GREENSBURG — A representative from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) and Indiana Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch were in town Wednesday to announce a new initiative to support rural Hoosier communities.
As part of their Strategic Plan for Rural Indiana, OCRA intends to implement a “collaborative” and “innovative” agenda over the next three years.
According to OCRA Executive Director Jodi Golden, consistent issues of concern for rural residents of Southeastern Indiana include access to broadband, addiction crisis, a housing shortage, the workforce skills gap and aging water infrastructure.
With that said, the state agency will prioritize a variety of key initiatives such as providing opportunities and programs focused on people and place-based investments; expanding as a trusted resource for rural Indiana; building capacity of rural leadership; supporting economic growth and preservation in the downtown and commercial districts; and facilitating strategies to address rural broadband access.
Golden said these initiatives are a framework from which to build upon. Also, she says measuring progress and adjusting to changing dynamics is crucial.
Lt. Governor Crouch says that roughly 40 percent of the state’s population lives across 76 rural counties, and these rural communities possess extraordinary natural beauty, alluring small towns, historic structures and quality natural resources that need to be preserved, enhanced and developed.
“With today’s announcement of OCRA’s new rural strategy, we will transform the way we do economic development,” Crouch said Wednesday.
Crouch referenced the input OCRA received from rural residents, which helped spark many of these new efforts.
“Through the leadership of OCRA, we are seeing rural communities in our state thrive and become the areas that people want to visit and live in,” said Crouch. “I know that the agency (OCRA) has received input from various members of these rural areas, and has configured a plan to take this input and put it into action across the state.”
Crouch mentioned both she and Governor Eric Holcomb believe the next great economic development frontier is rural Indiana.
She added that in order to compete with urban communities, rural communities must have access to fast, accurate and reliable broadband services. As a result, this is expected to have a positive impact on future generations.
“We’re raising young people who are writing a new chapter in American history,” Crouch said. “It is based on hard work and ingenuity, coupled with the technology to make quality of life improvements in countless ways.”
According to OCRA’s Golden, the agency held meetings with a diverse sector of partners, stakeholders and constituents with interest in development the rural areas of the state. The two guiding principles, OCRA says, are retaining, attracting and developing talent in rural communities and inciting and encouraging regional collaboration. OCRA believes that collaboration and partnership between rural communities is crucial when it comes to growth, taking care of its people, and taking it to the next level.
“The Strategic Plan for Rural Indiana outlines a collaborative, innovative agenda for OCRA to accomplish over the next three years,” Golden said. “This plan will help us focus our support for rural Indiana communities to help make them better places to live, work, play and grow.”
Greensburg Mayor Dan Manus, who along with the local Economic Development Corporation have made the development of the city a priority, offered his thoughts on the state’s plans.
“I believe it will be huge for Greensburg,” Manus said of the Strategic Plan for Rural Indiana. “I think it will help us.”
“Under Jodi Golden’s leadership and with this OCRA strategy, I know that rural Indiana is poised to go to the next level, which is so important because when rural Indiana succeeds, the entire state benefits,” Crouch said.