the recognition the city recently received for its efforts to streamline the business permitting process. Pictured are (from left) John Sampson, president/CEO, Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership; Bryn Keplinger, director of Community Development & Redevelopment; Miranda Snelling, CDR office coordinator; Huntington Mayor Brooks Fetters; Shad Paul, building commissioner; and Mark Wickersham, executive director, Huntington County Economic Development.
Huntington officials celebrate the recognition the city recently received for its efforts to streamline the business permitting process. Pictured are (from left) John Sampson, president/CEO, Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership; Bryn Keplinger, director of Community Development & Redevelopment; Miranda Snelling, CDR office coordinator; Huntington Mayor Brooks Fetters; Shad Paul, building commissioner; and Mark Wickersham, executive director, Huntington County Economic Development. Photo provided.

The City of Huntington was one of 10 jurisdictions honored on Wednesday, Jan. 20, at a permitting recognition reception hosted by the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership.

Nearly 20 government officials, business leaders and economic development professionals from Northeast Indiana attended the reception.

The jurisdictions are participating in the region’s Permitting Excellence Coalition. The coalition is part of the Streamlined Permitting priority in the region’s Vision 2020 initiative, which is spearheaded by the Regional Partnership. The priority aims to help create a business-friendly environment that will encourage greater economic growth in Northeast Indiana by making it easier for businesses to obtain appropriate permits to build and expand in the region.

“The City is honored to have its staff from the Community Development & Redevelopment Department work collaboratively with other jurisdictions and stakeholders for the benefit of Huntington and all of Northeast Indiana this past year,” said Bryn Keplinger, director of Community Development & Redevelopment. “We were able to identify and implement process improvements that better meet the needs of larger projects and high-volume permittees. I’m excited about the strides we have made and look forward to seeing improvements for key performance metrics while we continue our participation in 2016.”

Representatives met throughout 2015 – the second year for the coalition – to work on core customer values of consistency, transparency and easy access. The group developed and implemented a standardized permitting template for their websites; developed and utilized a customer feedback survey and solicited feedback through a customer-oriented taskforce; and worked to streamline their current permitting processes.

“No other region in the country has showed the tenacity to pursue a streamlined permitting process like this,” said John Sampson, president and CEO of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership. “These Northeast Indiana jurisdictions are continuing the region’s tradition of hard work and ingenuity. They are leading the way to ensure that our permitting processes support a business climate focused on increasing investment in the region.”

With the second year of the program complete, the Permitting Excellence Coalition now has a foundation to continue work on its three core values. The group’s efforts this year will allow it to make measureable improvements over the next several years.

For more information about the Streamlined Permitting priority, visit www.neindiana.com/vision.

The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership was formed in 2006 to help build a globally competitive economy in Northeast Indiana. It is a public-private partnership focused on generating business leads and building regional capacity through product development and effective regional collaboration.

In 2010, the Partnership launched Vision 2020 to bring the region together around five key areas for economic growth: 21st Century Talent, Competitive Business Climate, Entrepreneurship, Infrastructure and Quality of Life. Through its combined efforts in business development and capacity building, the Partnership supports its 11 member counties: Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties. For more information, visit www.neindiana.com.