Northeast Indiana awarded $30M to address housing, talent
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As part of the new two-year state budget, the Indiana General Assembly approved $30 million in economic development funds for the Northeast Indiana Strategic Development Commission.
The commission, which was established by the Legislature in 2021, plans to use the funding to implement its five-year plan released last November.
The plan involves a series of strategies to improve three key areas for the entire 11-county region: housing, talent attraction and retention, and talent development.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership CEO Stephane Frijia said the commission is now preparing to determine which priorities to fund first.
“[We’ll] fund one activity, which ultimately is going to have secondary and tertiary benefits to some of the other goals,” Frijia said. “So defining where we start to tackle this plan is going to be key because that will determine early success.”
The commission said it wants to use the funding as a catalyst to grow population, grow wages, and grow the number of residents with a degree or credential.
Frijia said he believes housing will be the first challenge to address, particularly affordable workforce housing, which will feed into the talent attraction and retention goal.
“We all know that prices are going significantly up above what the wages have been appreciating over the last few years. So funding at home is becoming harder and harder,” he said. “And within that, you know, there is a lot of conversation about how you identify your developments and incentivize or solve problems most likely to enable the free market to operate in a natural way.”
The five-year plan’s housing strategy includes expanding funding for infrastructure, financing mechanisms to assist first-time homebuyers, and engaging employers to help cultivate solutions to address housing issues.
In addition to talent attraction, which the region has been working toward with its Road to One Million plan, Frijia said talent retention is another key focus, especially with regard to younger talent.
“[We] may have people for some reason that say, our newest graduates from their high school or college, after graduating, they they choose to go outside of the state, outside the region. Well, how we can retain them? How can we show that there is plenty of opportunity for them within this community to stay and thrive and achieve their objectives and dreams.”
Frijia adds keeping talent in the region is also crucial for businesses that are seeing a reduction in workforce due to retirements.
The third goal involves talent development and workforce training, which Frijia said is a never-ending goal as technology evolves and the skills needed to keep up continue to grow.
“We always have to pay attention on making sure that the jobs that we’re creating, the jobs that we’re inviting to the region are also matching with the skill set that our residents have,” he said. “And if they don’t, how do we also help them move up into their skill set potential and enjoy more fulfilling jobs and ultimately create a more sustainable community?”
Frijia said additional allocations through the new state budget will support the region, including $30 million for Warsaw-based OrthoWorx Inc. to support the state’s orthopedics industry, which is heavily concentrated in northeast Indiana, as well as $500 million for the second round of the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, or READI.
Northeast Indiana was one of five regions to receive the full $50 million allocation from the first round of the READI program, which the state said last week has generated more than $8.5 billion in additional investment statewide.
You can connect to more details on the commission’s five-year plan by clicking here.