Radius Indiana Reflects on 10 Years of Radius at Annual Stakeholders Meeting

BEDFORD, Ind. (March 4, 2019) – Radius Indiana held its annual stakeholders luncheon last Wednesday at the French Lick Resort.  Attendees gathered to celebrate the 10th year of the organization, which will celebrate its anniversary on March 9, 2019.The meeting featured Radius Indiana Board of Directors’ Chair Becky Skillman
who thanked stakeholders for their continued support of Radius and shared some statistics about the growth of the region over the last 10 years; total wages have increased by 34 percent and the average annual wages per worker have increased by 23 percent.

Skillman introduced Blaine Parker, Director of Tourism and Quality of Place for Radius Indiana. Parker unveiled the new tourism initiative that Radius will lead to strengthen the region’s already thriving tourism industry: “Discover Southern Indiana”.  The new brand will be used by Radius and its eight counties in a cooperative and complementary joint tourism marketing approach.

Dr. Kyle Werner, Director of Engagement at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division and an advisor for the Radius Indiana Board of Directors, explained the process that the board’s strategic planning committee followed to create a new strategic plan for Radius, the first one for the organization since its original founding. At the end of its assessment, the committee created six pillars, which Radius will use to guide future initiatives:

• Workforce/Talent Retention and Attraction
• Support for Entrepreneurship/Small Business Growth
• Regional Economic Leadership & Education
• Crane Community Outreach/Support to Regional Defense Industry
• Regional Tourism Development
• Regional Marketing

“Everyone on the committee was highly engaged throughout the process and provided valuable insights as needed to complete this important task,” said Dr. Werner. “A huge thank you to the committee members for their valuable contributions and dedication to help the region move toward future success.”

John McDonald, CEO of ClearObject, attended the meeting to deliver his presentation, “The Internet of Every Thing,” which provided the audience with a glimpse of the future of society and economic development and how people interact with companies, products, and data today and the ways it is expected to grow in upcoming years.

Jeff Quyle, Radius Indiana president and CEO, announced some of the initiatives that will take place in 2019 and upcoming years, such as continuing regional economic leadership and education through the Radius Economic Development Course, and establishing a veterans’ recruitment program to support Talent Attraction and Retention.

Quyle also shared successes for the region in the years since the creation of Radius, including the completion of the I-69 corridor, building and growth at the WestGate@Crane Technology Park, and the hundreds of millions of dollars in investment that has spurred growth and helped shaped the region.

Quyle also presented a year in review, recapping the many firsts for the organization from 2018, including the first-ever international site selector trip to Japan, the launch of the Women in Economic Development Leadership Initiative, and the completion of the region’s first wage and benefits study.  A list of economic development announcements in the region for 2018 revealed that over $782 million and 1,650 new jobs were projected to land in the communities around the region.

“It has been great to see our stakeholder meetings grow each year and get to share our goals with so many talented people who care about what our region is doing and want to see us succeed,” said Quyle. “2019 is a year for building off what we created with our strategic plan in 2018, and our team is excited to see this plan come to life.”

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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.