Governor Eric J. Holcomb, Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) Board of Directors Tuesday awarded $500 million to support regional development plans across 17 regions representing all 92 counties. The East Central Indiana Regional Partnership (ECIRP), which includes Blackford, Fayette, Delaware, Jay, Henry, Randolph, Wayne, and Grant counties, was awarded $15 million.
This competitive process considered applications for the Indiana Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI). The total requests tripled the allocated $500 million READI budget, as submissions from the 17 regions amounted to more than $1.5 billion in demand and detailed nearly 800 projects and programs with a potential investment of $15.2 billion.
All 17 regions presented to the external review committee, allowing each region to present an overview of its plan to distill its vision, goals and strategies to positively impact the area’s quality of place, innovation, entrepreneurship, talent attraction and workforce development.
According to Grant County Economic Growth Council Executive Director Tim Eckerle, the ECIRP received a total of 167 proposals. Eckerle said it remains unclear how ECIRP officials will divvy the funds or determine which proposals will receive funding.
