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  • Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Moving on: Merv Nolot is retiring after 39 years with the West Central Indiana Economic Development District.

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September 27, 2012

Economic District director Merv Nolot to retire after 36 years

Arthur Foulkes The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — Merv Nolot, executive director of the West Central Indiana Economic Development District, has announced he is stepping down from the leadership position he has occupied for the past 36 years.

Nolot, 66, made his decision known to the WCIEDD board of directors Monday.

West Central is a not-for-profit agency that coordinates several federal and state-funded programs in Vigo, Vermillion, Parke, Putnam, Clay and Sullivan counties. Nolot joined the organization 39 years ago and stepped into the executive director’s role three years later.

“It’s been a real pleasure,” Nolot said of his time at the helm of the organization, which has an annual budget of about $3.5 million and a staff of more than 80 full- and part-time employees.

Looking back over his career in an interview Wednesday at his office on Wabash Avenue, Nolot said he is proud of his agency’s key role in bringing about the 641 bypass. That project began with a study back in the late 1980s and may finally reach completion in the next few years.

“I’m very proud of that,” he said, adding that a lot of people have worked on or supported the project from both sides of the political aisle, including former Gov. Evan Bayh and current Gov. Mitch Daniels.

“I always try to find a common ground” in working with people, Nolot said.

Nolot plans to remain in the executive director’s position until at least Dec. 31, he said, adding that the WCIEDD board decided to hire a search firm and form a committee to find his successor.

“I think that this is money well spent,” Nolot said. Just advertising in newspapers does not “throw the net wide enough” to find the best qualified person, he said. There is enough money in West Central’s reserve funds to afford the professional search, he said.

Because a firm has not yet been hired, it is not known what the cost of the search will be. The Vigo County Public Library board, which is also looking to replace a long-time director, has recently hired a professional search firm for $18,000 plus travel costs.

WCIEDD, established in the 1960s, includes the Area 7 Agency on Aging and Disabled, Economic and Community Development and the Metropolitan Planning Organization. In recent months, due to the failure of Congress to pass a new budget for 2013, West Central has been forced to cut its budget across-the-board by 10 percent, Nolot said. The agency has implemented those cuts, but a 2013 budget deal could reinstate some of that funding, he said.

“I’m optimistic” a deal will be reached in Washington, Nolot said. If not, the agency has been able to make its cuts without reducing services to its clients, such as the elderly, he said.

Nevertheless, the pinch is being felt as some seniors await services, such as van rides to doctor’s appointments or meal deliveries, that West Central provides, Nolot said. “Our waiting lists are growing,” he said.

Other projects involving West Central during Nolot’s tenure have included the Heritage Trail project, which has spread all around Terre Haute and into Vigo County. And recently the agency was instrumental in getting federal funding to widen and deepen flood-prone Feather Creek in Clinton.

Nolot, an active triathlete, said in retirement he hopes to teach or advise students in public administration at Indiana State University. He also hopes to spend more time with his family and perhaps even write some books, including a case-study book for public administration students or even a mystery novel.

Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at 812-231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

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