BEDFORD, Ind. (Oct. 15, 2019) — Radius Indiana is proud to announce the winners for its first-ever regional pitch competition that was held on Friday, October 4 at the Stonegate Art and Education Center in Bedford. 

Winners of the High School Competition:

• First Place | Gracie Madison of Daviess County, Retech 
• Second Place | Lara Santiago of Daviess County, Lion’sMane

Winners of the Adult Competition:

• First Place | Hunter Hawley of Monroe County, Blueprint Stats
• Second Place | Abby Taylor of Crawford County, Backroads Market
• Third Place | Valerie Hovis of Martin County, The Flower Project

Madison won the high school competition with her pitch for a Tech Refurbishment App, an affordable way for middle-class families to acquire technology. Hawley won the adult competition to further market his company, Blueprint Stats, a service that helps high school basketball teams with statistical analysis and film breakdown.

Each participant was given three minutes to present his or her product/service. Slideshow presentations, as well as examples of already created products, were presented to the judges.

“The Radius Pitch Competition in Bedford was a great experience for me while building my business in Indiana,” said Hawley. “The importance of opportunities like these cannot be stressed enough, because aside from providing resources to local entrepreneurs, they also provide all who pitch an opportunity to refine and think critically about their venture. This award will go a long way towards getting the word out about Blueprint Stats and helping us reach our goal of making athletes, coaches, and teams better at what they do by helping them understand their own performance.”

The judges for the event were Landon Young from Elevate Ventures, Steve Bryant from Ivy Tech and Steve Hawkins from Hoosier Hills Credit Union. Each judge came into the competition with previous pitch competition judging experience.

The participants of the competition were judged on the following criteria:

• Problem and Solution | Identifies the problem their business would solve and how their product or service would provide a solution

• Competitive Advantage | Explains how their business is different and better than similar, existing products or services

• Target Customer | Identifies who would use this product or service

• Financials | Explains pricing structure for their product or service or estimated profitability of the business

• Conclusion | Explains how they would use the prize money for their business if they win

• Presentation | Ability to answer the judge’s questions and clearly present their product/service overall and clearly communicate the message

• Viability | Potential for success in the future for the product/service

“It was an exciting night getting to be apart of the first annual Radius Indiana Regional Pitch Competition, ” said Bryant. “The judging panel were all amazed by the depth of the business ideas and the prospects for success. We look forward to the next step of the competition and final winners as the pitch process wraps up.”

The other participants in the event included:

• Amanda Mundy of Crawford County
• Damir Cavar of Monroe County
• Ryan Miller of Dubois County
• Garrett Beatty of Lawrence County
• Michael Harkness of Orange County

The final round of the competition will be held in early December. More details and registration information will be available next month.

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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.

BEDFORD, Ind. (Oct. 4, 2019) — Radius Indiana joins the U.S. Small Business Administration and the National Association of Manufacturers in recognizing Manufacturing Day, an annual event on the first Friday of October, which celebrates modern manufacturing and is meant to inspire the next generation of manufacturers. 

Manufacturing is the fifth-largest employer in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over 21,000 workers are employed in the manufacturing industry in the Radius Region and an average of 231 employees have been added each year in the past three years.

In anticipation of Manufacturing Day, Radius Indiana prepared a quarterly update today to its Radius Manufacturing Index, which gives the organization an analytic tool that monitors several facets to gauge the strength of the manufacturing industry in the region. 

The new report showed continued manufacturing growth in the eight-county region, powered by an increase in the number of manufacturing establishments and an increase in the average of earnings in the region attributed to manufacturing. The overall index did see a slight decrease, falling from 60.26 to 57.45, which can be attributed to other regional industry sectors gaining more employees at a high rate, causing the manufacturing sector to not grow as quickly as it has in the past. 

Five of the twelve indicators in the index rose during the quarter, five declined, and two remained unchanged.  Some of the declining factors represented slower comparative growth in the manufacturing economy, and are signs of continuing manufacturing growth.  The Radius region continued to add new manufacturing business establishments during the quarter, for example, but not as many as in the previous quarter.

“Our regional economy maintains a strong foundation of manufacturing,” said Radius President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “The strength in manufacturing appears to be providing the financial fuel to allow other parts of the economy to grow as well, allowing our communities to see increasing diversification of income sources.”

In recent months, several manufacturing companies located in the Radius Region announced expansions and investments that will increase the size of facilities and employment opportunities. 

Most recently, Berry Global, manufacturers of a wide variety of plastics, tape and adhesive products for a number of different industries, announced a 40,000-square-foot expansion at its Odon facility. The multi-million dollar investment will create a dozen new jobs in the region.

“Manufacturing is critical to our economy both here in Daviess County and in the Radius Region. With Berry Global’s recent announcement, we are continuing to see strong investment and growth in the manufacturing industry within our region. Berry Global’s investment is a testament to why it’s so important to celebrate this industry and inspire the next generation to explore careers in modern manufacturing,” said Bryant Niehoff, executive director of Daviess County Economic Development Corporation.

Other notable announcements include Indiana Fabric Solutions, a certified Women-owned Bedford business that produces high-quality, reusable sewn fabric packaging products; the company is undergoing a 25,000-square-foot addition that will house new equipment, materials and service capabilities for the industrial sewing company. In addition, Metal Powder Products in Campbellsburg, formerly NetShape Technologies, announced an expansion in response to continued growth in both production and employees. MPP provides custom-engineered powder metallurgy product solutions to customers in a variety of industries located around the world. 

Radius Indiana encourages manufacturers to take advantage of regional resources such as the Radius Regional Impact fund, which offers loans and grants to support job creation and business growth. The SBA offers programs that can help grow and strengthen the industry. Visit https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/in/indianapolis to learn about programs and events that are available in your area.

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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.

BEDFORD, Ind. (Sept. 3, 2019) — Radius Indiana is hosting its first-ever multi-county pitch competition on October 4, open to high school students and adults in the eight-county region. The contest is an opportunity to present a startup idea, product and/or business plan and receive useful feedback and advice from a panel of judges, which will be comprised of business owners from the Radius region.

Participants in the competition, which will be split into two categories based on age groups, will receive feedback from the judges and entrepreneurial advice from experts, as well as compete for cash prizes and in-kind services. Cash prizes will range from $200 to $1,000 depending on the level of competition that is won.

The competition will be divided into two regions, allowing four counties to compete at each of the opening rounds of the competition. Participants will have three minutes to give their presentation. The winners of the east and west regional contests will meet head-to-head in the final round, where the ultimate winners will be announced.

The first round of the contest will be concept-focused, with the winning participants from the two first-round competitions asked to refine their idea/product for the final round.

East Region: Crawford, Lawrence, Orange, Washington Counties

October 4, 2019 | 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

StoneGate Arts and Education Center | Bedford, IN

West Region: Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Martin Counties

October 4, 2019 | 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

WestGate Academy | Odon, IN

Final Round: Top contestants from East and West Regional competitions

December 6, 2019

Time and venue TBA

Pitch competitions are an important source of new small businesses. In Indiana alone, there are over 508,000 small businesses, with 1.2 million jobs supported by those businesses. Within the South Central Indiana Small Business Development Center region, 17 new businesses were started in 2018.

“Supporting entrepreneurship, at any point in the creative process, has become a very important initiative to Radius,” said Radius Indiana CEO and President Jeff Quyle. “Our entrepreneurship and small business growth support are services that allow Radius to provide a new level of depth and assistance to the local economic developers in our eight counties.”

All new business ideas are welcomed and may be at any stage of the development process, including the prototype stage. Presentation topics may come from a wide range of business sectors, from the restaurant industry, to new software development, to defense sector work. Contestants will be judged on the following:

• Problem and Solution
• Competitive Advantage
• Target Customer
• Financials
• Presentation
• Visibility
• Overall Pitch

Information about event registration and a guide to preparing presentations for the competition are available at www.radiusindiana.com/pitch-competitions/. The registration deadline is September 20. Selected applicants for the competition will be notified by September 24.

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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.

BEDFORD, Ind. (Aug. 28, 2019) – Radius Indiana announced today the dates for its fourth annual economic development conference for community leaders coming to the French Lick Resort April 14-16, 2020.

Attendees at the two-and-a-half day Radius Indiana Economic Development for Community Leadership Program will participate in educational sessions on relevant topics such as real estate development, strategic planning, business retention and attraction, workforce, marketing, business finance and incentives, and community development.

“Community leaders in Indiana continue to want to hear about practical ways to support their local economies,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “Our course really begins to explain how to be effective in the Indiana system of economic development.”

Speakers from state agencies, site selection companies, secondary education institutions, and financial firms will share best practices and offer perspectives on local and regional economic strategies. Topics are focused on the day-to-day functions of economic development and are designed to help leaders keep the needs of economic development at the forefront of their efforts as they return to their daily responsibilities.

“Last year’s economic development course really opened my eyes regarding how many municipal decisions and policies, regardless of how seemingly insignificant, impact the municipality’s economic development,” said Marvin Abshire, Greene County Attorney.

Some scholarships will be available from local partners in the program. Local Economic Development Organizations and those interested in attending are encouraged to contact the Radius Indiana office to learn more about scholarship opportunities in their area. Registration for the course will be $450 for Radius region officials and $500 for other local officials, covering the cost of all classes, materials and meals.

Registration for the Radius Indiana Economic Development for Community Leadership Program will open Monday, January 6, 2020. Registration information will be available on the Radius Indiana website.

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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.

BEDFORD, Ind. (Aug. 21, 2019) — Radius Indiana continues to strengthen its working relationship with Japanese governmental and business professionals, with a site selector trip, the preparation for additional regional leaders to travel to Japan, and the celebration of the 2019 Japan-America Society of Indiana (JASI) Gala.

A Radius team of elected officials and local economic development leaders traveled to Chicago in July to meet with the Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO). This was Radius’s second site selector trip to Chicago in recent months and part of the organization’s continuing economic development outreach program, which included a trip to Japan last fall.

Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle was joined by Mayor Joe Wellman of Washington, Mayor John Wilkes of Linton, Zach Brown of Orange County and Bryant Niehoff of Daviess County. Conversations focused on workforce attraction, development, training and retention activities.

“Like all companies across the nation, Japanese firms are facing manpower shortages and are seeking new programs and ways to address those shortages,” said Quyle. “Our Radius delegation provided several examples of new initiatives that are being explored among our businesses, schools, and partners such as Regional Opportunity Initiatives.”

The JETRO technical staff then briefed the Radius group on demographic trends in Japan that will impact the flow of business investment from Japan into the U.S.

The Radius team also met with Consul General of Japan Naoki Ito and members of his staff, with similar discussions about the strength of Japanese companies in his 10-state Midwest region. Consul General Ito has previously visited the Radius region in early 2018 to speak to local government and business leaders, and to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony of M&C Tech in Washington–the first Japanese manufacturer in the region.

Being able to build these kinds of working relationships is helping our communities in so many ways,” said Mayor Wilkes. “Linton is honored to be a part of these valuable networking opportunities for growth. The one-on-one relationships I’ve built with distinguished leaders and the knowledge I’ve gained for my community is how successful change comes about. I intend to continue building our Japan-Indiana network.”

On August 7, Quyle and local economic development leaders from Greene, Orange, Lawrence, Crawford, and Daviess Counties traveled to Indianapolis to attend the Japan America Society of Indiana’s 2019 Annual Gala. The gala serves as JASI’s most visible cultural event of the year and supports its efforts to promote friendship, exchange, and cooperation between the United States and Japan.

Governor Eric Holcomb and Consul General Ito were both in attendance at the gala. Guests at the reception heard a keynote presentation from Dr. William Tsutsui, President and Professor of History at Hendrix College, Arkansas, specializing in economic, environmental, and cultural history of Japan.

“JASI is an invaluable partner and has helped Radius build a strong network in which we can cultivate economic development opportunities,” said Quyle. “The gala is a great event that we look forward to each year, and will continue to foster our growing relationship with JASI.”

Radius is also pleased to announce that six regional leaders are working to secure scholarships through the office of the Japanese Consulate that will give them the opportunity to travel to Japan for economic and educational outreach. The Grassroots Exchange Network-Japan Invitation Program (GEN-J) is sponsored by the Japan Foundation and affords participants an all-expenses-paid, weeklong trip to meet with Japanese businesses and cultivate relationships to encourage foreign investment in our region. 

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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.

BEDFORD, Ind. (Aug. 15, 2019) — Radius Indiana welcomes Keeley Stingel as the vice president of Talent Attraction and Retention. The newly created position supports the organization’s increased efforts in workforce development, which is a key focus of its strategic plan enacted this year.

Stingel is set to begin at Radius Sept. 9 and brings with her nearly a decade of experience in community and economic development. She will help administer programs that promote the in-migration of new workers to the region, as well as assist with programs that support the improvement of skills and entrepreneurship among existing residents. 

In this position, Stingel will support Radius Indiana’s ongoing projects of developing and piloting veterans’ recruitment initiatives and local/regional re-entry programs, as well as supporting workforce training and upskilling programs in the region to improve employment productivity among employers. Stingel will coordinate Radius efforts with local economic development leaders, with area business and educational programs, and with state and federal programs. 

“I look forward to joining the Radius team. The organization continues to be able and willing to adapt to meet the needs of the region. I’ve enjoyed working with them in former roles and most recently as a member of the Washington County Council,” said Stingel. “I believe that rural Indiana is poised for growth and transformation. In my new role, I will work to optimize and retain existing talent while attracting new talent to ensure that the Radius region will be a sustainable and prosperous place to live and do business.”

Before joining Radius, Stingel served as the Executive Director of Homeless Coalition of Southern Indiana. As the director, she worked to build consensus among community leaders and generate community buy-in in the effort to address homelessness in Southern Indiana. She helped expand the organization’s white flag shelter program, which served 70 people during the 2018-2019 winter season with a total of 1,500 visits since the start of the program. Stingel has also worked with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. 

“Radius Indiana is excited to add Keeley to our team,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “As I’ve known Keeley over the years and followed her career, I’ve been impressed with her proactive, thoughtful approach to topics, and I’ve been gratified that she is a talented member of her generation who has remained in rural southern Indiana and dedicated her passion to improving lives and communities here.  Knowing that she is joining the Radius team gives me a rewarding sense of satisfaction that our strategic plan will continue to change the way we approach our role in southern Indiana.”

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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.

Reposted from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs

INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 14, 2019) – Today, the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, in partnership with the Purdue Center for Regional Development/Extension Community Development, announced six sites will receive technical assistance and capacity-building support as part of the Rural Opportunity Zone Initiative.

“The goal with this initiative is to equip the leadership in rural opportunity zones with necessary materials to attract capital to their designated areas,” said Jodi Golden, Executive Director of OCRA. “By maximizing their potential, these sites will be positioned to be competitive with opportunity zones from around the nation.”

The purpose of this initiative is to build the capacity of Opportunity Zones in rural Indiana to attract private, public and/or philanthropic sector investments that support locally-driven priorities. This program is funded by a Rural Business Enterprise Grant from the Indiana U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. The selected county sites are as follows:

• Crawford;
• Daviess;
• DeKalb;
• Knox;
• Newton; and
• Switzerland.

Last year, Governor Eric Holcomb nominated 156 Indiana Opportunity Zones with the help of an advisory group from around the State. The Office of Community and Rural Affairs completed an initial assessment of the zones and determined forty-six sites are rural opportunity zones.

“We are excited to work in partnership with the Office of Community and Rural Affairs in helping local Opportunity Zone sites pursue plans that place them on a path of economic progress,” noted Bo Beaulieu, Director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development. “Our hope is that these communities will become the model of how to bring about positive changes in areas that have experienced economic distress over the past decade.”

Each site may receive support to include:

• Guidance in establishing a task force;
• Proprietary data products that profile types of properties in the area;
• Assessment of key economic drivers;
• Profile of existing businesses and companies in the zone and surrounding areas;
• Transportation infrastructure and connectivity;
• Discovering the area’s community/economic development assets;
• Suitability analysis;
• Mapping of broadband services in the zone; and more.

The goal of the Opportunity Zone initiative is to encourage long-term private capital investment in low-income urban and rural communities. The program offers long-term federal tax deferral on capital gains for investments in designated zones, with additional tax exclusion from new capital gains achieved from those investments. For more information visit, www.in.gov/ocra/2725.html

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Under the leadership of Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch, who also serves as the Secretary of Rural Development, the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs’ (OCRA) mission is to work with local, state and national partners to provide resources and technical assistance to assist communities in shaping and achieving their vision for community and economic development. For more information, visit ocra.in.gov.

BEDFORD, Ind. (Aug. 7, 2019) – Radius Indiana released a quarterly update today to its Radius Manufacturing Index (RMI). The new index showed continued growth in the eight-county region, powered by an increase in the growth rate for manufacturing jobs, an increase in the number of manufacturing establishments and an increase in the percentage of earnings in the region attributed to manufacturing. 

RMI was developed by Radius Indiana and gives the organization an analytic tool that monitors several facets to gauge the strength of the manufacturing industry in the region, and provides cumulative information about 12 data indicators of the manufacturing sector.

This second quarter 2019 RMI update shows how the region is performing in comparison to the state of Indiana. The raw number of the RMI is 60.26 for the quarter, which represents the total scores of the 12 factors included in the index; the previous RMI was 58.65. The overall state index saw a score of 58.05, compared to a previous 59.94.

“Creating the RMI has given Radius an opportunity to have a unique look at an industry that is so important to our region,” said Jeff Quyle, president and CEO of Radius. “Having this tool available lets us see how the index is changing quarterly and allows us to continuously see how manufacturing affects our region.”

The Radius Manufacturing Index uses statistics from publicly available sources to provide an estimate of the state of health of the manufacturing sector in the region. The index is a backward-looking tool that reflects conditions approximately six-12 months in the past, based on the dates for some of the statistics used. Data used for this RMI update was gathered on July 31, 2019, using JobsEQ.

“The Radius Manufacturing Index provides us with a measure of the overall health of our regional economy which relies heavily on our strong manufacturing base,” said Bryant Niehoff, Executive Director of Daviess County Economic Development Corporation. “Manufacturing is certainly growing in Daviess County in the most recent part of the economic cycle.  New manufacturing firms like M&C Tech and Eagle Railcar, along with the growth of our existing manufacturers like GPC, IsoFlex Packaging, and NASCO have brought new investment, jobs, and diversification to our local manufacturing sector.”

For the state, the decline in the index appears to reflect the continuing diversification of the state’s economy with growth in non-manufacturing sectors. Manufacturing establishments in the state did increase, but by a smaller percentage than in the Radius region.

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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.