Since relocating to a shared building in downtown Albion in 2020, the Noble County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) has enjoyed opportunities to collaborate with the county’s economic development team, Be Noble Inc. Together, these key local development partners are living out a philosophy of “one Noble.”
The CVB, marketing the tourism assets of Noble County as “Visit Noble County”, and Be Noble, also known as the “EDC”, share space in the former Albion Town Hall, located at 110 South Orange Street in Albion. The CVB’s mission is to promote tourism by connecting partners and events, developing unique assets and enriching visitors’ experiences in a way that contributes to economic growth. At the EDC, this mission is to ensure a thriving economy. Promoting assets that enrich quality of life impacts tourism spending, worker retention, and worker attraction – and this is where the missions of the CVB and EDC overlap.
(Above, from left: Grace Caswell, Lori Gagen, Melanie Kellogg, and Tara Streb.)
“We are very pleased with this co-location, as both of our organizations strive to promote and develop assets to enhance economic growth,” explains Grace Caswell, executive director for tourism in Noble County. “The CVB does this expressly in relation to travel and tourism,” Caswell continues. “I have learned a great deal about traditional and non-traditional forms of economic development in Noble County by working closely with the EDC.”
Lori Gagen, operations director at the EDC, served as a founding board member of the CVB when it was created in 2002 and a past president. She and Caswell share a love for communications and backgrounds in marketing and promotions.
“Working as a team just makes sense,” says Gagen. “Economic development in a rural community requires that we work and collaborate across all sectors, which certainly includes tourism. Grace’s high energy and strong communication skills are a great asset to the team. It has been a great collaboration.”
Since the CVB moved in and shares a large meeting space with the EDC, the staff has also found benefit in sharing an administrative community relations specialist, Tara Streb. Streb is employed by and serves both organizations, each on a part-time basis, making for one full-time job. Rounding out the all-women team is Melanie Kellogg, executive director of the EDC since November 2022.
The two organizations have worked together on countless initiatives, including their support of the Noble County Parks and Recreation Department. Gagen first became interested in their work in 2019 and, that year, helped bring the first countywide “summit” together to help stakeholders in outdoor recreation meet, network, and share best practices. Once Caswell arrived on scene, she took the baton and ran with it. Caswell has since joined the Noble County Parks and Recreation’s board of directors and is currently helping them organize two more summits for 2023.
NoblePalooza, an Expo to Thrive, marks another collaboration. Caswell recently joined the EDC staff and other stakeholders as a member of the steering committee for Thrive Noble County, the group responsible for bringing the expo together in 2022 and 2023. She now plays an integral role in helping to shape Engage Noble, a new civic leadership development program set to launch in Fall 2022. Developing more civic leaders benefits tourism by enhancing volunteer efforts that bring so many of the county’s festivals and events to be enjoyed by locals and visitors.
More recently, The EDC and CVB launched #CaptureNoble, an open call for photos from the community that will help shape the vision of Noble County paints through marketing and promotional campaigns by both organizations.
Although they do share physical space, the CVB and EDC remain separate and unique, each served by their own board of directors. They collaborate in order to strengthen the results and impacts of initiatives that serve both organizations’ missions, but remain accountable to unique strategies and stakeholders as well.
“Be Noble and Visit Noble make up an empowered female-led economic dream team!” brags Caswell. “We are unleashing the economic power of women!”
Three of the four “dream team” are also under 40 years of age. Streb was recently honored as one of the Forty under 40 class of 2023 by Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly. She was selected from more than 300 nominations for the honor.
“It is very satisfying to see Noble County embrace one of the many important aspects of rural community development which is to create diversity in leadership,” notes Gagen. “It is just one more example of the intentional and important efforts of not just our two organizations, but many of our peers and colleagues across Noble County.”
To learn more about the many economic development initiatives that define the work of the EDC, visit noblecountyedc.com. To explore the many great assets that enhance the quality of life in Noble County and serve visitors, explore visitnoblecounty.org. Staff can be reached for either organization at (260) 636-3800 or (260) 636-3602.
