The Directors of the Southwest Indiana Development Council

Prior to joining the Perry County Development Corporation, Wathen was the Public Affairs Director for the Greater Louisville Economic Development Partnership, Wathen is slated to become President and CEO of the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana on March 1st.

While in Louisville, he also managed the Greater Louisville Media Information Center, an independent news service bureau which assisted international, national and regional media in dealing with stories about the Greater Louisville area.

A graduate of Indiana State University, Wathen is Accredited in Public Relations by the Public Relations Society of America, and held the position of president for the Bluegrass Chapter of the PRSA. He is a past president and served on the board of directors of the Indiana Economic Development Association, a statewide economic development organization with more than 300 members.

He also served as one of the original 23-members of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation board of directors, created by the Indiana Legislature to carry out the economic functions of the State beginning in 2005. Greg is currently the chair of the Southwest Indiana Development Council.

He has spoken to regional and national groups on media relations and marketing, and has conducted media relations’ seminars for such groups as the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. During 1999 and 2001, he was part of a five-member U.S. team who taught the first tertiary and advanced economic development courses in New Zealand.

Wathen is a small business entrepreneur, as well. He started and is the managing member for Maplewood Hospitality, L.L.C., a hotel development and management company focusing on small markets.

Dorrie LoBue is a commercial banking and economic development veteran, who serves as the Director of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation's Southwest Regional office in Evansville.

LoBue served as an assistant vice president of commercial lending from January 2005 to December 2006 at Fifth Third Bank in Evansville and as the vice president of economic development for the Metropolitan Evansville Chamber of Commerce from 1999 to 2004. While with the Chamber, she also served as the regional director of the Southwest Indiana Small Business Development Center. She has also logged stints with the Longview Texas Economic Development Corporation and Bank One.

Dorrie works with existing businesses and assists Local and Regional Economic Development entities in her territory to recruit new industry continuing to build upon the great gains that Indiana has made in creating jobs for Hoosiers.

LoBue holds a professional economic developer certification from the International Economic Development Council and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from LeTourneau University. She is a board member of Career Choices, Inc. and is a participant in the YWCA's mentoring program.

As a grant writer, Jacqui is currently pursuing a number of grants and other funding on the state and local level to assist with iniatives in southwest Indiana.

Jacqui recently completed training at the Economic Development Institute where she was voted the most likely to make a difference in her community.

Chris Kinnett
Perry County Development Corp.