Huntington county: preparing the next generation of entrepreneurs.

• Author: Frazier, Lynne McKenna
• Position: Regional Report Northeast

LIKE MANY MID-SIZED communities, many of Huntington's larger employers are headquartered elsewhere. They hire employees, they pay their taxes, "but they're not interested in blessing this community," says Jim O'Donnell, author, business professor at Huntington College and chairman of the arts and recreation task force of Huntington Vision in Progress.

Huntington College is using a grant from the Lilly Endowment to establish an entrepreneurial resource center. The Huntington County United Economic Development has applied for another grant, in conjunction with the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center and the Northeast Indiana Business Center to develop an incubator program.

"Huntington County has a very strong history of local entrepreneurs starting companies that have been very successful," says Carol Pugh, executive director of HCUED. Now the county is looking to the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Huntington College will take its own step into the future when its name will be changed to Huntington University in 2005. The name change, announced in October, reflects the school's growing enrollment and expanded graduate and professional programs. With seven new programs added last spring, Huntington College now offers more than 70 undergraduate and graduate degrees and concentrations. The college has been included in the U.5. News & World Report "Best Colleges in America" report for 10 years as one of the best comprehensive, four-year colleges in the Midwest.

Huntington County is already experiencing the growth generated by entrepreneurs in smaller towns in the county

In the...