MERRILLVILLE | A leadership grant awarded Ivy Tech Community College will be directed to advancing educational goals in a seven-county area.

"We'll leave no stone unturned," the college's Bill Thon told a gathering of the One Region: One Vision Advisory Council on Thursday.

Children in the seven-county region will one day assume the leadership roles represented by Northwest Indiana officials gathered for the meeting, Thon said.

"Our aim is to develop their leadership capacity," Thon said.

Thon and representatives of other sectors of the Northwest Indiana economic and government sectors said they plan to carry out the One Region: One Vision goal of a unified Northwest Indiana.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said a unified region "just makes sense."

A merger of fire departments for Hammond and Whiting made front page news, McDermott said.

"But it just made sense because we're neighbors," said McDermott, who was there representing leadership of municipalities across Northwest Indiana.

Patrick Bankston, assistant dean of the School of Medicine at Indiana University Northwest said leaders of Northwest Indiana health care facilities are working together to build their status and reputation.

It's estimated that nearly $1 billion a year in health care costs leaves the region, Bankston said.

Executives of 23 area chambers of commerce from three counties meets regularly to work toward a unified Northwest Indiana, said Gayle Van Sessen, executive director of the Greater Crown Point Chamber of commerce.

"We're working to build awareness of region issues, with the goal of cooperation and communication," Van Sessen said. "We're seeing progress."