Young leaves The Alliance

     

The Alliance, aka the Fort Wayne-Allen County Ecnomic Development Alliance, today announced that President Rob Young is leaving for a position with local company PearlDiver.  From The Alliance’s press release:

Rob Young, Alliance President, to Join Local Technology Company
Accepts position with orthopedic informatics company PearlDiver Technologies

The Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance today announced the pending departure of its president, Rob Young, effective February 13, 2009. Young has accepted a position with PearlDiver Technologies.

“It is with very mixed emotions that I announce my resignation,” said Young, who was hired to launch the Alliance in 2000. “I’m proud of what we as an organization and a community have accomplished to date. At the same time, I’m very excited about the challenges and opportunities ahead with my new position at PearlDiver.” Young previously served as president & CEO of the Battle Creek Area (Michigan) Chamber of Commerce.

Based in Fort Wayne as of early 2007 and co-founded by brothers Robin and Benjamin Young (no relation to Rob Young), PearlDiver is an emerging growth company and leader in the life sciences information industry. Its offerings include search and analysis software and database technologies, consulting services and information based strategic advisory services. PearlDiver’s mission is to improve the ways surgeons, product manufacturers, hospitals and regulators connect with and utilize health care related information. Young has agreed to become the company’s executive vice president for business development and Fort Wayne site executive.

“Rob has served the Alliance extremely well for more than eight years,” added Alliance Board Chair Jim Cook. “We don’t want to see him go, but we applaud his decision to join a growing local company and remain a part of the Fort Wayne business community.”

Scott Naltner, currently the Alliance’s executive vice president, will assume the role of interim president while Cook and the rest of the Alliance Board of Directors assess options and guide the future of the organization. Naltner has twenty-two years of economic development experience and previously served as vice president of economic development at the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce. Prior to that Naltner was the executive director of the Region 3A Economic Development District and the Regional Planning Commission. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center (NIIC) Board of Directors and in 2006 was elected president of the Indiana Economic Development Association (IEDA). Naltner has been with the Alliance since its inception. Assisting Naltner with administration of the Alliance will be chief information and marketing officer Marla Schneider. Schneider came to the Alliance in 2006.

“Transitions like this afford organizations the opportunity to assess current competencies and plan for the future,” said Cook. “We’ll work closely with our customers and our local economic development partners to determine the best path for the organization going forward.”

About the Alliance
In 2000, the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, a not-for-profit organization, began its work as the lead organization for economic development activities throughout the county. Allen County, the City of Fort Wayne, the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, and the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority contract with the Alliance to generate and retain quality jobs for local residents. To date, the Alliance has lead or been a key part of over 200 economic development projects. Those projects have helped retain over 16,600 jobs, accounted for 7,400 projected new jobs (with an average annual wage of over $40,000 across all 24,000 jobs) and resulted in nearly $800 million in new investment in Allen County, Indiana.

The Alliance is also a founding partner of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, a group of eleven counties united in the global marketing of regional resources to companies not yet located in Northeast Indiana.

About PearlDiver
PearlDiver is an emerging growth company leader in the life sciences information industry. Its services include search and analysis software and database technologies, consulting services and information based strategic advisory services. PearlDiver’s mission is to improve the ways surgeons, product manufacturers, hospitals and regulators connect with and utilize health care related information. 

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