Grow Wabash County held its annual State of Our Communities event Thursday, Feb. 20, discussing accomplishments made the previous year and future goals. Photo by Grow Wabash County.

News Release

WABASH COUNTY — For Grow Wabash County’s annual “State of Our Communities” event Thursday, Feb. 20, a celebration was held; complete with novelty noisemakers, Stellar-related puns and a full agenda of accomplishments and next steps outlined by the community leaders for Wabash County’s future.

Tenille Zartman, president and CEO of Grow Wabash County, emceed the annual event. During her opening remarks, Zartman gave a quick history of Wabash County’s past and present involvement with the Stellar program through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, as well as the ongoing work that has been done for several years in Wabash County to promote growth and future prosperity.

“Collectively, we have a vision, a strategy and a plan to make our community even better,” Zartman said in her remarks. “We have a strategy of fostering continued positive growth. In fact, for the first time since the 1980’s, we are predicted to grow in population by 2028.”

The presentations from the community representatives focused heavily on the quality-of-life projects they hope to complete with the support of the Stellar Pathways program.

Some of the other 2024 accomplishments highlighted during the event included funding for housing and other amenities in North Manchester and the new Level Up Lagro plan focused on furthering Lagro’s community development efforts.

Following the presentations, local leaders participated in a roundtable question and answer session with the current Leadership Development Wabash County cohort. This encouraged further conversation between leaders and participants about what progress and growth may look like for Wabash County in 2025 and beyond.

For more information about GWC,  visit its website or call (260) 563-5258.