A group of Ball State students is working with the daily newspaper in Grant County to examine if the area is turning the corner after several years of economic setbacks.

Grant County's changing face in light of manufacturing jobs being eliminated and service-sector jobs being added is being examined by eight Ball State students this semester.

Through the university's Business Fellows initiative, journalism professors Sheryl Swingley and Ryan Sparrow are directing the student team as they take an in-depth look at Grant County and work with the editorial staff of the Marion Chronicle-Tribune to prepare a special "State of Grant County" section.

The package will include stories and graphics for the newspaper and its Web site.

"Grant County has become a poster child for the downturn in the manufacturing economy in the state," Swingley said. "Thousands of good-paying jobs have been lost, but more than 1,000 jobs at two distribution centers will be added in the coming months. The community is trying to attract other companies as well as diversify the economic base.

"So, Grant County appears to be turning the corner," she said. "The special publication will look at the new Grant County that is forming. A key component of the report will be an examination of the changes made by the people who live here, particularly in education. Enrollment is booming at the local and expanding Ivy Tech campus as manufacturing workers embark on a journey of higher education for the first time in their lives."
 
David Penticuff, the Chronicle-Tribune's assistant managing editor and a Ball State graduate, believes the newspaper's readers will discover more about their community and where it's headed.

"The thrust of the report we are putting together is an effort to go inside the events and trends making the most difference for the community after nearly a decade of decline in the manufacturing economy," he said. "There are strong signs of recovery, and we would like to know where the recovery is taking us.

"Since we have very accomplished students across various disciplines, we have the flexibility to go where we might otherwise not be able to go in order to cull information, such as a community attitude phone survey being completed by the students," he said. "Such an effort would otherwise be difficult for our newsroom to accomplish."

Penticuff said that in the coming weeks, students should learn just how difficult it is to take concepts and produce something compelling and meaningful — an analysis of a whole community — under deadline pressure and under circumstances that require the students to investigate and change directions as reporting and new information requires.

"There is a certain satisfaction in putting together such a project, which I wanted students outside journalism to become acquainted with," he said. "There is genuine pleasure in finding the unexamined people, thoughts and actions that are important in shaping communities – and then, using your best talents, you get to tell absolutely everyone who might read what you've found."

The Chronicle-Tribune plans to distribute the special section in May.

About Business Fellows and Building Better Communities

Business Fellows, coordinated by Ball State's Career Center and funded by a $1.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., gives Ball State students the opportunity to turn academic knowledge into business solutions through intense, semester-long applied work experiences that will benefit an Indiana business, industry or organization. The program works in concert with Ball State's Building Better Communities initiative.

Building Better Communities is a university-wide initiative designed to spur economic development and quality-of-life advancement in Indiana by extending Ball State's strengths in applied research and hands-on learning to community projects across the state. Building Better Communities works to match the university's expertise and resources to the varied needs of Indiana communities.

(Note to editors: For more information, contact Swingley at sswingley@bsu.edu or (765)285-8688.)