BCA Grant Funding Strengthens Grow Wabash County Attraction Strategy

WABASH COUNTY, Ind. - Grow Wabash County has received a $4,000 grant from the 
Building Contractors Association of Northeast Indiana (BCA) to strengthen business 
attraction efforts through improved lead-generation tools and processes. The investment 
will support a more strategic, data-driven approach to identifying prospective businesses, 
tracking interest in Wabash County, and advancing long-term economic growth 
opportunities.
“This grant from the Building Contractors Association of Northeast Indiana reflects the 
strong regional partnerships that help drive economic growth in Wabash County,” said 
Tenille Zartman, president and CEO of Grow Wabash County. “By investing in better lead generation tools and processes, our team can identify qualified business prospects earlier, 
respond more strategically and build a stronger pipeline of opportunities for investment, 
job creation and contractor engagement.”
The grant builds on previous BCA support, which helped Grow Wabash County develop a 
comprehensive marketing plan as part of its organizational accreditation process. That 
work refined the organization’s outreach strategy, messaging and approach to business 
attraction and retention. This latest investment will support a more consistent process for 
prospect identification, lead tracking, evaluation, and follow-up.
Growing and diversifying Wabash County’s economy is critical to creating quality jobs, 
expanding the local tax base, supporting existing employers and building resilience for the 
future. Through its business development pillar, Grow Wabash County works to attract, 
retain and expand companies in target industries. 
A stronger lead-generation system will help staff better understand which companies are 
exploring expansion opportunities, prioritize outreach to the most promising prospects and 
connect businesses with the sites, partners, incentives and contractor resources they 
need to move projects forward.
“The Building Contractors Association of Northeast Indiana is committed to fostering a 
thriving economic environment throughout Northeast Indiana,” said Anton King, BCA
Economic Development Committee. “We recognize the vital role Grow Wabash County 
and other economic development organizations play in attracting and retaining 
businesses, and we are proud to invest in efforts that help communities compete for future 
growth.”
Grow Wabash County will measure the impact of the investment by tracking qualified 
business attraction and expansion leads, prospect conversations advanced to site tours, 
projects entering the development pipeline and improvements in the consistency and 
timeliness of follow-up.
By investing in strategies that support faster, more targeted business development, Grow 
Wabash County aims to sharpen Wabash County’s competitive edge, increase awareness 
of local opportunities among site selectors and expanding companies, and generate more 
opportunities for private investment, job creation and construction-ready projects.
“We value our ongoing partnership with the BCA and its member firms,” Zartman said. 
“When a project moves forward in Wabash County, the impact is amplified when local and 
regional contractors have the opportunity to help bring that investment to life.”
Grow Wabash County is the countywide economic development organization and 
chamber of commerce for Wabash County. The organization focuses on five pillars of 
service: business development, entrepreneurship, livability, workforce development, and 
investor services.
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About Grow Wabash County 
Grow Wabash County (legal name Wabash County Business Alliance Inc.) is a not-forprofit corporation that spearheads economic and community development efforts in 
Wabash County, Indiana. GWC is designed around five pillars of service - assisting 
business development needs, promoting livability, fostering entrepreneurship, supporting 
workforce development, and offering programming and investor services. GWC was 
formed with the merger of the EDG of Wabash County and Wabash County Chamber of 
Commerce in July 2017. For more information about GWC, please visit 
www.growwabashcounty.com or call us at 260.563.5258
About Building Contractors Association of Northeast Indiana 
Building Contractors Association of Northeast Indiana is a commercial construction trade 
association serving northeast Indiana. Founded in 1917, BCA promotes the commercial 
and industrial construction industry and provides services to help its members become 
more effective for businesses. Its members include general and specialty contractors, 
architects, engineers, material suppliers and professional service providers. BCA supports 
the industry through networking, education, safety training, government affairs, economic 
development, and workforce development. For more information, visit www.bcani.org