Getting READI

The region is getting ready for another round of READI.

East Central Indiana Regional Partnership hosted the first of its Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) 2.0 regional workshops Tuesday evening at Ball State University.

A group of about 100 representatives from the eight counties in the East Central region met to discuss priorities for the region as it plans for the second iteration of the READI. The program targets state investment — $500 million was allocated for the first round with the same amount slated for READI 2.0 — to “promote strategic investments that will make Indiana a magnet for talent and economic growth.”

While complete details for READI 2.0 will not be available until Sept. 1, state officials have indicated that funding will be targeted toward capital improvement and infrastructure projects. The goal is to fund efforts that will improve quality of life, quality of place and quality of opportunity for Hoosiers.

Tuesday’s regional meeting facilitated by HWC Engineering followed local meetings in each of the eight counties — Jay, Randolph, Blackford, Grant, Henry, Wayne, Delaware and Fayette — in June in the East Central region. Gathering the data from those meetings, housing, quality of life, child care/education, quality of opportunity and population growth were identified as priorities for the East Central region. (Other goals that didn’t make the top five regionally were identified as local priorities, such as broadband access for Jay County.)

Those meetings also identified challenges to addressing those issues, with funding at the top of the list.

During Tuesday’s meeting, those in attendance discussed those priorities from the local meetings, making suggestions regarding potential changes or additions and how best to address the issues. The results of those conversations will be used to guide steering committee meetings moving forward.

One of the next steps in the process of preparing for READI 2.0 is a public survey, which is available at surveymonkey.com/r/S7XVCLS. Additional information about the program is available online at forgeeci.com/readi-2-0.

A second regional workshop is scheduled for Sept. 28. Steering committee meetings will continue in September and October, with the final regional development plan and READI 2.0 application to be completed by the end of the year.

In the first round of READI, the East Central region was awarded $15,000. (The largest award amount to a region was $50 million.) Funding for projects required an 80% local match, with a portion to come from private investment and another portion from government entities.

The result was more than $155 million in investment in the eight-county regional, including $74.6 million private matching funds and $58.4 million in public matching funds. Projects awarded funding in the region included renovations to the Salmonia Schoolhouse in Jay County, the Vision Corner Learning Center in Union City and fairgrounds renovation in Randolph County and broadband expansion in Blackford County. Projects funded in Delaware County included Albany’s commercial park development, downtown redevelopment in Yorktown and accessibility improvements in Selma.