Former Edinburgh Planning Director Wade Watson cuts the ribbon on the Main Street extension on Oct. 24, 2023, while former town council member Dawn Graham, right, and Trena Carter, associate director of Administrative Resources association, hold the ribbon. The extension project was funded with a READI grant, and offers greater connectivity around Edinburgh.
Daily Journal File Photo
The (Columbus) Republic
The state of Indiana is investing another $500 million — and the Lilly Endowment is pitching in $250 million — for community and economic development programs designed by the communities themselves. The money invested in the program is funding important projects all over the state, but that’s only one benefit of an innovative program.
READI, which stands for Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, has already produced big results locally with more to come from the first round of grant funding. Meanwhile, local officials have submitted proposals with more ambitious plans for this year’s READI 2.0 program. Those grant awards are expected to be announced next month.
Among the biggest-dollar projects, leaders in our region are asking for a grant to help fund development of a potential vehicle innovation center at the former Walesboro airport. The center would be a collaborative effort between LHP Engineering and FORVIA to design, prototype and test and next-generation mobility technologies.
Because so many people in our region are employed in transportation-related industry, it’s hard to think of a project with more potential immediate and long-term economic impact.
In Columbus, you can see evidence of READI’s first-round grant impact in NexusPark on the site of the former FairOaks Mall. The new fieldhouse, community gathering space and home of Columbus Regional Health professional offices got a major boost from a $6 million READI grant awarded in December 2021.
That project was part of $30 million in first-round READI grants the state awarded to our region, which includes Bartholomew, Jackson and Jennings counties, as well as the town of Edinburgh.
Each of those localities got something from the first round of READI grants. Among them were a single-family housing subdivision in North Vernon, the renovation of an inpatient unit on the third floor of Schneck Medical Center in Seymour and the extension of Main Street in Edinburgh.
In READI 2.0, “The Indiana Economic Development Corp. says that the proposals will be evaluated on a variety of factors, including economic development potential, the level of focus on rural communities, the degree of regional collaboration and alignment with the state’s economic development priorities, such as population growth, per-capita income growth, growth in employment opportunities, educational attainment, housing units developed, childcare capacity and innovation activities,” The Republic’s Andy East reported.
Each of the 17 regions in Indiana seeking READI funding are competing for funding on projects that local leaders and community stakeholders deem worthy, but they also are doing something else. They are defining and advocating a regional approach for projects that they believe will help create jobs, add housing and improve quality of life in their communities.
We’ve only mentioned one of our region’s grant requests for the READI 2.0 funding, but they are impressive. You can find more information about the grant requests and the area’s development strategy at southcentralreadi.com.
We also hope state leaders will continue the innovative READI program for years to come. It makes a difference for communities statewide.
The (Columbus) Republic is a sister newspaper to the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
