South Bend-Elkhart Regional Strategic Plan Unveiled
The plan is centered around five areas of focus.
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe South Bend-Elkhart Regional Partnership and the South Bend-Elkhart Regional Development Authority have unveiled the region’s first Regional Economic Development Strategic Plan. A group of leaders from throughout the region spent the majority of 2017 in separate committees focusing on five specific areas. The goal of each committee was to "to develop specific strategies and identify what activities would help drive the ultimate goal of increasing per capita personal income in the region."
The areas of focus included:
- Workforce — Raise the post-secondary attainment levels from 30 to 50 percent
- Talent — Transform net migration to a positive in-migration
- Industry — Grow jobs in higher pay traded industry clusters by 20 percent
- Startup — Establish 200 high potential startups
- Inclusion — Improve the region’s national rank of minority income disparity to the 80th percentile
"Many Chamber staff and volunteers have played a key role in the development of this plan, and we are excited to see it move forward," said Jeff Rea, chief executive officer of the South Bend Regional Chamber. "For years, our primary objective has been advancing regional prosperity, and we are thrilled by the collaborative effort from business and community leaders from across the region who have produced this important document."
Rea says the chamber will work with its regional partners to implement the plan. You can read the full Regional Economic Development Strategic Plan below. You can connect to more on the plan by clicking here.