GARY | An Ivy Tech Community College official on Wednesday urged a new committee to "think out of the box" to create ways to transform Gary and the region.

O'Merrial Butchee, director of the Gerald I. Lamkin Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at Ivy Tech Community College Northwest, presided over a meeting where officials from the college, community leaders and members of the Knight Foundation talked about ways in which the foundation could provide grant money.

Butchee encouraged nearly 100 participants who attended the session at Dusties Buffet Restaurant in Gary to think differently.

"Think about your own personal vision of Gary and how to attain that vision," Butchee said.

The major categories include youth, economic development, housing, arts and culture, education, health care, energy and transportation.

Brenda Price, program director for the Knight Foundation, encouraged people to apply for grants because the Knight Foundation is interested in working with communities.

Milton Irving, bureau director, Media Services, of the Washington, D.C.-based One Economy Corp., suggested people first focus on technology.

Pointing to a group of students sitting at a table, J. Lupe Valtierra, chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College Northwest, said students are the future. Eight college students are working as interns at the Gary Sanitary District.

Russell Thompson, 19, of Gary, a sophomore at Purdue University West Lafayette, said during a break in the program that he is majoring in electrical engineering and hopes to return home after graduation to work.

"With my degree, I want to make a difference," he said.

"I'd like to eventually teach math at one of the local high schools. I want to do something to change the city and really put it on the map," said Thompson, a 2007 graduate of the Emerson School for Visual and Performing Arts.

Business consultant Faye Tippy, of Schererville, said she's been involved in many committees, and this is one where it looks like something worthwhile can occur.

"I think focusing on technology is a good place to start because there are a huge number of things that can be effected through technology," she said.