Three St. Joseph County leaders told a group of more than 300 bankers and realtors Wednesday night the county has all the tools it needs to foster economic growth – they just need to be polished.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood and St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce Director of Business Growth Phil Damico all spoke about their vision and goals for the county’s future at an event at Juday Creek Golf Course

The bankers and realtors sitting in the room had a lot in common with the leaders standing in front of it – all of them want to bring more business and more people to St. Joseph County.

But in order to do so, they first need to help the county overcome some challenges.

“One of the number one challenges our community has is getting out the great things that we have going on,” Damico said.

Great things like top-notch universities, affordable housing and prime location – all things that need to be written into the story of St. Joseph County.

“Our story can’t be we’ve been through a lot of hard times, it’s got to be how do we get where we want to be?” said Buttigieg.

The leaders say they’re committed to working together to highlight the area’s strengths – a high concentration of top-notch universities, competitive housing and prime location.

All of those assets have helped increase interest in St. Joseph County since the economic downturn.

“We’ve been diversifying our local economy so with that comes multiple options for our community,” said Wood. “We are working on a couple of nice projects, I can't divulge names.”

But success isn’t possible unless Mishawaka and South Bend rebrand themselves – which starts with citizens. Because the perception problem about St. Joseph County is among many of its residents.

“We’ve got to believe in ourselves more,” Buttigieg says. “We’ve got to get over the fact that we’ve had some bad economic situations and recognize this is a process. If there’s any sense this is not an easy place to do business, we’ve got to fix it.”

Damico says since Jan. 2, he’s had 24 leads about businesses interested in moving to Northern Indiana. Now, the challenge is convincing them to.

“Creating a place that is vibrant and seems like it's vibrant,” said Damico. “And I think that's the challenge for all of us.”