Contact:
Melinda Grismer, (765) 496-6508
[email protected]
Forums Give Voice to Regional Strengths, Challenges & Opportunities
Peru, IN, Nov. 15, 2016 – Economic development leaders in six counties will be
reviewing information provided by public participation last night in Peru as they, with the
help of the North Central Indiana Regional Planning Council (NCIRPC), begin the
process of putting together a high-quality plan for regional prosperity.
Forty-three residents of Cass, Clinton, Fulton, Howard, Miami and Tipton who attended
last night’s civic forum collectively identified their strengths, challenges, and
opportunities. Cass County Economic Development Director, Christy Householder,
stated, “We are very excited with the level of participation from across the region. We
identified several initiatives that will be beneficial to our six counties.” A second round
of the forum is open for public participation on Monday, Nov. 21, from 5:30-8 p.m. in the
Kelley Center at IU Kokomo. Dinner will be served to participants. All residents of these
counties are welcome to register online: https://www.pcrd.purdue.edu/blog/set-wantsyour-input-rsvp-2016.php by Nov. 18.
This is made possible through the Stronger Economies Together (SET) program, funded
by USDA Rural Development (USDA-RD), and co-implemented by the Purdue Center
for Regional Development (PCRD). NCIRPC was selected in July as one of seven
recipients of SET funding nationwide; the only one chosen in the state of Indiana.
“Rural communities recognize the vital importance of economic development for the
benefit of residents. Understanding the difficulty of maintaining an adequate economic
development program on their own, communities are joining forces to better use
resources to grow businesses and create jobs,” said USDA-Rural Development State
Director Philip G. Lehmkuhler.
NCIRPC was established in 2014 to assist the communities throughout Cass, Clinton,
Fulton, Howard, Miami and Tipton counties with the purpose of building a stronger
regional economy by enhancing quality of life. “We’ve worked with our community
leaders to secure nearly $2 million in state and federal funding for local and regional
projects in our first two years of operations”, stated Steven Ray, NCIRPC Executive
Director. Ray continued, “The SET initiative will help direct efforts to ensure we
continue to impact our communities.” By bringing the SET program to these
communities, they will benefit from such assistance as step-by-step coaching to guide the
design and implementation of a practical and viable regional economic development plan,
in-depth data tailored to the region that describes its current and emerging clusters,
comparative economic advantages, detailed demographic and socio-economic
information, as well as technical assistance. Staff from both USDA-RD and PCRD will
play an important role in providing guidance and facilitation during the SET process.
In the last round of funding, which ended this year, two regions in Indiana benefited from
the SET program: 1) the Eastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (comprising
Randolph, Wayne, Rush, Fayette and Union counties), and 2) Indiana 15 (comprising
Clay, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo counties) have already completed
their high-quality plans, which are currently being reviewed by the national SET team.