HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) — A newly formed economic development district hopes to bring millions of dollars to northwest Indiana after years of missing out on federal money that could have helped redevelop the economically strapped region.

The Northwest Indiana Economic Development District held its first meeting Friday.

The region has been shut out of receiving grants from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for at least the past 15 years because it lacked a development district and a comprehensive strategy, said Vince Galbiati, CEO of the Northwest Indiana Forum. The business group is involved in setting up the economic development district with the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission so the region can get some of the money it’s been missing.

“We have so many blighted areas, but for 15 years, we have not been able to get any of that money,” Galbiati said.

John Swanson, executive director of the planning commission, said the region missed out on Economic Development Administration grants for disaster relief after the September 2008 floods because it lacked a development district.

Last year, the Economic Development Administration disbursed $779.9 million to projects across the country, according to its annual report, including $5 million in Indiana.

Some area officials, however, objected to including the Forum as a member of the district.

Porter County Commission President Bob Harper, who also sits on the regional plan group’s executive committee, said he’s concerned about an organization made up of elected officials working so closely with a private business group. “I just didn’t like the idea of partnering with the Forum,” Harper said. “I think the idea of the district is great.”

But the Economic Development Administration requires that development districts include public and private members, said Swanson.

The new district’s board includes nine elected officials and eight members from the private sector.

Posted 11/2/2009