The Asset Inventory Phase surveyed businesses, service providers, including government agencies, churches, labor unions and associations in all eight counties about health and human services, economic development, arts and cultural assets. A total of 1,076 surveys were sent, with 307 organizations responding, or 28.5%. The purpose was to help identify key community assets. These surveyed groups were thought likely to be interested in participating in community-building efforts.

The following results are provided by Associate Professor Jay D. Gatrell, with Indiana State University’s Department of Geography, Geology and Anthropology.

In summary, the surveying of these organizations revealed:

• Volunteerism is a major component of everyday life in the Wabash Valley.
• Priorities and initiatives vary with the type of organization, but promoting good health is a clear and consistently high priority across all groups.
• Most service providers, businesses and associations are satisfied with their current capacities and participation, with two important exceptions.
  • Service providers wish to expand recreational opportunities and to improve neighborhood safety and decrease crime.
• Increasing employment opportunities appears to be a mid- to low-level priority, but job training and education are uniformly high priorities across all sectors.
• Racial harmony – and by implication, diversity – is a mid- to high-level priority.
• Abundant handicap accessible space is available across the Wabash Valley.
• Economic issues consistently under-perform in the asset inventory. For example:
  • Business, commercial or industrial revitalization
  • Designing a plan for community renewal
  • Promoting economic development in distressed areas
  • Neighborhood revitalization
  • Affordable housing and homeless issues
• The association and labor surveys are the least developed data. For example, the exact role of associations is unclear and mixed.
• Labor unions are consistently active with donations and volunteerism.

Survey highlights among businesses include:

• 72.3% of all responding businesses encourage or participate in employee volunteer programs
• Nearly 55% of firms provide cash donations to community organizations
• 68% of firms make space available to the community and 60 of these spaces are handicap accessible
• Many firms make multiple contributions to the community
• A smaller activist collection of 59 firms contribute in four or more areas
  (cash, in-kind, volunteerism, etc.)
• With rising health care costs, businesses are actively attempting to promote good health
• Engagement in economic development is uneven and the focus of economic development is not uniform within or between firms (e.g., commercial development, investment, revitalization planning,
  and real estate improvement)
• Investing in youth through youth development, educational reform,
  and related recreation activities is a priority for business