The Westport Area Business Association meets on the Third Wednesday of each month in the Front Room of the Community Building.

Dinner is at 5:30 p.m. ($7 per person) and meeting begins at 6 p.m. sharp.

All written correspondence should be addressed to : The Westport Area Business Association, PO Box 535, Westport, IN 47283-0535

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The Westport Business Association, Inc. was started by George Cann who called the first meeting on September 3, 1985.  Eighteen very interested business people attended this first meeting which was held in the old meat-market building now occupied by Stults Outdoor Products. Three subsequent meetings were held on the 10th, 17th and 24th of September, and the Business Association was formally organized at the September 24th meeting. Officers elected at this meeting were George Cann, President; Arvis Hampton, Vice-President; Donna AmRhein, Secretary; Roy Saylor, Treasurer; and Kathy (Fields) Holdreith, Assistant Treasurer.  The organization was originally called The Independent Westport Area Business Association.

The group lost no time in making some very important decisions.  They decided upon the name and also decided that the area to be served would include those persons living within a seven-mile radius; and established a good advertising program. Objectives which the group considered then, and is still trying to achieve today, include the following:
1.  To keep area income from leaving the community
2.  To have a greater variety of goods and services available
3.  To devise means of getting people to come here to buy
4.  To encourage local business people to support each other
5.  To help new business people with licenses, tax forms, etc.
6.  To attract new businesses, including small factories

In the fall of 1986, Wheaton Tubing contacted local officials and expressed an interest in locating a factory at Westport.  The town council members referred Wheaton officials to officers of the Business Association, and the Business Association was very instrumental in helping Wheaton in every possible way and in convincing them to locate here.  Dave Stults, who served as president of TIWABA from 1986-1989, was chosen by Wheaton officials to manage the new factory, and he served in that capacity during its first year of operation. They have hired mostly local people, and this has provided a real boon to the local economy.

The Westport Business Association has sponsored many money-making projects which include Box Lunches, Go-Kart Street Races, Rodeos, and Golf Tournaments in the past.  More current events are the Covered Bridge Festival and Dinner, Westport’s Health Fair and Santa’s Village w/Tree Lighting.  These along with the income generated from the Town Crier supply the income for our town and community projects.

OUR BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

• This organization is a not-for-profit corporation under the state laws of INDIANA and shall be known as the Westport Area Business Association, Inc.
• This corporation is organized for the (primary) mission of enhancing the economic activity of the Westport area. Enhancing activity shall include sustaining quality, as well as, encouraging growth. Economic activity shall include agricultural, commercial, industrial and professional concerns. The (secondary) mission shall be to support the civic and cultural well-being of the Westport area.
• The Westport Area shall be defined as encompassing a geographic area 25 miles in radius centered in the town of Westport, Indiana.
• The businesses serve approximately 3000 families living within this area with a total income of $20-$24 million.

Current Board of Directors:

Ila Cottone – President
Mark Koors – Vice President
Bryan Gatewood- Secretary
Bonnie Hahn – Treasurer
Mike Gasper – New Business
Barb Winchester – Public Relations/Town Crier Contact
Becky Tichenor- Board Member/New Membership
JoAnn Smith – Board Member
Terri McGrath – Board Member

Past-presidents and the years served are as follows: