Dick Heupel joined Ball State University’s Center for Economic and Community Development in November 2004. He previously worked 12 years at Hoosier Energy, where he led the utility’s economic development and key accounts initiatives. Before that, he spent nine years leading three county and regional economic development organizations and foundations in Indiana and Ohio: the Northwest Indiana Forum Foundation, the Jay County Development Corporation, and the Richland Economic Development Corporation.

He holds a B.A. degree from Indiana University, and he is a graduate of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma and the Basic Economic Development Course at the University of Illinois. He holds a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) designation from the International Economic Development Council, awarded in 1988.

Heupel serves as president of the Indiana Economic Development Association (2005) and was the 2000 president of the Mid America Economic Development Association, a 10-state association of economic development professionals. He was recognized by Site Selection magazine as one of the Top 10 Young Economic Developers in 1988. He has been a popular presenter at Ball State’s Indiana Economic Development Course since 1990. He is a native of Indiana.

His wife, Laura, is a registered nurse who earned her B.S.N. degree from Ball State in 1992. They have two daughters: Melanie, assistant member services manager for Pi Lambda Theta, an honorary teachers’ society headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana; and Gina, an Event Marketing Representative for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, based out of Knoxville, Tennessee.

Heupel’s responsibilities include:

• organizing, managing, and delivering community-based consulting services
• co-administering Ball State’s Building Better Communities initiative
• marketing the services of the center, Building Better Communities, and the School of Extended Education
• assisting with the development and delivery of CECD educational programs
• developing and maintaining effective working relationships with Ball State faculty and staff and private consultants who can partner in the delivery of community economic development consulting services
• establishing and maintaining relationships with community economic development agencies, local leaders, and other potential consumers of CECD and Building Better Communities services