Regional Cities funding was finalized as the clock was ticking at the Indiana Statehouse on Thursday night.
There were suspicions that Regional Cities funding may not have sufficient votes for passage out of committee after the Indiana Economic Development Corporations’ Regional Cities Task Force recommended awarding Tax Amnesty funds to three regions of the state instead of two.
Michiana Partnership CEO Regina Emberton says this is a good opportunity to re-focus on the investments about to be made.
“We’re really excited to be past this phase,” says Emberton. “We were ready to go in December and had a little detour to get through the process with the additional funding, but now that that’s complete, we’re full speed ahead and working on the next step.”
Marshall, St. Joseph, and Elkhart counties joined forces to create the North Central Region. They, along with two other regions were the chosen recipients.
The Indiana House approved the funding on a 91-5 vote late Thursday night. Apart from the $42-million received from the state of Indiana, the Regional Cities project is expected to unleash millions more in private investment. That funding was attached to a road funding bill – the biggest issue taking place during the 2016 legislative session.
The Michiana Partnership – which spearheaded the organizing and application efforts – previously said they were not worried about the matter.
“I just really couldn’t imagine there was a better portfolio of projects that had come together and I know that the state was really impressed by the regional collaboration and by the caliber of the projects that were demonstrated that came into that plan,” says Emberton. “It would have been missing out on such a huge return on investment, not only for our region, but also for the whole state.”
Now the projects will coordinate with IEDC to understand the exact requirements for drawing down those funds. In addition, the Regional Development Authority, the local board overseeing the projects, will continue working on the process.
