As quarter-finalist in national contest, Terre Haute has eyes on $3 million prize

Terre Haute is a quarter-finalist in the effort designed to revitalize the economies of small towns and cities. In May, the city learned it would receive $50,000 to build the framework of a career advancement program that community leaders hope to fully implement if the city wins the $3 million grand prize.

Frontier Communications, DISH Network, CoBank and The Weather Channel are sponsoring the contest.

A team developing the application for the contest’s next round is planning a conference to find out which community programs already in place can tie into the goal of helping unemployed or underemployed residents boost their skills.

“It gives us the funds, when we win the $3 million, to highlight and target the things we already know that we are great at,” said team member Lea Anne Crooks, president of Ivy Tech Community College’s Terre Haute campus. “It’s just that we need that extra funding to push us forward.”

Crooks spoke Tuesday evening at the Country Club of Terre Haute, during a dinner celebrating the city’s inclusion in the quarterfinals. The $50,000 check was presented during a program before the meal. Fifteen semifinalists will be named in early 2016. Eight finalists will receive $100,000 to continue implementing their plans, according to a news release.

Three winners will be announced in April 2017. The second-place finisher receives $2 million. The city in third place will be awarded $1 million. Greencastle and Jasper were the other two area quarter-finalists.

Of the $50,000 initial prize, $35,000 came from Frontier, and the group matched $15,000. AT&T, as a mentoring business, contributed an additional $15,000.

The local effort is tied to the workforce readiness initiative of Terre Haute Tomorrow, team member Brian Miller told the Tribune-Star. Terre Haute Tomorrow is an organization devoted to updating the city’s long-range community plan.

Miller said the career advancement program is geared toward addressing job retention, expansion and attraction.

“The initiative is really about raising the entire community,” he said, in hopes of making Terre Haute attractive to prospective outside investors.

Both Miller and Crooks credited Terre Haute Tomorrow for laying the groundwork for the initiative undertaken in the contest.

“One of the things I think we have to celebrate as a city is the fact that we had already come together,” Crooks told a crowd of about 35 people in the club’s Gold Room.

Fourteen other people are part of the application team.

“Great communities don’t just happen,” said Marc Evans, general manager of Frontier’s southern district. “We know that here. They’re a result of people coming together and working toward a common goal.”

In remarks during the program, Mayor Duke Bennett said the contest came along at the right time.

“I really think the project that’s been put on the table is something that is exactly what is needed,” he said.

As he travels around the state, Bennett said he hears repeatedly about work forces unready to meet the demands of today’s economy.

“We have the same problem here in Terre Haute,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of jobs going unfilled because the workforce is not ready. And we don’t want that reputation here, not only in Terre Haute, but the state of Indiana.

“And one way to do that is to hit it head-on and do something very special, very targeted to help people be successful,” Bennett continued, “which then in turn helps businesses be successful, communities be successful and the whole state and beyond.”

The career advancement program includes a “Workforce Fit” program with the goal of driving business growth, community revitalization and prosperity.

One of its aspects is a “boot camp” modeled after a fitness center/training approach. The aspect will include assessment; education; work simulation to build skills; coaching; addiction services; and career counseling to provide financial literacy and work etiquette, according to a brochure provided to dinner guests.

The program will also provide short- and long-term training — including an industry-recognized credential whenever possible — as well as partnerships with organizations that support entrepreneurial efforts.

Crooks said the program would help in that “head-on” approach to tackling workforce needs.

“We hear it all the time... that we have issues as far as the workforce is concerned,” she said. “And some of it might be a perceived issue, but we do have tackle it in some way.”