A slap in the face? State awards only $15 million to East Central Indiana
On a per-county basis, ECI got the shaft. But did the region get what it deserved?
INDIANAPOLIS — The East Central Indiana Regional Partnership was awarded a grant of only $15 million on Tuesday to help accelerate economic growth in the aging, shrinking region.
Made up of Blackford, Delaware, Grant, Henry, Jay, Randolph, Rush and Wayne counties, East Central Indiana was one of 17 regions that applied for a share of $500 million in Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) funding — a program financed by the federal government’s American Rescue Plan, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package.
East Central Indiana didn’t seem to fare well in the competitive process.
However, READI review committee member Jason Dudich, a former state budget director and now treasurer at the University of Indianapolis, said, “While some more rural regions are receiving smaller awards, the value of these awards on a per capita basis is significantly higher than in more urban regions.”
And Gov. Eric Holcomb also said “all of these investments will have greater per capita impact in rural Indiana” regions like East Central Indian. “Again, a rising tide lifts all boats.”
Population trends were cited by Dudich as a major factor in the awards, and ECI’s population is getting smaller and older while also struggling to achieve prosperity and diversity (nearly 90% white, with little change expected). The region is also admittedly “bleeding talent and highly skilled workers.”
Roughly 60% of the $500 million is going to six regions of the state where 71% of the population is found, Dudich said.
In fact, the regions receiving the majority of the funding are expected to account for all of the state’s projected population growth over the next 15 years, Dudich went on, emphasizing the word “all.”
While some rural regions are expected to see population decline, some of those regions have strong cores and strong industry assets, like Kokomo, that could attract more population, Dudich said.
East Central finished dead last in per-county funding
ECI was one of three regions that will receive only $15 million. One other region was granted just $5 million. All of the others are getting $20 million, $30 million or $50 million.
Having read each region’s plans and watched each region’s presentation, “I think the awards were quite appropriate,” Michael Hicks, distinguished professor of economics and director of the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University, told me after the announcements.
Five very deserving regions received the maximum amount of $50 million, Hicks stated.
“These are really the five regions that did everything right. For the remaining dozen regions, awards ranged from a low of $1.36 million per county in the ECI region to $10 million per county in the South Central Region,” Hicks said in an email. “The distribution of the remaining awards largely focused on those share of projects that met the criterion IEDC staff laid out for the grants.”
Regions in the high range of these outliers, such as White River, Accelerate Rural Indiana and especially South Central, have made significant planning efforts and came up with “a trove of good projects,” Hicks wrote.
The Southeast SEI READI Region and the East Central Region received the lowest payments on a per county basis.
“I think the relatively weak quality of their plans …, the very poor quality of their presentations, the lack of elected official representation, and the lack of significant private sector employer support really made clear this was not really a broad effort of all the region,” Hicks said of those two regions’ performances. “For both groups, it might be wise to reconsider the geography of participation, and perhaps be more closely focused on the fundamentals of regional planning.”
Were the awards a slap in the face to East Central Indiana?
“I don’t think it is fair to call this a ‘slap in the face to East Central Indiana,’ “ Hicks answered. “The region fully earned its relative position in the planning process, the proposal and the presentation.”
The East Central Region has set a goal of boosting population trends by 11% by 2030, which would result in a net 0% population change.
In other words, zero population growth would be a victory compared to ECI’s long-standing depopulation.
“As we face these challenges, some residents and stakeholders have lost track of the valuable assets located across the region and are exhibiting a general apathy regarding our future,” says a study prepared by ECI region officials. “Each county in our region has been working hard to chip away at these colossal problems, but it will take time and continued investment to turn the corner.”
ECI officials who worked on the plan are not yet available for comment.
Here is a breakdown of who got what:
180 Alliance – awarded $20 million
Boone, Hendricks, Johnson, Putnam, Montgomery, Morgan
70-40 Mt. Comfort Corridor – awarded $5 million
Hancock
Accelerate Rural Indiana – awarded $20 million
Shelby, Rush, Decatur
East Central Indiana Regional Partnership – awarded $15 million
Blackford, Fayette, Delaware, Jay, Henry, Randolph, Wayne, Grant
Greater Lafayette – awarded $30 million
Tippecanoe, Fountain, Warren, Benton, White, Carroll
Indiana First – awarded $15 million
Harrison, Knox, Perry, Pike, Spencer
Indiana Uplands – awarded $30 million
Brown, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Owen, Washington
North Central Indiana Regional Planning Council – awarded $30 million
Fulton, Cass, Miami, Howard, Tipton, Clinton
Northeast Indiana, led by the Northeast Indiana RDA – awarded $50 million
DeKalb, Lagrange, Steuben, Noble, Kosciusko, Whitley, Allen, Wabash, Huntington, Wells, Adams
Northwest Indiana, led by the Northwest Indiana Forum – awarded $50 million
Lake, Porter, Laporte, Starke, Pulaksi, Jasper, Newton
Our Southern Indiana RDA – awarded $50 million
Washington, Floyd, Scott, Jefferson, Clark
South Bend-Elkhart RDA– awarded $50 million
St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall
South Central Indiana Talent Region – awarded $30 million
Bartholomew, Jackson, Jennings
Southeast Indiana READI – awarded $15 million
Dearborn, Union, Franklin, Ripley, Ohio, Switzerland
Southwest Indiana Regional Development Authority – awarded $50 million
Vanderburgh, Warrick, Gibson, Posey
Wabash River Regional Development Authority – awarded $20 million
Clay, Knox, Parke, Sullivan, Vermillion, Vigo
White River Regional Opportunity Initiative – awarded $20 million
Hamilton, Marion, Madison, City of Zionsville, City of McCordsville
For background on this story, see my previous reports on the subject and a video:
East Central Indiana officials compete in Indy for $50 million
A $379-million comeback plan for East Central Indiana
See each region’s proposal and video presentation