By JESSICA KERMAN

For the Herald Bulletin

DALEVILLE — As Nancy Johnson looks at her selection of purchased merchandise from the Great American Market, the large flea market in Daleville, she laughs.

“I spent a lot today,” she said.

Johnson is one of the regulars at the flea market. She goes at least once a month.

“It’s just a fun atmosphere,” she said. “I like to look at what’s new.”

The Great American Market is just one of the things Exit 34 on Interstate 69 offers visitors to the area.

“That’s one of the most attractive areas on 69 between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne,” E. Roy Budd, Energize-ECI executive director, said. “It’s centrally located and it’s very convenient with access to the interstate. We’ve already got quite a bit of synergy there.”

Energize-ECI is a firm that markets 10 counties in east central Indiana — including Madison and Delaware — to prospective investors. 

While the flea market has been there for at least a decade, companies such as IBM have started investing in the area in only the past few years. The interchange has modified its function dramatically since I-69 was built.

Only 10 years ago, the land around I-69 was used for retail and service. Now, the area is being marketed to manufacturing companies as a place to locate. A prime example is the Heartland Business Park.

The business park was built to be a factory outlet mall, said Terry Murphy, vice president of Economic Development for the Muncie-Delaware County Economic Development Alliance.

Murphy said the owner of the mall sold it to the Horizon Financial Group, which could not maintain it because of financial problems.

“The outlet mall industry had some rough times with some stores, businesses and franchises that closed,” Murphy said. “As some closed in the mall here, it began to lose some of that synergy.”

The 220,000-square-foot mall was then converted to a business park by the next investor. The Heartland Business Park is almost full now, Murphy said.