FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — The leader of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership (NEI), the group that sells the 11-county region to businesses across the world, knows the area can’t long celebrate the Google Data Center’s arrival to Allen County.

“Just because we scored a win, doesn’t mean that we’re done,” said President & CEO Stéphane Frijia.

Before Google detailed its $2 billion investment on Friday, Frijia spoke to WANE 15 more broadly about the process of economic development.

“What happened last year doesn’t matter anymore because we get to work on this year plan,” he explained. “It’s a continuous process because there’s never a finish line.”

Fijia said NEI will constantly evaluate the needs of businesses with the assets of the region, which can include workforce, land, utilities and easy transportation.

The group will then connect business and municipality leaders to see if a match can be made.

In the case of Google, multiple groups, such as Allen County, the cities of Fort Wayne and New Haven, Indiana Michigan Power, Greater Fort Wayne, Inc., and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation led the way and had to coordinate their work.

“Timing is everything,” Frijia said. “The city [of Fort Wayne], the county, New Haven, were looking at that area for quite some time, and we had some other projects that were also looking at that area.”

New Haven Mayor Steve McMichael was part of the team that hired Frijia in 2021.

“Stéphane and I have coffee about once every three or four months and I just really enjoy collaborating with him,” said McMichael. “I’ve learned a lot about economic development by having that relationship and having those regular conversations.”

One lesson Frijia said is that success begets success.

“We are fielding calls for similar projects that are evaluating our region.”

He said two other billion dollar projects are in the pipeline but was quick to point out not every shot will score a goal.

NEI will continue to work to set up elected officials to take their best shot.

“They are the ones that are going to have to ink or sell or sign the lease.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story failed to include the other economic partners who played key leading roles in bringing Google to Fort Wayne.