While much of Michiana is still working to shake off the remnants of the recession, Elkhart County has emerged as perhaps the region's best economic engine.
Though South Bend-Mishawaka, for example, added jobs in the past year, the area's economy didn't grow. In fact, it actually shrank in 2013.
The story is similar throughout much of the region.
New data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis show how gross domestic product changed between 2008 and 2013 in the nation's metropolitan areas. GDP measures the value of goods and services produced in a place. It includes everything from spending on construction, health care and entertainment to the value of manufactured items and financial services.
In terms of real GDP, which takes inflation into account, the size of the South Bend-Mishawaka economy was about $12.7 billion in 2008. It declined during the recession and recovered, topping $12.7 billion, in 2012. Then the economy here backpedaled to $12.4 billion in 2013. The federal government defines the South Bend-Mishawaka metropolitan area as St. Joseph County, Ind., and Cass County, Mich.
LaPorte County and Berrien County also showed negligible economic growth from 2008 through 2013.
Elkhart County is a different story -- a story of a strong recovery and signs for future growth.
The Elkhart-Goshen area saw a devastating drop in real GDP from $10.2 billion in 2008 to $7.8 billion in 2009, but it recovered in 2010 and has continued to grow each year. Its real GDP was $11.6 billion in 2013.
Manufacturing, particularly the resurgent recreation-vehicle industry, has been the key driver behind Elkhart County's comeback. In the South Bend-Mishawaka area, a decline in manufacturing is a big reason for the slump in overall economic growth.
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