While the digital divide may be shrinking in the United States, it is getting wider in our nation’s rural communities, and this is costing these communities $47 billion a year, according to a recent study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Amazon. With a rural population of roughly 22 percent, Indiana has reason to be concerned.

Hancock Health is pursuing a plan meant to herald commercial developments on more than 100 acres at the Mt. Comfort/Interstate 70 interchange.

A group of leaders from Hancock County has tapped a Washington D.C.-based firm to assess potential economic development opportunities along the Mt. Comfort Corridor. The Urban Land Institute will form an advisory panel that will present its initial findings to county leaders later this month.

An internationally recognized research organization will spend next week studying growth along the Mt. Comfort corridor and advise local leaders on economic development strategies.