BEDFORD, Ind. (Dec. 23, 2019) — Radius Indiana economic development leaders took information and insights about their southern Indiana region north for a day as hosts of an educational session in Indianapolis with site selectors. The session is the last of 2019 and part of Radius’s continued outreach program to raise awareness about the business strengths and opportunities in the eight-county region.

Radius President Jeff Quyle, other Radius staff members, utility partners and five economic development leaders from Daviess, Greene, Lawrence, Orange and Washington counties joined Quyle to discuss the latest news about the regional economy.

“Networking is an important part of my job and it’s great to have opportunities like this to meet new people and create new connections,” said Orange County Economic Development Partnership Executive Director Zach Brown. “Whether it’s learning about a new program going on in a community or getting to hear a new perspective from a site selector, I always get valuable information to take back to the job.”

The leaders from southern Indiana gave informative presentations to business advisors to showcase their communities, as well as the demographics and the quality of the workforce that powers the existing businesses in the eight counties. Radius also showcased a number of new workforce training, upskilling and attraction initiatives that are emerging.

“Site selector events with Radius allow me to stay up to date with an Indiana region that I don’t get to physically visit,” said Resource Vice President of Incentives and Location Advisors Brittany Mann. “It’s always nice to hear about ongoing projects and learning that the counties are putting resources into quality of life and workforce development- both areas that come up in my field constantly.”

This is the fourth annual Indianapolis site selector event and is the latest in a series of regional and national visits Radius Indiana has facilitated on behalf of the eight-county region since starting this program in 2016. The outreach efforts will continue into 2020, with sessions scheduled in Columbus, Chicago, Cleveland, Louisville and Nashville.

“Some of the most important connections we can make are with our neighbors,” Quyle said. “We will continue spreading awareness of the ongoing initiatives and programs in our region and being able to showcase what we are doing has proven to be beneficial for our counties. We are grateful for the site selectors in Indianapolis who continue to work with us to help us keep growing our region.”  

###

ABOUT RADIUS INDIANA: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of the region to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.

Bedford, Ind. (Dec. 13, 2019) — Radius Indiana is proud to announce the winners of this year’s final pitch competition held at WestGate Academy Dec. 6. The contest drew participants from multiple Radius Indiana counties as well as entrepreneurs from across the state.

Winners of the High School Competition:

• First Place | Peyton Davis of Greene County, Crane Connect
• Second Place | Michael Claycamp of Jackson County, Aquapon
• Third Place | Lara Santiago of Daviess County, Lion’sMane

Winners of the Adult Competition:

• First Place | Aaron Schnur of Vanderburgh County, Endless Eyewear
• Second Place | Nickey Ramsey of Tippecanoe County, Junobie
• Third Place | Geng Wang of Monroe County, Civic Champs

Participants were given three minutes to present startup ideas, products or business plans and then received useful feedback and advice from a panel of judges. Winners of the student and adult competitions each received a check for $1,000 for first place, $600 for second and $400 for third.

“I think the pitch competition was a great way to get students and the community to be alert about problems in our area and then come up with creative ways to solve them. For students especially, it’s a great way to learn business skills, as well as crucial general skills that they’ll be using later in life,” said Davis, winner of the high school competition with his pitch for Crane Connect, an easy-to-use website that creates connections between contractors and highly qualified employees. 

Schnur, who won the adult competition to launch the website for his company, Endless Eyewear, a rental subscription for designer eyewear said, “This experience and prize money will be a big help in launching Endless Eyewear early in 2020. It will go toward hiring the expertise to finish the website and purchase initial inventory. In addition, the experience and feedback from the judges and other participants is invaluable as I meet with investors and fine-tune my business plan.”

The judges for the adult competition were Landon Young from Elevate Ventures, Steve Bryant from Ivy Tech and Sawyer Sparks from Soy-Yer Dough; the high school competition was judged by Joyce Poling from Ivy Tech, Megan Cox from Genie Supply and Terri Brown from the Small Business Development Center. Each judge came into the competition with previous pitch competition judging experience.

“I want to thank all of our participants and judges for making our pitch competition a success. We are encouraged by the range of ideas and interest from within our region as well as from other areas of the state,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “We know that cultivating new business ideas and supporting entrepreneurs is vitally important to strengthening our region and small business growth.”

Based on the interest and participation in this year’s events, Radius Indiana plans to host additional competitions in 2020.

###

ABOUT RADIUS INDIANA: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of Southwest Central Indiana to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.

 

French Lick, Ind. (Dec. 3, 2019) — Radius Indiana held the region’s first economic development course for elected officials today at the French Lick Resort Meeting and Event Center. Nearly 50 incumbent and newly elected officials from all eight Radius region counties, as well as representatives from Clark, Floyd, Knox, Monroe, Morgan, Owen and Vanderburgh, participated in the inaugural event.

Radius created the intensive, one-day seminar, which specifically targets the needs of elected officials, as an extension of its annual Economic Development for Community Leaders Program. 

Experts from across the state provided attendees insight and strategies in areas such as: Site Development with Chelsey Manns, Manns Consulting; Workforce with Jim Plump, Jackson County Industrial Development Corporation; Incentives with Matt Eckerle, Baker Tilly; Business Retention & Expansion/Marketing and Branding with Jason Hester, Greater Columbus Economic Development Corporation; Entrepreneurship/Small Business Development with Courtney Zaugg, Plaka and Associates; and Organization/Board Structure/Development with Wendy Dant Chesser, One Southern Indiana.

The course is intended to strengthen leadership and collaboration in area counties, cities and towns, and aligns with Radius Indiana’s strategic focus to serve as an educational leader for economic development.

“Participation in this new program has exceeded our expectations, and confirmed the need for this type of educational opportunity; we have elected officials from every corner of our region and also several officials from neighboring counties,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “A strong working relationship between those in office and economic development professionals is essential, and I believe this course can help us all work toward a shared goal of building and sustaining our communities.”

Radius Indiana’s regional utility partners, Vectren, Smithville Fiber, Indiana Municipal Power Agency, Duke Energy and Hoosier Energy, co-sponsored the course and hosted a panel discussion during the lunch hour. Thanks to these partners’ generous support, Radius was able to offer the program free of charge.

City of Washington Mayor-elect Dave Rhoads was among the attendees and said economic development should be a top priority for those elected to serve, “Today many of the speakers touched on how important it is for our city government, county officials and economic developers to work together. We know that attracting new businesses and growing jobs is a very competitive process, and I look forward to taking the new information that I learned today to help us showcase all that Washington and our entire region has to offer.”

###

ABOUT RADIUS INDIANA: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of Southwest Central Indiana to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.