Cooperation grows between Radius Indiana and Southwest Indiana Development Council

Radius and SWIDC developed the plan to promote economic development coordination across their respective regions, which share similar demographics and industry clusters including high concentrations of agriculture and manufacturing.

"This newly formed relationship has the opportunity to bring more business and success to the counties involved," said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. "We look forward to working alongside SWIDC and seeing what can be achieved as we expand our regional approach. We are already in the planning stages to co-host a site selector event in Chicago, and have started discussions to include representatives from SWIDC in our international outreach efforts."

The two groups will identify opportunities to collaborate on outreach, such as joint site selector events, and continuing professional education in topics related to economic development for economic development professionals and elected civic leaders, as well as through other opportunities for mutual support that may arise. In addition, an annual meeting will be held between Radius and SWIDC to facilitate conversations among both regions' local economic development organizations.

"Collaboration among stakeholders is key to economic development especially in rural areas. This MOU between Radius and SWIDC is a positive step toward improving the capabilities of all represented counties in bringing economic development to southwest Indiana," said Alvin Evans, chairman of Southwest Indiana Development Council. "I applaud the leadership of Radius Indiana in reaching out to SWIDC to improve all our efforts."

As neighboring regional economic development groups, Radius and SWIDC represent multiple counties in southern and southwest Indiana and there are three counties, Daviess, Martin and Dubois that are members of both organizations.

"Dubois Strong is member of both regional groups. The new collaborative partnership agreement opens many opportunities to promote Southern Indiana as a great place to live, work, play and invest," said Ed Cole, president of Dubois Strong.

Ron Arnold, executive director of Daviess County Economic Development Corp. added, "There are challenges related to workforce and the continued migration of our bright young residents to the urban areas. It will take all of us working together utilizing all our resources to remain competitive."

Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of the region.