When northeast Indiana won $42 million in Regional Cities Initiative funding from the state of Indiana, one of the big concerns of government and economic development officials in the surrounding counties was that the funds be equitably distributed across the entire 11-county area.
So far, that seems to be happening. The Northeast Indiana Regional Development Authority has recommended funding 12 projects located in seven counties. And dollar-wise, the division is close to 50/50 Fort Wayne versus the outlying counties.
“We’re probably right in that sweet spot where both sides think they are not getting their fair share, so that probably means we’re close to the middle,” said Michael Galbraith, the RDA’s executive director.
The projects recommended thus far represent a total investment of $108 million, of which more than 66 percent is private investment.
“This is not just government funding government, this is government helping to leverage private investment to make things happen,” Galbraith said.
The average Regional Cities funding for the projects thus far is about 12 percent, but that ranges from a low of about 7 percent to a high of 20 percent.
Although the five RDA board members have discussed setting limits on the percentage of funding that could come from Regional Cities, they continue to evaluate projects on a case by case basis, Galbraith said.
The blueprint for spending is the Road to One Million plan that northeast Indiana submitted to convince the state it deserved the funding. But the first project funded, the Skyline Tower in downtown Fort Wayne, was not part of the original plan, nor were the DeKalb YMCA or Angola/Trine University projects.
Those projects were subjected to extra scrutiny and review, because the Indiana Economic Development Corp. wanted to make sure they fit the guidelines outlined in plan, Galbraith said.
Some proposals have been sent back to the drawing board for additional work before formal consideration by the RDA, and some never even made it to the drawing board.
“They ask if it’s going to work, and I say ‘probably not. I’m not going to prohibit you from coming forward, but I don’t think the RDA is going to recommend that project so it might be a waste of your time,’” he said.
The application process is still a work in progress; in fact, at the time the Skyline project was considered, an application hadn’t even been developed. Some applications have been made in paper, and some online, and the IEDC just recently revised its online form to include a few more categories of information.
Northeast Indiana has four years to approve the total $42 million in funds.
“That doesn’t mean everything has to be spent within four years, but we can’t award any money after that four years,” Galbraith said.
With the final meeting of the RDA scheduled for Dec. 13, the agency has approved about $13.6 million, or nearly a third of its funding capability; and $19.6 million in project funding requests have been presented.
The Northeast Indiana RDA, the largest in the state, includes Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties.