Federal economic data show something special has been happening in Whitley and LaGrange counties.
The two northeast Indiana counties led the region in gross domestic product growth for the five-year period ended in 2024, according to data released this month by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced in an area.
Whitley County’s real GDP increased by 23% from 2020 to 2024. Real GDP removes the effects of inflation, creating a more accurate comparison. LaGrange County’s real GDP increased by 21% during that time.
Dale Buuck, president of the Whitley County Economic Development Corp., said his county’s mix of advanced manufacturing employers is unique to the area. Major employers in Whitley operate in the orthopedics, defense and steel sectors.
“We’ve had some just spectacular companies doing so well,” he said during a phone interview Wednesday. “It’s a really healthy economy.”
Whitley shares a border with Kosciusko County, home to Warsaw, which has been nicknamed the Orthopedic Capital of the World. Some suppliers to that “behemoth life sciences sector” have set up shop in Whitley, Buuck said.
Ultra Maritime, formerly known as USSI, manufactures sonobuoys, underwater devices used to detect and track enemy submarines. The Columbia City defense contractor has been supplying the Department of Defense with sonobuoys since 1954.
Steel Dynamics Inc.’s structural and rail steel mill, which employs hundreds, is also in Columbia City.
Buuck said the Whitley County Redevelopment Commission bolsters the area’s economy. And he credited employers for supporting Whitley County Consolidated Schools’ career and technical education programs. They train high school students in CNC machine operation, welding, nursing, criminal justice and other fields to prepare them for the workforce.
Whitley’s companies do more than keep the county humming, he said. They also employ numerous workers living in surrounding counties.
Looking at LaGrange
Sherri Johnston, president and CEO of the LaGrange County Economic Development Corp., said her area’s economic growth also has been fueled by existing employers.
More than half of the county’s residents are Amish, a population Johnston described as entrepreneurial.
“Our Amish population is very innovative and business-oriented,” she said during a Wednesday phone interview.
Many residents work in factories building recreational vehicles, making the RV industry a major employer in the county. When that industry was forced to make major layoffs during the Great Recession, those workers willing to take risks launched businesses, Johnston said, adding that many chose woodworking.
Agriculture – including poultry operations – remains a significant contributor to LaGrange’s economy, she said. Her organization’s focus areas include encouraging development of housing projects and supporting child care and early learning initiatives in the county.
One project underway is transforming a 14,000-square-foot former surgery center into the LaGrange County Innovation Center. The building will accommodate up to 72 children in a day care, the local chamber of commerce and economic development organizations, co-working space and room to hold training classes, Johnston said.
The $4.6 million center is expected to open in October at 2500 Ventura Way, LaGrange. Developers received a $920,000 grant from the state’s READI program, which supported regional economic development projects.
Like Buuck, Johnston said her county’s real GDP growth hasn’t been driven by large employers moving to the area. Instead, it’s been strong internal growth.
“People are doing very well at what they’re doing,” she said.
Around the region
During the five-year period from 2020 to 2024, Huntington and Wabash counties’ real GDP both increased by 14%, and Allen County’s rose by 13%.
DeKalb and Wells counties’ real GDP both improved by 11% during the five-year span. The remainder of northeast Indiana posted single-digit growth. Those counties are Adams, Kosciusko, Noble and Steuben.
The dollar amounts linked to those percentages are impressive. Allen’s real GDP increased by $2.69 billion in the five-year span. Kosciusko reached the region’s second-highest growth amount at $412 million. And Whitley was third with a $359 million improvement.
Allen’s GDP was $29.1 billion in current dollars. Comparing real GDP-adjusted data, Allen had a one-year increase of 2.7% when comparing 2024 to 2023. That amount of growth ranked 36th of Indiana’s 92 counties.
Only three of the region’s 11 counties ranked in the state’s top half for one-year real GDP growth. The other two were LaGrange, ranked 12th, and Adams County, one spot below Allen at 37th.
LaGrange posted the most growth in the region, with a real GDP increase of 6.2% in the 12-month span.
Morgan County, on the southeast border of Indianapolis, ranked first with 18% year-over-year growth, and Sullivan County, south of Terre Haute, finished last with a 10.1% decrease.
DeKalb and Steuben were the only two northeast Indiana counties that experienced a one-year decline in real GDP.
Read Journal Gazette article: Whitley, LaGrange counties lead region in economic growth
