As Latisha Provo scribbled a classmate’s name across a bingo card square, she realized she was attending a unique kind of course.
Yet the experience – and the lessons she learned – were no game.
Provo, the economic development director for Benton County, Ind., this spring attended the Indiana Economic Development Course at Ball State University hosted by the Indiana Communities Institute (ICI). Wabash Valley
Latisha Provo (right), economic development director for Benton County, Ind., holds the ribbon during a celebration of a new florist opening in the county. Provo attended the Indiana Economic Development Course by the Indiana Communities Institute last spring, which she credits for supporting her transition into economic development from her previous career as a library director. Wabash Valley Power Alliance sponsored her attendance in the weeklong course, which was hosted at Ball State University.
Power Alliance sponsored Provo’s attendance in the class, which offers a comprehensive overview of economic development in Indiana. The course features presentations from economic development experts and panels including utility providers such as Wabash Valley Power discussing how they recruit and retain businesses in cities and towns across the state.
“The course was probably the best professional development course that I’ve ever been to in my life in any industry,” said Provo, who was a library director before transitioning to her Benton County role less than a year ago. “I was blown away by it. Kudos to them because it is a fine-oiled machine.”
The course was initially created in the 1980s by Ball State University and has long been offered through the ICI, which provides training and project support for communities and counties across Indiana. The organization is housed at Ball State’s Miller College of Business and has supported community development efforts in dozens of communities over the last two years alone.
Latisha Provo at the Indiana Economic Development Course, which was hosted at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. The class is offered annually from the Indiana Communities Institute and featured a variety of presentations and panels, including a group of Indiana mayors discussing economic development projects and challenges in their cities and towns.
“We see this as the flagship course of the Indiana Communities Institute,” said Brian Blackford, director of program development and training for the organization. “It is one way we carry on a proud tradition of supporting community leaders who are doing what they can to advance where they live and work.”
While the course initially attracted local and regional economic development officials, it has since grown to encompass elected officials, community development leaders and even those involved with the arts.
“There’s a need to ensure that communities are as vibrant as possible to retain the people who are there and attract the future workforce that will help those regions,” Blackford said. “Community development plays a huge role in economic development because people choose where to live, and the jobs follow the people.”
The course averages 50 to 85 students annually, with 30 to 40 receiving scholarships from organizations such as WVPA to attend. Wabash Valley Power routinely sponsors economic developers who work in towns, cities and counties served by its member electric cooperatives. The course also aligns with the electric cooperative principle of education, training and information.
The class schedule is tightly coordinated, with informative sessions and networking opportunities for attendees to get to know each other and speak with presenters. The networking leads to more of a cohort that learns together, said Rachel Huser, senior economic development manager at Wabash Valley Power. She attended the class in 2019.
“I went through that same class with many of my colleagues now that I still call on a weekly if not daily basis, and some I call very good friends in the industry,” Huser said. “A lot of it was because of the setting that the course creates, which you can then expand on while you’re in the profession.”
The class is one of just two dozen in the U.S. endorsed by the International Economic Development Council. The 2025 class will be the 40th year that the course will be taught.
Many program graduates continue to develop the relationships made in the course; in the months after graduation, Provo reconnected with one of her classmates who works for the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Development.
“There’s just so much to it that you have to have your mind wrapped around when you go into economic development,” Provo said. “It’s really impressive that this course touched on all of it and really gave us the tools to navigate what economic development looks like in this day in age.”