BEDFORD, Ind. (April 2, 2019) — Radius Indiana concluded its annual economic development course at French Lick Resort last Thursday, wrapping up three days of education, networking and skills building for community leaders from across Southern Indiana.

The Radius Indiana Economic Development for Community Leadership Program is the only course of its kind to be offered in the area. Since the first course in 2017, nearly 100 people representing 25 Indiana counties have gathered to learn from national and regional speakers teaching educational sessions on topics such as real estate development, business attraction, workforce, marketing, business finance and incentives, and entrepreneurship.

“Helping communities grow strong, working groups of local leaders versed in economic development who can affect policies and strategies serves to strengthen our entire region,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “This program has exceeded my expectations not only in the number of participants, but in how engaged and enthusiastic our leaders are to put their new knowledge to work in their communities.”

Over the past three sessions, the course’s registrants have included mayors, council members, county commissioners, chamber of commerce leaders, tourism directors, economic development professionals, attorneys, utility representatives and congressional staffers.

“I’ve participated in other economic development courses, but the Radius course has been my best experience to date,” said course participant, Jenny Hartley, Economic Development Specialist with the Indiana Municipal Power Agency. “The smaller class size allowed for group activities, better interaction with our speakers, and networking opportunities that I haven’t had at other locations. I truly enjoyed being able to learn about, and apply, economic development lessons that were specific to this southern Indiana region.”

Course speaker, Carol Rogers who is the Deputy Director and Chief Information Officer of the Indiana Business Research Center and serves the Governor’s Census Liaison, has been part of the program each year with her lecture on Local Data Profiles and their importance in economic development.

“What I’ve witnessed over the last three years of this Radius course is a deep engagement from the local officials who want to make a difference. With a diverse group of participants from economic developers to those in public service, everyone is able to see they have a role in strengthening their communities. I enjoy sharing how people can use data, which is available 24-7, to find useful information that allows them to talk about their cities and towns with fresh, current facts—the more we know, the better we are at our jobs,” said Rogers.

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Other sessions and speakers included Introduction to Economic Development with Jim Plump, Jackson County Industrial Development Corporation; Real Estate/Site Development with Chelsey Manns, Manns Consulting; Business Retention and Expansion with Jason Hester, Greater Columbus Economic Development Corporation; Abatement/TIF/Incentives with Matt Eckerle, Baker Tilly; and Entrepreneurship with Steve Bryant, Ivy Tech.

Corporate sponsors and scholarships helped fund the program, including generous support from Title Sponsor, Hoosier Energy, and Program Sponsors, Smithville Fiber, Duke Energy and Krieg DeVault.

Those interested in attending a Radius Indiana course in the future should contact the Radius office at 812-277-9778.

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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.

 

LEAVENWORTH, Ind. (March 15, 2019) – A 96-acre industrial park in Crawford County, Indiana is bidding to expand the Louisville business construction site market to the west along the I-64 corridor.

Indiana Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs joined officials from the Crawford County Economic Development Corporation yesterday to announce an Indiana Site Certified Silver designation to the Crawford County Industrial Park. Owned by the Crawford County Redevelopment Commission, the property has all utilities installed and could be used for business services, general/light manufacturing, transportation, distribution and logistics.

This certification is the first for a site in Crawford County, and one of five in the immediate surrounding areas. The 96-acre site is in Leavenworth, and is located adjacent to I-64, a 35-minute drive from Louisville across the untolled Ohio River bridge.

Indiana’s Silver tier of business development site defines boundaries with a clear title, establishes a fixed maximum price, documents utility capacity available at the site, demonstrates executive level local government support, and provides documentation such as Phase I environmental assessment, ALTA, topographical, and property layout.

The Certification process entails a rigorous review of the infrastructure and preparedness of the site which makes it “ready to go”.  If a company should want to locate there, Crawford County Economic Development can accommodate the company faster with the pre-work planning already complete, letting businesses start construction and begin their operations with less time and expense.

Mike Thissen, executive director of Crawford County Economic Development, looks at the certification as a much-needed boost for the county and allows him and his staff to be able to market the park effectively and with purpose.

“It has been a rewarding process to position our community for growth and this certification will assist in becoming an attractive place for business development and expansion,” said Thissen. “We are strategically positioned just 35 minutes away from the Louisville Metro workforce and the UPS Worldport. We are going to be able to leverage our certified shovel-ready park to attract businesses who can capitalize on the region as we are really the Southern Gateway to the heart of Indiana. We are grateful to our State and Regional partners for their support.”

 

BEDFORD, Ind. (March 13, 2019) — After a year-long effort, Radius Indiana has unveiled its new tourism initiative: ‘Discover Southern Indiana’. The region-wide tourism drive is the first of its kind for the area and gives an identity to the opportunities the Radius region has to offer to its visitors.

Tourists looking to visit the Radius region will soon be able to visit the ‘Discover Southern Indiana’ website, a one-stop shop for all and any resources they may need to plan a trip to the region. From luxurious accommodations to outdoor recreational adventures, the region has vacation activities for people of all ages.

Unifying the tourism initiative across the region allows community leaders and tourism businesses to cost-share practices to more effectively implement the branding because multiple counties are likely to be visited by a single visitor. The communities recognize the need to work together to invite travelers to the Radius region.

According to Rockport Analytics, tourism is one of the leading industries in the Radius region, accounting for $290.4 million in tourism spending and providing 3,930 jobs in 2017. With such a level of economic impact on the region, tourism serves as a large economic driver for jobs and quality of place initiatives.

Radius Indiana worked with Duane Knapp of BrandStrategy, Inc. to develop The Promise for Southern Indiana, the branding for this initiative. Through visitor surveys, Knapp examined how travelers compared Southern Indiana to several other regions throughout the midwest, as well as how they viewed the Radius region itself. Based on the results, Knapp and the Tourism Strategy Team were able to deliver The Promise:

Delightful discoveries in Southern Indiana

Charming down-home feel, natural explorations, one-of-a-kind resort experiences

Your pleasant surprises await

Radius’ Director of Tourism and Quality of Place Blaine Parker led a team of 10 committee members to create a unified tourism effort for the Radius region. The committee is made up of members of the region’s eight counties, the French Lick Resort, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The Tourism Strategy Team met throughout 2018 to bring the idea of a region-wide joint tourism venture to life.

“Duane did an excellent job leading us through the process,” said Kevin Manley, Dubois County Visitors Center and Tourism Commission Executive Director. “We are very excited about our Brand and Brand Promise and look forward to rolling it out in our region.”

Parker plans to meet with tourism businesses from the Radius counties this spring to hold teaching sessions on how to implement ‘Discover Southern Indiana’ in their marketing efforts, as well as distribute learning guides. Parker hopes to have the new logo unveiled in communities throughout the region by summer 2019.

“This initiative was grassroots driven with the team being heavily involved in every step of the decision-making, from the consultant and the Promise, to the logo and taglines,” said Parker. “It would not have been possible without this team.”

To learn more about ‘Discover Southern Indiana’, visit www.discoversouthernindiana.com.

 

BEDFORD, Ind. (March 12, 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 manufacturing employment in the region to a level of more than 21,000 jobs out of a total regional workforce of over 91,000.

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 first quarter 2019 RMI update reflects data from first quarter 2018 and shows how the region is performing in comparison to the state of Indiana. The raw number of the RMI is 57.97 for the quarter, which represents the total scores of the 12 factors included in the index. The overall state index saw a score of 57.92.

According to the report, the number of manufacturing establishments, as well as total business establishments in the Radius region, grew during the quarter.  For the region, the average manufacturing wage reflected a higher wage than the previous quarter, rising from $46,051 to $46,370.

The positive portrayal of manufacturing strength in the region corroborated the findings in the 2018 Wage and Benefit Survey of businesses in the Radius region and surrounding counties.  In that survey, a manufacturing-heavy sample of businesses self-reported that 71 percent of companies in a 15-county region expect to add workers in the next year, while only 5 percent anticipate potential layoffs.  

“The RMI allows Radius to continuously see how manufacturing is growing in our region,” said Jeff Quyle, president and CEO of Radius. “Gathering this information for our LEDOs allows us to keep them updated on how our region compares to the state regarding the manufacturing sector.”

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 March 7, 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 Ed Cole, President of Dubois Strong. “Manufacturing plays a huge role in the Dubois County economy.  Just over half our workforce is employed in manufacturing jobs. Out of the nearly 23,000 who are in employed in our county, almost 12,000 are employed in manufacturing.”

For the state, manufacturing jobs decreased as a percentage of total employment, which appears to corroborate the state’s ongoing economic diversification.

PAOLI, Ind. (March 5, 2019) — On Friday, March 1st, Board President Alan Beck welcomed Zachary Brown as the Executive Director of the Orange County Economic Development Partnership.

In his previous position at the French Lick Municipal Airport, Zach learned about Orange County’s assets through interaction with clientele including major businesses and hobbyists, each with a unique perspective of the significance of Orange County. As he strived to increase the positive economic impact and the capacity of the airport, Zach gained keen insight into the logistics that influence Orange County. His six-year tenure at the airport was guided by a strategic property development plan that he and his team created to implement their high capacity vision.

When asked about his vision for himself at the organization, he said: “I’m excited to have the opportunity to develop new business and aid in the expansion of current business in the county.” He followed that up by saying that he is excited to be a catalyst for all of the quality of place initiatives that are in the works.

Zach and his family are steeped in the life and culture of Orange County, which increases his investment in the county. Vice President of the OCEDP Board of Directors and Springs Valley Bank & Trust, Ken Schnaus, resounded these words in his encouraging testament of the OCEDP’s past and present leadership.

“The OCEDP has had several consecutive successful years of expanding and improving the economic environment of Orange County. Our revolving loan fund continues to help new and growing businesses with mezzanine financing. We have been able to help untold numbers of entrepreneurs find resources to help them make very important decisions about their future. We facilitated saving an estimated 120 jobs that were scheduled to leave the County. Just to mention some of the things the Partnership has done to help the County.”

With his background and the personal desire to improve his home County, complemented by a personality that lends itself to leading and assisting everywhere he can, Zach makes the perfect candidate for this leadership role. Ken continued, “Without a doubt, Zach has the ability to move Orange County and the Partnership in a positive direction as it helps all of Orange County strengthen its economic environment.”

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.

BEDFORD, Ind. (Feb. 25, 2019) – Radius Indiana released the list of speakers for its third regional Economic Development for Community Leadership Program being held March 26-28, 2019 at the French Lick Resort.

The sessions include economic development experts, marketing consultants, and legal advisors. Speakers and sessions include:

• Introduction to Economic Development with Jim Plump, Jackson County Industrial Development Corporation;
• Real Estate/Site Development with Chelsey Manns, Manns Consulting;
• Business Finance & Incentives with Matt Eckerle, Umbaugh and Associates;
• Business Retention & Expansion with Jason Hester, Greater Columbus Economic Development Corporation;
• Local Government Finance with Dr. Larry DeBoer, Purdue University, College of Agriculture;
• Rural Housing with Matt Rueff, RATIO Architects;
• Strategic Planning and Community Relations/Collaboration with Wendy Dant Chesser, One Southern Indiana.

“Continuing to provide regional economic leadership and education into 2019 is a major objective for Radius and we are pleased to once again host this event,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “This year’s group of speakers is very well-rounded in the economic development field and I can’t wait to hear what the attendees take away from this year’s course.”

Registration for the Radius Indiana Economic Development for Community Leadership Program, which takes place March 26, 27 and 28, is available at www.radiusindiana.com. Registration for leaders in the Radius eight-county region is $450, and $475 for those who live outside the region. Radius expects the course to reach capacity in the coming weeks, so early registration is recommended.

Local Economic Development Organizations, elected officials and community leaders interested in attending are encouraged to contact the Radius Indiana office soon to learn more about scholarship opportunities in their 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 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. (Feb. 12, 2019)–A comprehensive survey of businesses in southwestern Indiana reveals positive news about the labor market in the region.  Radius Indiana’s regional survey of wages and benefits showed that 71 percent of companies in a 15-county region expect to add workers in the next year, while only 5 percent anticipate potential layoffs.  

Employers also anticipate increases in labor costs; 94 percent indicated that they expected to deliver pay increases in the following twelve months. And the employers reported that they added a median average of more than five new employees in the preceding six months, they averaged zero layoffs in the same period.

Radius carried out the survey of 76 companies in September and October of 2018, gathering information on wages and benefits for 14,640 employees in 63 occupational categories. No employee names or other personal information was reported to Radius in the production of the report.

Information gathered is intended to help the local companies that participated in the survey have up-to-date, real-world information about the labor market, to help them best hone their competitive compensation packages. The companies that responded to the survey were heavily, but not exclusively, representative of the manufacturing sector.

A sampling of 17 common positions that were covered by the survey showed that in the Radius region, 10 of the positions received lower mean salaries than the state and the national averages, while in five categories, the Radius mean salary was between the state and national averages, and in two cases, the Radius regional mean salary was above both the state and the national averages.

“Information from the wage and benefits survey allows us to better understand how local companies are positioned in the labor market. It is imperative that we stay up to date regarding compensation trends and, most importantly, use this data to be more impactful in economic development decisions,” said Shance Sizemore, CEO of the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council.

Radius average salaries for positions like Human Resource Manager and Plant Manager were below state and national averages.  Office managers and forklift operators were between the state and federal levels in the Radius region, while IT/Technical Support employees earn a higher median salary in the Radius region than the state and national averages.

“Radius appreciated the opportunity to work with the Southwest Indiana Development Commission on this survey, and we also worked on behalf of our partner organization, Regional Opportunity Initiatives, to develop a comprehensive and valuable tool for our part of the state,” Radius CEO Jeff Quyle reported.  “We want to help our local economic development organizations prove their value to their local business communities by helping to carry out a collaborative project such as this. It’s a part of our region’s culture for us to want to work with one another.”   

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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 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. (Feb. 4, 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 eight site selectors. The session is the first 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, and six economic development leaders from Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Lawrence, Orange, and Martin counties joined Quyle to discuss the latest news about the regional economy.

“Site selector events such as this are a great opportunity to sit down, network, and learn from others in the industry,” said Bryant Niehoff, the newly appointed Executive Director of Daviess Economic Development Corporation. “These opportunities are invaluable in marketing each of our communities, and I’m looking forward to attending events like this in the future.”

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.

“Personal relationships are key in this industry, and being able to meet people from the region face-to-face matters as I meet with companies looking for new locations,” Tim Conrad, President of Stimulus Economic Development Advisors said. “It’s great to hear about recent developments that are in the line of interest of clients, like the available shell-spec building in Washington in Daviess County. Learning about different projects at events like this really helps me continue to be successful in my work.”

This is the third 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 2019, with sessions scheduled in Columbus, Chicago, Cleveland and Atlanta.

“Meeting with site selectors continues to be an important part of our outreach program for Radius,” Quyle said. “Being able to showcase our top industries and initiatives that are important to our counties helps spread awareness and educate a larger audience about our region.”  

Quyle added, “We were able to provide local information that otherwise flies below the radar, regarding our regional work on site certification and marketing, a new wage and benefits survey, a possible “Quick Start” workforce training program and the work of our Regional Opportunity Initiatives partners.

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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 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. (Jan. 14, 2018) – Radius Indiana announced today that registration is now open for its third annual regional economic development conference for community leaders coming to the French Lick Resort March 26-28, 2019.

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.

“With the development of our new strategic plan, we now have an even larger focus on regional economic leadership and education,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “This leadership program allows us to bring together a very diverse group of people who are able to share and learn so much from each other. I am very glad we are able to host this for the third consecutive year.”

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.

“I found the speakers to be highly knowledgeable in the topics they discussed. I appreciated the casual atmosphere to allow interaction with all involved,” said Justin Green, Salem City Council. “I would recommend the course to any elected official as a window into how others are engaging in the economic development field.”

Radius also plans to make several scholarships available from its own office as well as area utilities and banks. 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 Radius Indiana Economic Development for Community Leadership Program is now available at events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=e7cr5elab&oeidk=a07efy5k7cv37d13933, or by calling 812-277-9778. Registration for leaders in the Radius eight-county region is $450, and $475 for those who live outside the region. The registration page has a link to book a hotel room at the French Lick Resort for the conference days.