Plugging the Brain Drain

The Nappanee Leadership Academy spent yesterday at Amish Acres beginning with breakfast and an introduction to tourism in the region from Sonya Harmon, the group specialist at the Northern Indiana Amish Country CVB. Following the tour of the farm, wagon ride, and documentary films, I joined the group and spoke about leadership in an informal and often rambling way. They then boarded the van for a countryside tour given by Tom Slater, returned to work on their group projects for the year until curtain for the matinee performance of Plain and Fancy. The current class of thirteen of Nappanee's leaders are honing their skills to insure Nappanee's future prosperity in the ever increasing competition among communities to remain vital.

The leadership academy is a joint program between the Nappanee Chamber of Commerce and the Nappanee Public Library. It is in its fifth year and is unprecidented in a community of 6,500 people. Larry Andrews and Linda Yoder have defied the odds by making this program sustainable. The brain drain is not inevitable unless you think it is.