September 3, 2014 - Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry and Visit Fort Wayne are ready to welcome more than 1,000 officials from cities and towns across Indiana. The 2014 Indiana Association of Cities and Towns (IACT) Annual Conference & Exhibition will take place September 9-11 at the Grand Wayne Convention Center and will feature dozens of workshops for municipal government employees and elected officials.
“I’m pleased to once again be the host city for the IACT annual conference,” said Mayor Henry. “The conference gives us the opportunity to show hundreds of leaders from throughout the state the great things happening in Fort Wayne.”
Visit Fort Wayne estimates the IACT annual conference will have an economic impact of $425,000-$450,000 as attendees visit local eateries, hotels and shops.
“I see how proud our elected officials are when they host IACT,” said Dan O’Connell, president and CEO of Visit Fort Wayne. “They love showing off our convention center and downtown. I also see a little envy in those colleagues’ eyes, too. IACT is a great convention to host to showcase Indiana’s 2nd largest city to the rest of the state’s leadership.”
Conference attendees will have the opportunity to sit in on a variety of workshops, as well as weigh in on IACT’s 2015 Policy Platform. Events of note for the media include:
Tuesday, September 9: opening business session at 4 p.m. in the Grand Wayne Center
Wednesday, September 10: annual awards luncheon and keynote address at 11:45 a.m. in the Grand Wayne Center
Wednesday, September 10: mobile workshop highlighting growth in downtown Fort Wayne, 2 p.m. leaving from the Grand Wayne Center
Thursday, September 11: closing lunch and featured speaker St. Paul, Minnesota Mayor and National League of Cities President Chris Coleman, 11:30 a.m. in the Grand Wayne Center
“We are thrilled to be back in Fort Wayne for this year’s IACT Annual Conference & Exhibition,” said IACT Executive Director and CEO Matthew C. Greller. “The Mayor, his team and Visit Fort Wayne have shown us once again that the city is an ideal location for our event. They provide the leaders of Indiana’s cities and towns with just the right atmosphere for learning the latest trends and techniques that help them be the most efficient and effective leaders they can be.”