By BLAIR YANKEY byankey@elkharttruth.com
July 22, 2021
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Elkhart Truth photo / Blair Yankey
SOUTH BEND — Regional attraction group enFocus is celebrating its impact and accomplishments, including those in Elkhart County.
At its annual meeting, held Wednesday at the Union Station Technology Center in South Bend, the organization celebrated its commitment to building stronger communities through talent attraction, sponsored innovation projects and fostering entrepreneurship. Dozens of regional partners and supporters attended the event.
The not-for-profit organization works with college students from the region’s universities in the hopes that they stay in the area and work with existing companies, nonprofits, and governments to improve local communities.
The effort started in St. Joseph County in 2012; in 2017, organizers began taking on projects in Elkhart County in earnest. The group has had about 15 projects in Elkhart County, 130 fellowships and internships, and has retained about 35, according to Andrew Wiand, executive director at enFocus.
At the Impact Celebration, enFocus Fellows presented posters on 12 projects developed and executed with partner organizations.
One poster highlighted how the Elkhart Parks and Recreation Department leadership and enFocus are engaging the community to transform city parks. Together, they collected community input on 33 parks within the city, facilitated and conducted 15 engagement sessions with over 100 residents and developed information into a comprehensive report, according to the group.
“Our role is really to support the parks director in gathering that information,” Wiand said. “Hopefully the feedback has integrated into the overall park’s strategy.”
In addition, Wiand noted how the group has worked with Elkhart Community Schools by helping to implement food inventory software.
“The district has paper-based processes and we’re working with staff to track that to manage expenses and reinvest in the right areas in the facilities,” he said.
He also noted how the group has partnered with the Elkhart County Solid Waste Management District to create a Green Schools Initiative, which promotes recycling education for K-12 students.
“The county gives awards for teams at the schools who compete to recycle the most within their school buildings,” he said. “And if you think about that accumulating into overall recycling in the county, it’s improving recycling rates at the school and helping the county built a more sustainable future.”
Other projects highlighted during the celebration included data insights for community-wide vaccination efforts, supporting students through remote learning, improving production efficiencies for a local manufacturer and developing a planning strategy for local businesses.
This past year, enFocus welcomed 18 new fellows who partnered with 54 organizations to develop solutions to community challenges. Incoming board chairman Levon Johnson, president and CEO of the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce, said the board will work to expand those numbers.
“We want to continue to bring in more Fellows to engage with more businesses and communities for projects that are really having an impact,” he said.