A meeting last week has indicated that the North Central Region could be a strong candidate for millions of dollars in grant funds.
The Regional Cities Initiative is a program funded through the state’s tax amnesty program, allocating $84-million over two years toward a list of projects that looks to attract population to Indiana, and retain the state’s existing residents.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation’s Strategic Review Committee met on Thursday, the results of which indicate three top candidates for Regional Cities dollars. Regina Emberton with Michiana Partnership, the organization leading the campaign in the North Central Region, says she has observed the other presentations.
“In an ideal scenario, they would find enough funding at the state level to fund all three of the regions fully,” says Emberton. “I think the more that our regions can implement these action plans, the better the state will be overall.”
Seven regions from around the state submitted project proposals. Marshall County is part of the North Central region, along with Saint Joseph and Elkhart counties. The other two frontrunners are considered the Evansville and the Fort Wayne regions.
The North Central Region boasted the greatest Return on Investment in the initial analysis – something Emberton says shows the strength of the list of projects they’ve assembled. Michiana Partnership says they’ve been answering questions from the review committee as they’ve come up.
“The other thing that’s been really amazing to watch is how the projects are starting to progress even prior to being awarded the funding,” says Emberton. “And so we’ve been trying to use social media to keep the Strategic Review Committee and the state updated about all the great things that are starting to happen here in North Central Indiana.”
The Northwest Indiana region was not among the list of frontrunners indicated from those participating in the meetings. Emberton says she hopes to see them continue work on Southshore line expansion and reliability as it’s considered a boost to the North Central Region as well.
The IEDC board meeting is coming up December 15th. Economic Development professionals believe that’s when the Regional Cities announcement is likely to be made.
