The race is on for regions to get their applications in for up to $50 million from the state’s new Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI). Indiana Economic Development Corporation Chief of Staff Luke Bosso told members of the Northwest Indiana Forum Wednesday that the hope was to make a bigger and better version of 2016’s Regional Cities Initiative.
“We wanted to start looking at barriers to getting not just more job commitments to the state, but people to the state,” Bosso said. “So the ultimate goal of READI is attracting talent.” That could mean quality of place upgrades, like new workforce housing and cultural facilities, but also programs to promote innovation and develop talent.
However, local communities will have to find 80 percent of the project costs. The IEDC wants the bulk of that to be driven by private-sector money, but communities’ federal COVID-19 relief could also qualify as a local match. The program could also help identify state funding sources above and beyond the $50 million, according to IEDC Vice President of Innovation & Strategic Initiatives Mark Wasky.
“So if there is, for example, a trail project in your region that you’d like to fund, you can request funding to the IEDC, but we’ve been working with other agency heads to develop a means by which we can coordinate with one another to possibly tap into other state funding programs for those projects to help stretch the $50 million through READI as far as possible,” Wasky explained.
READI will be more flexible than Regional Cities when it comes to how the money can be spent and how regions are formed, although Wasky said it’s expected that the same regional development authorities used for Regional Cities would be in charge of this application, too.
To qualify, the regions have to be formed by July 1 and have their development plans finalized by the end of August. Funding recipients are expected to be announced in December. Wasky said the goal is to avoid slowing down regions that are already ready for READI, but he stressed that planning help will be available for those starting from scratch.
Locally, the Northwest Indiana Forum already has the Ignite the Region plan for its seven-county area that includes Starke and Pulaski counties. President & CEO Heather Ennis said READI is a great opportunity for the region. “This is our time to dream,” she said. “This is our time to dream big and to really imagine what we can be and to help move Northwest Indiana to the next level.”
Ennis said there is currently about $130 million worth of projects lined up, and they plan to meet with mayors and legislators to help figure out what to add to the list.
