INDIANAPOLIS — Northeast Indiana is one of three regions that were singled out for their plans Thursday by members of a committee tasked with helping to decide which ones will split $84 million in funding for projects aimed at boosting their quality of life.
That had John Sampson, president and CEO of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, feeling upbeat Thursday evening on the drive back to Fort Wayne from Indianapolis. But he wasn’t ready to celebrate just yet.
The Indiana Regional Cities Initiative strategic review committee met Thursday in Indianapolis as it continued to consider plans submitted by seven regions competing for the funding. The initiative, created by the Indiana Economic Development Corp., is intended to help jump-start projects in two regions that would improve their quality of life and national awareness by awarding them $42 million over two years.
Northeast Indiana’s plan, called “The Road to One Million,” aims at growing the 11-county region’s population from more than 789,000 to 1 million by 2031. The plan identifies a number of projects that would be tackled over the next 10 years, organized among four different areas: arts and culture; greenways and blueways; education and industry; and downtowns and community development.
Together, the close to 70 projects identified represent an investment of nearly $1.5 billion. The recently formed Northeast Indiana Regional Development Authority, which would receive the $42 million in state funding if the region winds up a winner, submitted the plan to the IEDC in August.
Since then, regions have presented their plans to the strategic review committee, which is expected to make a recommendation to the IEDC board of directors. Gov. Mike Pence is expected to announce the winning regions in December.
Sampson said at Thursday’s meeting, committee members were given the opportunity to name the three regions whose plans stood out. While not constituting an official vote, committee members indicated northeast Indiana, north-central Indiana and southwest Indiana had the strongest plans.
“What I hear from that is that northeast Indiana is clearly in a good position at this point in the process,” Sampson said.
The IEDC has said the committee will consider four main factors as it makes its decision: regional collaboration; quality of place; traditional economic development; and viability.
“In general, the committee was very complimentary of the work of the communities,” Sampson said.
He said committee members did discuss providing funding to three regions instead of two, possibly through other sources. But they didn’t state where the additional money would come from.
The $84 million in Regional Cities Initiative funding is expected to be generated through the state’s tax amnesty program that runs through Nov. 16.
Sampson said Pence would announce the winning regions Dec. 15. Until then, he and others involved in northeast Indiana’s Regional Cities bid will continue to answer questions about the region’s plan.
And if northeast Indiana is one of the two regions that wins $42 million in state funding, Sampson said, “The other important activity for us is making sure our RDA is ready to work at the beginning of the year.”