Founded in 1991, the NewAllen Alliance is an all-volunteer organization that works to bring people to the table who have a passion to see the communities in East Allen County thrive and excel. Member communities who have representative board seats include Grabill, Harlan, Hoagland, Monroeville, New Haven, Leo-Cedarville, and Woodburn.
The organization was started with a $150,000 revolving loan grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to offer low interest loans to the businesses in the area being served, for equipment or infrastructure improvement needed to expand the business helping create jobs and added commerce. Through the interest earned on this program, New Allen was able to launch a façade grant program that offers a rebate back to business owners who do work on the outside façade. This grant allows for a 1/3 match up to $1,000 back. These programs continue today as a part of the organization...
Community collaborations have always been important to the NewAllen Alliance and the regular monthly meetings have included representatives from the following organizations:
In 2014, the organization went through a strategic planning process where a new strategy was defined to improve growth, economic stability and to help give the organization a stronger voice in Allen County. Most of the goals were organizational capacity building goals with outreach opportunities to build more collaboration and communication with elected officials within each community and Allen County; and to better improve relationships with Allen County and Regional economic development agencies. Through this strategic planning, the following goals were created and met through the fall of 2015:
Goal 1: Clearly define the unified agenda for NewAllen Alliance
Goal 2: Establish a communications and stakeholder engagement plan
Goal 3: Become an active partner in regional economic development
Goal 4: Determine appropriate technical assistance opportunities for NewAllen Alliance communities
Goal 5: Align organizational bylaws and meeting structure around goal achievement
Full Organizational Action Plan - June 2014
In 2014, NewAllen Alliance petitioned the new board of directors of Greater Fort Wayne, Inc. to have a seat on the board. That invitation was extended and a seat was created and solidified by the GFW policy manual to include the president as a standing board member. The NewAllen's involvement in GFW is needed to ensure the voices of the residents in East Allen are heard and considered when discussing major decisions for Allen County's economic future.
In the fall of 2015, the organization received a grant from the Allen County Capital Improvement Board. This grant was to be used to create a Strategic Investment Plan that outlined the needs of the community and how they are planning for future viability and growth. The goal of the planning was to identify capital needs of each community and to understand what commonalities might exist between the communities to encourage collaboration and efficiency. Through this process we defined our priorities as they relate to the priorities of the county and the region.