It's a wonderful time to live in and visit St. Joseph County

What an exciting time to experience St. Joseph County!

South Bend saw a 2.2% increase in population, which was the largest since the 1960 census. Investments by Amazon Web Services totaling more than $11 billion and by GM and Samsung totaling more than $3.5 billion are underway in New Carlisle.

The University of Notre Dame acquired a building in downtown South Bend — the former Tribune building — for redevelopment and will also see greater connectivity to downtown via the new urban trail, which is currently under construction.

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The new 230,000-square-foot Mishawaka Fieldhouse will open in September and will welcome more than 1 million people through its doors. The Mill Phase Two in downtown Mishawaka is well underway.

The expansion of the Morris Performing Arts Center will get underway later this year. Combined with the $500M mixed-use development project with Memorial Hospital and the Madison Lifestyle District, these projects will transform the northside of downtown.

Later in June, we will welcome the new Indiana Dinosaur Museum and South Bend Chocolate Company experience on the westside, along with the South Bend Public House and South Bend Farms.

And let’s not forget about the enhancements at Potawatomi Zoo, Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium, and Byers Softball Complex among others!

Across the county, we are also preparing to capitalize upon this success with new plans and strategies that will result from the St. Joseph County comprehensive plan, HVS/Lord Cultural Resources study of Century Center, Downtown South Bend 2045 visioning work, and our own tourism master plan, which will be released later this summer.

Any one of these projects would be a win for our region, but to experience all of them within 12 months of one another is incredible and a testament to so many who continue to work hard on our collective behalf.

That hard work translates to visitation by those outside our area. From the weekenders to the one tank getaway, to the family coming for a youth sports tournament, St. Joseph County experiences our highest visitation during the summer months. Tourism contributes more than $1.2 billion to our local economy each year by the more than 5.2 million individuals who come see us.

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And there’s a lot to see these days.

Of course, we recognize challenges still exist. We need more people staying in our hotels and eating in our restaurants. We need to continue to build the quality of place initiatives that help provide opportunities for residents to thrive and reasons for others to visit. We need to ensure all the plans I referenced are strategic, intentional and focal points that are aggressively pursued, appropriately funded and differentiating by design. We cannot afford to have a digital paperweight and lose any of the momentum that we have diligently and too patiently waited for through the years.

It is a wonderful time to live in and visit St. Joseph County. The progress, improvements and investments are obvious and are providing a meaningful return for us all. Let’s champion this work and aggressively pursue more. St. Joseph County for the win.

Visit South Bend Mishawaka is here to help tell our story, highlight our incredible experiences and bring the best to The Bend. Here are just a few exciting and upcoming events. To see more, head to visitsouthbend.com.

• June 4-9: South Bend Cubs at Four Winds Field• June 13-16: USTA Midwest Section Team Cup at Leeper Park/Notre Dame• June 18-23: South Bend Cubs at Four Winds Field• June 21-23: ETS Sports Midwest Championship at Newton Park• June 28-30: PBA Super State Championship at Newton Park

Jeff Jarnecke is the executive director of Visit South Bend Mishawaka (jjarnecke@visitsouthbend.com).

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Development projects lead to increased tourism for St. Joseph County