Wabash Valley lands $10 million in READI 2.0 grants

Apr. 11—The state Thursday awarded $10 million in Indiana READI 2.0 grant funding to the Wabash River Regional Development Authority.

The Wabash River RDA represents Clay, Parke, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo counties. It had submitted $119,792,158 in proposals to the state.

All told, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced awards of $500 million to 15 regions representing all 92 Indiana counties.

The maximum commitment to any single region or RDA was $75 million, although in the awards announced Thursday no region received more than $45 million.

Dispersal of funding was overseen by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, which gives financial approval for each project.

The Wabash River RDA had received 37 applications from communities within its five-county region. It will work alongside the IEDC to determine which specific requests will be fulfilled.

In 2021, the Wabash River RDA submitted $77 million worth of requests and received $20 million.

"While the RDA was disappointed by the limited allocation for our region, we are committed to utilizing the funds received and exploring other funding opportunities to move as many projects as possible to fruition," Jon Ford, president of the Wabash River RDA, said in an email.

In a statement issued earlier, Ford had said, "It is more important now than ever before to use these dollars to leverage the most private/public funds possible to remain competitive in opportunities such as READI. It is evident that private investment leverages played an integral role in today's announcement."

Other nearby regions received more READI 2.0 funding.

The Central Indiana Regional Development Authority was awarded $45 million for Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Morgan and Putnam counties.

The Indiana Uplands, led by Regional Opportunity Initiatives Inc. representing Brown, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange and Owen counties, was given $30 million.

Indiana First, led by the Southwest Indiana Development Council, received $15 million for Harrison, Knox, Perry, Pike and Spencer counties.

The Wabash River RDA had sought applications focusing on recreational tourism, housing, early childhood education and educational attainment and workforce training, believing those to be categories that would maximize the state's initiative.

READI stands for Regional Acceleration and Development Initiative, and the grants are intended to support projects that boost quality of place and quality of life.

Other regions and funding allocations were:

—Accelerate Rural Indiana's RDA (Decatur, Rush and Shelby counties and the city of Batesville), awarded $30 million

—The East Central Indiana Regional Partnership (Blackford, Delaware, Fayette, Grant, Henry, Jay, Randolph and Wayne counties), $35 million

—The Greater Lafayette Commerce Community and Economic Development Foundation (Benton, Carroll, Fountain, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, Warren and White counties), $35 million

—The North Central Indiana Regional Planning Council (Cass, Clinton, Fulton, Howard, Miami and Tipton counties), $35 million

—Northeast Indiana RDA (Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Kosciusko, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties), $45 million

—Northwest Indiana Forum (Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton, Pulaski and Starke counties), $45 million

—Our Southern Indiana RDA (Clark, Floyd, Jefferson, Scott and Washington counties), $45 million

—South Bend-Elkhart, led by Northern Indiana RDA (Elkhart, Marshall and St. Joseph counties), $45 million

—The Southern Indiana Housing and Community Development Corporation (Bartholomew, Jackson and Jennings counties and the town of Edinburgh), $30 million

—The Southeast, led by SEI READI Inc. (Dearborn, Ohio, Switzerland, Union, Franklin and Ripley counties, excluding the city of Batesville), $10 million

—Southwest Indiana RDA (Gibson, Posey, Vanderburgh and Warrick counties), $45 million

"Indiana is leading the way in future-focused investments in our economy and in our communities, ensuring that all Hoosiers of today and tomorrow have the opportunity to prosper," Holcomb said. "READI has already resulted in more than $12.6 billion invested in quality of place and quality of life assets.

The 15 regions awarded funding through READI 2.0 will be eligible to access more money through an additional $250 million grant awarded by Lilly Endowment Inc.

READI 2.0 and its expansion through LEI is expected to attract a minimum 4:1 match of local public and private funding.

Based on the plans outlined in READI 2.0 applications, the state's $500 million investment is expected to yield nearly $11 billion overall invested in increasing the vibrancy and prosperity of Hoosier communities.

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.