GRANT COUNTY
Enriches Experience
Technology and Innovation-Led Development
Ideas do not become payrolls on their own. In this entry of our Growing Grant County series, we look at what innovation capacity consists of, the four assets Grant County already holds, and the partnership that carries university engineering onto the shop floor. We also weigh the greener direction the field is taking, and why steady, incremental improvement tends to outperform the moonshot.
A Century of Iron in Marion
In 1923, a Marion man ran 11 foundries across three states. Atlas Foundry Company is the only one still owned by the founding family and still pouring iron in the county where the enterprise was directed. Drawing on local archives and a conversation with Jim and Bill Gartland, we trace how steady reinvestment, deliberate specialization, and a diversified customer base kept it here, and what that means for manufacturing retention in Grant County.
New State Hub Gives Grant County Employers a Clear Starting Point for Work-Based Learning
Indiana’s new Work-Based Learning Digital Resource Hub gives employers free tools to host high school students under the state’s new diploma. Here is what Grant County businesses will find in the hub, along with the regional partners ready to help.
Marion Health Auxiliary Donates Chase/Command Vehicle to Marion Health Emergency Medical Service (EMS)
Volunteer fundraising is now on the road. The Marion Health Auxiliary bought and donated a custom-built Chase/Command Vehicle to Marion Health EMS. The SUV is staffed by a single Advanced Life Support paramedic and carries the same equipment and medications as an ambulance. It can reach patients quickly and start care on scene, and it can also serve as a mobile command center during disasters, multi-casualty events, and other large emergencies.
Marion Health to Hold Free Stuffed Animal Medical Clinic at Family Medicine Residency Clinic Tomorrow
Marion Health is hosting a free stuffed animal clinic for children ages 12 and younger at the Family Medicine Residency Clinic, 1411 W. Bella Drive, from 10 a.m. to noon. Kids bring a favorite stuffed animal for a "check-up" and guide it through stations for medical history, X-ray, surgery, and hands-on wellness lessons on nutrition, exercise, sun safety, and staying smoke-free. Plus there will be crafts, games, and photos throughout the event.
Durable Growth and Ethics: Equality of Opportunity, Transparency, and Community Benefits
Growth that lasts isn't the growth that lands the biggest headline. It's the growth a community can still stand behind ten years later. In this entry of our Growing Grant County series, we lay out the ethical framework behind how we pursue investment: the professional standards we hold ourselves to, why durable outcomes beat quick wins, and how transparency keeps development accountable to the people who live here.
The Plate, the Cabinet, and the Cake
Three Grant County factory floors, three unrelated products, and one shared constraint. A Business Retention and Expansion visit to Huhtamaki, American Woodmark, and Cafe Valley finds all three limited not by orders or equipment, but by people, and each answering that constraint in its own way.
The Storefront Test: What Main Street Strategy Measures
Grant County has three Indiana Main Street organizations. Part of our Growing Grant County series on what the Main Street model measures, what those numbers conceal, and why Fairmount sits a full tier ahead of the the others.
A Day and a Half to Register
Registration for Marketing Your Business closes Wednesday, August 19 at 11:59 p.m. The free one-hour session from the East Central Indiana SBDC runs Thursday morning. We make the case for the hour, starting with an admission that marketing's critics have a fair point.
Marketing & Attraction: How We Tell Grant County’s Story and Who Needs to Hear It
Say "marketing" and most people picture billboards and slogans. In economic development, it's matchmaking. It’s finding companies whose needs fit what a place already has, and giving them an honest reason to look. Part of our Growing Grant County series on targeting, positioning, ethical lead generation and the two numbers that matter.
Marion Health Offers Hands-On Experience with Robotic-Assisted Surgery Technology During General Motors Event
Marion Health brings Intuitive's Thoracic Oncology Mobile Experience to the General Motors Marion plant July 31, offering the public a hands-on look at robotic-assisted surgery technology from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Grant County Economic Growth Council awarded $200,000 Community Foundation grant to expand support for local entrepreneurs
The Community Foundation of Grant County has awarded the Growth Council a $200,000 grant to establish Grant County's Entrepreneurial Support Organization, a countywide resource coordinating training, coaching, mentorship and pathways to capital for business owners at every stage.
Seventy Years of Stamping in Marion
A community open house on July 31 marks 70 years of GM Marion Stamping, and offers a window into what sustains advanced manufacturing in Grant County.
Marion Health to Hold Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony and Open House Today at New Family Medicine Residency Clinic Location
Marion Health will hold a ribbon-cutting and open house July 21 at the new Family Medicine Residency Clinic on W. Bella Drive, welcoming six new residents.
Access to Capital 101: Grants, Loans, CDFIs, and What It Really Means to Be 'Bank-Ready'
In this edition of Growing Grant County, we break down the three forms of business financing, grants, debt, and equity, show you how a capital stack actually works, and explain what 'bank-ready' really means. Plus, three grant opportunities open right now that Grant County businesses should know about.
A County Written on Paper
Lloyd Finch came home from the war in 1946 and founded Grant County Abstract Co. Eighty years later, it still holds the record of the county's land and growth.
Entrepreneurship-Led Growth: Fostering an Ecosystem Where Businesses Thrive
New business formations have reached historic levels nationally, and the communities that will benefit most are the ones actively building the conditions for entrepreneurship to take root. In Grant County, that ecosystem is forming.
57 Businesses Recognized at 2026 Economic Impact Appreciation Awards & LEO Dinner
The Grant County Economic Growth Council recognized 57 businesses at its 2026 Economic Impact Awards, celebrating $200M+ in regional investment and 160+ jobs created.
Workforce as Economic Development: Career Pathways, Sector Partnerships, and WIOA Basics
Walk the floor of nearly any manufacturing plant in Grant County and you will hear some version of the same conversation: the work is there, the wages are competitive, and the company would hire more people tomorrow if it could find them. That is not a recruitment problem. It is a pipeline problem, and pipeline problems are economic development.
Real Estate Development & Reuse: Turning Challenging Properties into Productive Assets
One of the costliest habits in local development is wishful thinking. A vacant building is not an opportunity simply because it is vacant. A former factory is not ready because it sits near a road. Challenging properties move when uncertainty is reduced, one piece at a time. That is the real work of redevelopment and reuse in Grant County.