Vigo, Sullivan and Knox counties make their Regional Cities Initiative pitch

“It all starts here,” he told members of a strategic review committee for the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative Tuesday afternoon in Indianapolis. “It all starts with a beautiful building.”

Where drug dealers once plied their trade, Lamb said, churches recently held a series of revivals. Clubs are expressing interest in using the building for ceremonies and other events.

Lamb joined other community representatives from the initiative’s Wabash River Region at the Indianapolis Museum of Art for a presentation detailing proposed or ongoing projects that could receive state funding. The region covers Vigo, Sullivan and Knox counties.

Six other regions throughout the state are competing with the Wabash River group for $84 million in state grants for initiatives aimed at improving quality-of-life in Hoosier communities. Two winners will each get $42 million grants.

Sullivan’s ongoing $2.3 million civic center and plaza project is one of the Wabash River region’s projects. The civic center, located on the grounds of the former Central Elementary School, opened last month.

Initiative funds would help the town start phase two, beautifying the land that surrounds the center.

The project has already helped draw more people downtown, Lamb said.

He recalled addressing a crowd of children and parents at Sullivan Elementary School’s PTO color splash in August. Lamb asked the attendees how many of them would otherwise spend a Saturday morning downtown.

“Nobody raised their hand,” he said. “Zero.”

Altogether, the Wabash River region is proposing $34 million in projects for the three counties. Sullivan County would also use its portion for a blight elimination project.

Vigo County initiatives include the renovation of the former ICON Transportation building, a precision agricultural center for Ivy Tech Community College and an equine facility at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.

In Knox County, the money would be put toward renovating former department stores and theaters in downtown Vincennes.

The region sees the Wabash River as the resource connecting all of the counties together and a boundary for Illinois residents and businesses to cross and invest into Hoosier communities.

In 2013, Vigo County attracted about 2,000 workers from Illinois daily, according to data presented by the region. That number was roughly 1,500 the same year in Knox County and approximately 167 in Sullivan County.

The river would provide the backdrop for the renovated ICON factory, which would serve as office space for Launch Terre Haute and apartments.

“And so, an infusion of Regional Cities investment will help the region, help the state in making that critical next step to draw people who want to create ideas, build successful companies and live along the Wabash River and make western Indiana their home,” said Greg Goode, executive director of government relations at Indiana State University, a member of the region’s planning committee.

The precision agriculture facility, which would be located in the Vigo County Industrial Park, is a nod to the changed landscape of agriculture from manual labor to computerized farming.

“This is cutting-edge technology and we’re excited about the opportunity to offering training and education in that field in Terre Haute,” Jonathan Weinzapfel, chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College, told the committee.

Goode said SMWC’s equine facility would help draw more people to the college’s equine studies program, the only one of its kind in the state to offer a bachelor of science degree.

The region’s colleges and universities are a major component of the proposals, and most of their leaders spoke about the impact their campuses have made on economic development.

SMWC president Dottie King quoted college founder Saint Mother Theodore Guerin in describing its involvement in the community.

“We are not called upon to do all the good that is possible, but only that which we can do,” Guerin once said.

ISU President Dan Bradley touted his campus’s construction projects and increased enrollment as two of the ways he said the Sycamore community has helped advance the area.

“We think that Indiana State is already a player of developing quality of life in the mid-central, west-central part of the state,” Bradley said.

Weinzapfel said he appreciated the regional approach the state is taking with the initiative. He said Ivy Tech would continue working with employers and businesses to ensure the college is delivering upon workforce and educational needs.

The committee also heard from Steve Miller, chief financial officer of Pioneer Oil and Franklin Well Services, which has relocated from Illinois to Vincennes.

Continued renovations of Pioneer and Franklin’s offices in a former Hills department store in Vincennes are on the list of the region’s proposals. Pioneer has explored for oil on ISU’s campus.

Miller said moving from the outskirts of Lawrenceville, Ill., allows the company’s employees better access to community amenities and other businesses.

“It’s been a great move for us,” he said in remarks to the committee.

In December, the committee will make funding recommendations to the Indiana Economic Development Corp. Board of Directors, which will select the winning regions.

The regional development authority’s board, with members from each of the region’s counties, would oversee the local plans. All three county governments have passed measures creating the authority. Vigo County Council’s approval came just this week.

Committee members took notice of how recently the authority has come together. During a question-and-answer session, member Chris LaMothe asked how the region would continue collaborating among local stakeholders.

Goode said higher education leadership was driving the teamwork at least in the northern part of the region.

“I think that is something that still hasn’t reached its full potential in Indiana,” he said.

The Indiana Economic Development Commission, which is overseeing the initiative, said the region’s college and university involvement stuck out among the others.

“Obviously, the universities are part of the core of the region,” Eric Shields, vice president of policy and strategic initiatives, told the Tribune-Star following the presentation. “And if [the region is] going to reach their potential, they’re going to be a huge part of it.”

Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce president David Haynes, who attended the session, said he was pleased with the presentation.

“The work has just begun,” he said.

At least one Terre Haute resident made the drive to learn more about the region’s plans.

Betty Farmer said she wished the proposals would have involved more entertainment and activities on the river itself.

“It’s certainly going to draw crowds at those kinds of events,” she said.