Category: News

Radius Indiana Works to Bring Veterans to the Region’s Workforce

Posted on by Radius Indiana

BEDFORD, Ind. (Nov. 13, 2020) – Southwestern Indiana’s labor force provides an ongoing stream of new talent and skill that businesses in the region rely on to increase their growth and productivity, but sometimes the local labor force may need to be bolstered with the arrival of additional individuals who bring unique skills and experience. That realization has led regional economic development organization Radius Indiana to experiment with high tech campaigns to recruit military veterans and retirees to move from outside Indiana to join the local population and workforce.

The need for economic development groups to support workforce growth efforts has become abundantly clear in recent years. It was no surprise when Radius’s newest strategic plan, revised by the Board of Directors in 2018, directed the organization’s staff to support new approaches to ‘Workforce/Talent Retention and Attraction’.

“Attracting talent to the Radius region is important now more than ever. We know that the rural setting with a strong quality of place and patriotism is attractive to veterans and their families transitioning out of service,” said Radius Indiana Vice President of Talent Retention and Attraction Keeley Stingel. “Radius looks forward to welcoming the new residents and workforce in the region.”

Beginning in 2019, Radius began studying and implementing new programs to help local workers meet the talent needs of companies in the region. That same year, Radius began working with Magnitude Agency, an Indiana-based digital marketing and advertising firm, to conduct a series of social media and digital marketing campaigns with the goal to connect distant military veterans with southern Indiana defense contractors looking to expand their workforce.

“Recruitment is not a traditional part of economic development, but it’s growing increasingly important for us to practice recruitment, along with our programs to help upskill and support the existing workforce that lives in our region,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “Our hope is to continue using these tools to expand our recruiting efforts to help all of our counties and industries.”

Radius’s on-going campaign is now in its third round. The first two flights of the campaigns focused on geotargeting military bases and cities where many veterans live and routing users to a website specifically created for the campaigns. Evaluating the results of previous campaigns have allowed Radius and Magnitude to modify and improve each succeeding effort.

The newest campaign launched October 28 and is taking a new approach. The latest effort focuses on the specific needs of two defense businesses, Artisan Electronics and TRISTAR, and connects veterans directly with the job opportunities they have available.

In addition to producing regional efforts for veteran recruitment, Radius and the regional companies are also closely partnering with a state-level veteran recruitment program called INVets.

“At INvets, part of Indiana’s Next Level Veterans Initiative, we have benefited greatly from the proactive work that Radius has done to market Hoosier careers and communities to the veteran population,” said INVets Executive Director Wes Wood. “Our efforts to attract and retain veterans to Indiana, as a whole, is complementary to the work Radius has been conducting in Southern Indiana. We could not be happier to partner with them to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of both our efforts.”

###

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.

Radius Indiana Opens Registration for Elected Officials Economic Development Webinar Series

Posted on by Radius Indiana

BEDFORD, Ind. (Nov. 10, 2020) — Radius Indiana announced earlier this week that registration is now open for its first-ever economic development webinar series for elected officials. 

Hosted by Radius Indiana, the Elected Officials Economic Development Webinar Series is a free, region-wide economic development course for elected officials, both newly-elected and incumbents. Radius created this five-week seminar, which will specifically target the needs of elected officials, as an extension of its annual Economic Development for Community Leaders Program. 

The weekly series 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. “Local elected officials can be extremely valuable partners in local economic development once they understand the policies and programs they can use to make their communities’ local economies stronger,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. 

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

  • November 17 | Business Attraction, Site Development and Utility Partners in Economic Development with Chelsey Manns, Manns Consulting and Jenny Hartley, Indiana Municipal Power Agency;
  • November 24 | Business Retention & Expansion with Jason Hester, Greater Columbus Economic Development Corporation and Jim Plump, Jackson County Industrial Development Corporation;
  • December 1 | Incentives with Matt Eckerle, Umbaugh and Associates;
  • December 8 | Organization Structure and Marketing & Branding Strategic Planning with Wendy Dant Chesser, One Southern Indiana and Jason Hester, Greater Columbus Economic Development Corporation;
  • December 15 | Quality of Place and Entrepreneurship with Shawna Girgis, former Mayor of Bedford, IN and Courtney Zaugg, Plaka and Associates

“We are excited to continue our economic development course, even though it will look different than previous years,” explained Quyle. “Being a leader in education is a big part of who Radius is an organization, and we are grateful to our speakers for joining us in our virtual format.”

Registration information can be found at www.radiusindiana.com.

 

###

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.

Radius Indiana Releases Update for National Manufacturing Day

Posted on by Radius Indiana

BEDFORD, Ind. (Oct. 2,  2020) — Radius Indiana joins the U.S. Small Business Administration and the National Association of Manufacturers in observing Manufacturing Day, an annual event on the first Friday of October to celebrate modern manufacturing.

Indiana is home to approximately 8,500 manufacturing operations, according to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. 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 manufacturing location quotient, which compares the concentration of an industry within a specific area to the concentration of that industry nationwide.

The new data shows a continued concentration of manufacturing in the eight-county region. The location quotient saw an increase from 2.72 to 2.75, demonstrating growth in establishments in the manufacturing sector.

“At Loughmiller Machine, Tool & Design located in the heart of the Radius region, we have seen growth in the manufacturing sectors of Defense and Automotive,” said Loughmiller Machine, Tool and Design Account Manager Pam Loughmiller. “There have been many initiatives put in place to enhance our employee perspective regionally and we are very optimistic about the future of our company.”

To further its support of manufacturing, Radius created the Director of Manufacturing and Workforce Services full-time position to work with manufacturers in the region. Chris May was hired in May and the position supports the organization’s increased efforts in workforce retention and attraction, which is a key focus of its 2019 strategic plan.

This new position has worked to support several of Radius Indiana’s manufacturing and workforce projects that are underway, including an investment in the establishment of the Catapult manufacturing training facility on the Vincennes University – Jasper Campus and the Wage and Benefits Study.

In 2018, Radius conducted the area’s first Wage and Benefits Survey across several counties in southern Indiana. The survey gathered employer pay and benefits information to help create a very accurate, up-to-date understanding of what the real-world labor market is like in southern Indiana.

A second round of the Wage and Benefits Survey is in the final stages of completion. The survey covers 18,800 employees across the Radius counties.

“Manufacturing is a large part of our region’s culture and it’s important to make sure Radius is doing its part to keep it growing strong,” said Radius President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “Radius will continue to celebrate manufacturing and all that it brings to 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 Southwest Central Indiana to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.

Radius Indiana Produces Quality of Place Guidebooks

Posted on by Radius Indiana

BEDFORD, Ind. (Sept. 29, 2020) — Radius Indiana introduces four brand-new Quality of Place Guidebooks to assist local leaders in learning some of the trends and best practices being used in cities and towns for quality of place improvements. 

The guides, developed by Radius Indiana’s summer intern Ally Ragan, are intended to introduce audiences to topics that are current and timely as towns and cities seek to support and bring prosperity to their downtown hubs.

Quality of place looks at the physical characteristics of a community: the way it is planned, designed, developed, and supported. It affects the quality of life of people living and working in it and those visiting it.

“Communities are looking at their attributes, objectives, and priorities in order to focus on the benefits they have during these times. ‘Quality of Place’ is an area cities and towns can use to distinguish themselves from others, thus helping to identify themselves from others and deciding on the demographic they want to attract,” said Executive Director of the Jasper Chamber of Commerce, Nancy Eckerle. “The tools that Ally Ragan has developed can assist a community as they strive to seek areas they need to work on – – in addition to making stronger the areas they excel in.”

The four reports – Downtown Redevelopment, Place Branding, Trail Enhancement, and Parks and Recreation – each focus on a topic that was consistently identified as a high priority for local activity in the Regional Opportunity Initiatives Quality of Place and Workforce Attraction Plans, which were developed through the Ready Communities Planning Grant to advance quality of place and workforce attraction strategies in the Indiana Uplands region.

“The ROI Quality of Place plans gave me a real sense of life in the Radius region and what the communities are wanting to add,” said Ragan. “As a Southern Indiana native, it’s great to see the communities growing and adapting to the times, especially during COVID-19.”

The guides offer case studies, examples of success stories in communities in Indiana and throughout the United States, and step-by-step instructions on implementing some of the best-practice trends for rural living.

“Quality of place is a growing sector of economic development,” said Radius Indiana CEO and President Jeff Quyle. “We take pride in our rural communities in the Radius region and these guidebooks can help local leaders learn what other towns and cities are doing. I am very grateful to have had Ally as our intern and the work she did on these guidebooks is a great asset to our counties.” 

The Quality of Place Guidebooks can be read and downloaded on the Radius Indiana website.

###

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.

Linton Location Earns Silver Site Certification

Posted on by Radius Indiana

LINTON, Ind. (Aug. 31, 2020) — A site in Linton in southern Indiana has received Silver Site Certification and is the latest regional location to take advantage of a new certification program through Radius Indiana’s partnership with Verisite.

The Silver Certification gives companies and site selectors the assurance the site is ready for expedited development and that all needed documentation and data has been compiled and verified, which results in cost savings and speed to market for a new business.

Located near State Road 54 on County Road 1000 West in Greene County, the 60.97-acre greenfield site is a prime location for a future small to medium production, manufacturing or logistics facility with readily available access to electric, water, sanitary sewer, natural gas, and existing roadways as well as potential access to rail. The site also affords unencumbered design choices for parking, landscaping, and signage.

While the site had undergone preliminary, foundational planning, the City of Linton partnered with Radius Indiana and Verisite, to increase marketability and visibility for development.

“Linton needs every advantage it can get in order to stand out to site selectors for potential investors. We pursued the Verisite Silver Certification to accomplish just that. Now, a new business looking for locations to build has one more reason to take us seriously,” said Linton Mayor John Wilkes.

In addition to the physical site attributes, the City and its partners requested Verisite’s support to identify the community assets that contribute to potential opportunities for future development. The site is eligible for multiple local and regional incentive programs and has connections to a myriad of workforce development initiatives underway in the area.

Radius Indiana, the regional economic development organization, is actively recruiting veterans to the region through a digital marketing campaign designed to help bring additional talent to meet local employers’ needs. In addition, Radius is launching two new workforce training programs: “Catapult” and “Build Your Own,” which focus on the upskilling of workers to meet the needs of manufacturing and construction trades. Another regional organization, Regional Opportunity Initiatives (ROI,) is actively administering a program called Ready Schools that leads to the creation of student-run manufacturing businesses as training grounds. In addition, ROI has programming for STEM Fellows, digital fabrication labs, out-of-school STEM learning, graduation and career coaches, career pathways, educator boot camp, and work-based learning.

Linton actively partners with both organizations to better connect growing talent to the region’s career opportunities to include advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and defense.

The site certification initiative is part of Radius Indiana’s strategic plan and allows for cost-sharing with local economic development organizations to make the process more affordable. “We are pleased to see how Linton and their community partners have rallied together to move this site forward to be competitive for business growth,” said Jeff Quyle, president and CEO of Radius Indiana.

The Verisite program creates opportunities for excellent locations, like Linton, Indiana, to become a preferred location for industrial growth and innovation.

Verisite offers a comprehensive site certification program, which compensates for industry gaps, such as brownfields and existing buildings. The proprietary program creates a narrative around in-depth market research and analyzes human capital components in order to provide decision-makers with reliable data. 

Verisite is the result of a partnership with Ginovus, Plaka + Associates, and the Veridus Group that brings considerable industry experience in economic development, site selection, and engineering. Together these tenured firms designed and built the proprietary process for Verisite site certification to finally establish universal definitions and designations for site certification. This offers a modern, trustworthy standard for property owners, developers, and communities that utilizes a consistent and standardized set of criteria to determine all aspects of a site’s readiness for development.

“In today’s competitive market, communities that undertake site due diligence are at a competitive advantage.  Whether helping existing businesses grow or attracting new industries, having a certified site increases speed to market and reduces risk. We commend Greene County and the local Linton leadership for their efforts in further preparing the community for economic development,” Leslie Wagner, senior principal, Ginovus.

ElectriCom Expands Headquarters, Adds 22 Jobs in Paoli

Posted on by Radius Indiana

Radius Indiana’s Regional Impact Fund and Indiana Economic Development Corporation Incentivize Expansion

Paoli, Ind. (Aug. 13, 2020) — ElectriCom celebrated its expanded headquarters and growing workforce with a ribbon cutting today at its office facility located on Hospital Road in Paoli.  The project was supported by a Radius Indiana Regional Impact Fund grant of $88,739 and state IEDC incentives totaling $350,000.

ElectriCom provides utility construction services to power and communication clients in addition to gas distribution, right of way clearing and storm team response.  Founded in 1960, the company has additional offices in South Carolina, Florida and Texas. With nearly 800 employees, including 300 in Indiana with 126 in Orange County and nearly 80 from Paoli, ElectriCom is the second largest employer in the area. 

ElectriCom is rapidly growing and its new office space will accommodate 22 additional employees by 2022 in accounting, contract administration, human resources, IT and executive leadership. The company’s $800,000 investment includes multiple improvements at the now 13,230-square-foot headquarters, including a new executive office wing, new accounting and contract offices with 16 new workstations and a kitchen for employees as well as a 17,000-square-foot expanded parking area and upgraded site infrastructure.

“After 60 years of growing and being headquartered in Paoli, we are very pleased that the local and state officials and economic development organizations assisted to make staying in Paoli the most economical option from a business perspective.  Our desire was always to stay headquartered in Paoli, but we looked at other options such as Louisville, Kentucky and possibly one of our other offices across the country.  The incentives made the business decision match our heart-felt desire to stay in Paoli,” said Kevin Mason, president of ElectriCom.

The ElectriCom utility construction services also help to promote economic development through its work, which helped it secure the grant from Radius Indiana’s Regional Impact Fund. “ElectriCom provides critical infrastructure to new and established sites across our region and beyond that helps secure business development and create new jobs,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “We are pleased that the Regional Impact Fund could help with this important investment to grow a local company.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered ElectriCom up to $280,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. The IEDC also offered up to $70,000 in conditional tax credits from the Hoosier Business Investment (HBI) tax credit program based on the company’s planned capital investment in Indiana. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning the company is eligible to claim incentives once Hoosiers are hired.

“Thanks to homegrown Hoosier companies like ElectriCom, Indiana continues to build on its reputation as one of the best states in the nation to do business,” said Indiana Secretary of Commerce Jim Schellinger. “We’re grateful for ElectriCom’s continued investment in Orange County, and we remain confident that the state’s skilled workforce will contribute to the company’s growth and success for many years to come.”

Locally, the Orange County Economic Development Partnership and Town of Paoli have supported the expansion.

“As one of the largest employers in Orange County, ElectriCom is an example of a company that understands and values the community where they are headquartered. They have been great community partners both through the services they provide and through civic community involvement. We are proud to have been a part of this success story and look forward to continuing working with ElectriCom and value them as an asset to our community,” said Zach Brown, executive director of OCEDP.

“I am thrilled that ElectriCom decided to retain and expand their business in Paoli, and the fact that they are creating more jobs is greatly appreciated,” added Brian Shipman, president of the Paoli Town Council.

From left to right: Bob Breeden, Executive VP; Kevin Mason, President; Russ Breeden III, CFO; Craig Moore, Senior VP

###

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.

About the Regional Impact Fund: The Regional Impact Fund is a sub-organization of Radius Indiana with the purpose of making investments in public and private organizations that advance regional economic development strategies. The Regional Impact Fund is a deal-closing fund that makes such investments in the form of grants, loans, equity investments, or other such vehicles deemed to be in the best interests of Southern Indiana. The Regional Impact Fund gives high priority to projects that include job creation, site development and expansion.

 

About ElectriCom: ElectriCom was founded in 1960 in Paoli, Indiana, by Phil Brown to provide construction services to Power and Communications clients. Since our inception, we have added divisions for Gas Distribution and Right-of-Way Clearing and have provisioned our resources and people to respond quickly in Storm Team situations. Its mission is to build utility infrastructure to improve the quality of life in communities.

Radius Indiana Announces Winners of Royalty-Free IP Pitch Competition

Posted on by Radius Indiana

BEDFORD, Ind. (Aug. 3, 2020) — Radius Indiana, in coordination with Elevate Ventures, Naval Surface Warfare Center-Crane Division (NSWC Crane), and the Indiana Small Business Development Center (ISBDC), is proud to announce the winners for its “Royalty-free IP” Pitch Competition that was held virtually on Thursday, July 30.  Winning entries will share in cash prizes totaling $5,000.

Winners:

  •     First Place | Sarpedon ($3,000 prize)
  •     Second Place | ValgoTech ($1,500 prize)
  •     Third Place | Pierce Aerospace ($500 prize)

Sarpedon, made up of team members Don Alvarez and Will Glaser, won the pitch competition with their idea involving the use of Crane technology for preventing tampering to integrated circuits – an existing project into which they were able to incorporate the Crane technology.

ValgoTech, consisting of eight team members headed by Dr. David Olawale, focused on Crane technology in a battery charger and power reduction system to improve and accelerate battery recharging for drones.

Pierce Aerospace, a team of six led by Aaron Pierce, used Crane technology to develop drone tracking to help with the identification of drones.

Each participant/team was given 10 minutes to present his or her product/service. Slideshow presentations were presented to the judges and a question and answer session was included for each team. Teams were judged on a variety of criteria that ranged from identifying markets, to the sales approach presented, to the explanation of major milestones.

“Entering the Pitch Competition was like jumping to warp speed – learning about NSWC Crane’s patent portfolio, identifying the critical tech we needed, and securing a license , all in just a couple days,” said Alvarez. “The key to innovation is paying attention when you learn something new. I’m paying attention. Thank you NSWC Crane and Radius for shifting our thinking from the (Silicon) Valley to learning about what’s happening in a completely different area of the country.”

Radius Indiana created the concept for the royalty-free IP pitch competition after learning of NSWC Crane’s Rapid Response Licensing Program, which launched this spring in response to COVID-19. The Technology Transfer (T2) Program at NSWC Crane, Indiana’s only federal research lab, opened its portfolio of 300+ patented technologies to entrepreneurs to help rapidly transition federal research and development into the commercial sector and to help stimulate the economy. Nonexclusive licenses are available to any interested business, start-up, or entrepreneur for a set period of time without royalties or fees. Radius worked with Elevate Ventures and NSWC Crane to identify 10 technologies from the patent portfolio with high potential for a commercial market and a substantial degree of development.

The competition offered unprecedented, royalty-free access for those who seek to commercialize patented technologies and concepts developed at NSWC Crane. Radius and Crane leaders hope that businesses and entrepreneurs will use these technologies to support new jobs and economic growth.

The judges for the event were Eric Steele from Elevate Ventures, Joyce Polling from Ivy Tech and Matt Craig from Radius Indiana. Each judge came into the competition with previous pitch competition or NSWC Crane background.

“The competition highlighted three fantastic ideas which leverage Crane IP to build scalable business models,” said Landon Young, director of university initiatives and entrepreneur-in-residence with Elevate Ventures. “The event is a great example of leveraging the intellectual property in Indiana to accelerate our existing businesses and attract additional innovation-driven businesses to our state.”

Radius hopes to host more pitch competitions in the future. This competition comes after the first-ever regional pitch competition that Radius held in the fall of 2019.

“We felt that the powerful intellectual property portfolio emerging from NSWC Crane is under-appreciated by the commercial sector, and we wanted to call attention to it,” said Radius CEO and President Jeff Quyle. “We believe this type of event can help promote Crane’s IP and bring it to public light. An added and tremendous benefit of the pitch competition was the chance to pull together the resources of so many of the organizations that are working on bringing prosperity to southern Indiana. The professionals from the SBDC, Elevate Ventures, and NSWC all worked together in a very collaborative manner and helped each other maximize this first-time event.”

To view NSWC Crane’s entire IP portfolio, please visit www.techlinkcenter.org.

###

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.

About NSWC Crane: NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory and a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) with mission areas in Expeditionary Warfare, Strategic Missions and Electronic Warfare. The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi- spectral, full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability to today’s Warfighter.

About Elevate Ventures: Elevate Ventures is a private venture development organization that nurtures and develops emerging and existing high-growth businesses into high-performing, Indiana-based companies. Elevate Ventures accomplishes this by providing access to capital, rigorous business analysis and robust advisory services that connect companies with the right mix of resources businesses need to succeed long term. To learn more about Elevate Ventures, visit elevateventures.com.

About Indiana Small Business Development Center: The Indiana SBDC creates a positive and measurable impact on the formation, growth, and sustainability of Indiana’s small businesses by providing entrepreneurs expert guidance and a comprehensive network of resources.

Discover Southern Indiana Unveils New Ice Cream Trail

Posted on by Radius Indiana

BEDFORD, Ind. (July 30, 2020) — Discover Southern Indiana introduces a brand new Ice Cream Trail that takes tourists on a sweet, 250-mile adventure through eight counties in southern Indiana. The trail consists of 14 locally-owned ice cream shops and encourages visitors to experience something new at each location.

At each stop, visitors receive a stamp on an official Ice Cream Trail “passport.” Those who complete the trail and fill up their passport will receive a free t-shirt commemorating their experience. Interested participants can visit any of the Trail’s stops to pick up a passport, or download one from the Discover Southern Indiana website. A map of the locations is also available to help plan your route.

Discover Southern Indiana, launched earlier this year by Radius Indiana, is the first region-wide tourism drive of its kind and gives an identity to the opportunities, attractions and events for tourists visiting Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Martin, Lawrence, Orange and Washington counties.

“The goal of Discover Southern Indiana is to promote tourism in our eight-county region,” said Radius Indiana Director of Tourism and Quality of Place Blaine Parker. “The Ice Cream Trail just launched in mid-July and is already outperforming our initial expectations. It’s proving that people want to get out and explore, and have fun doing so.”

The Ice Cream Trail allows visitors to see and experience charming rural communities that are all located within a compact portion of southern Indiana, allowing for an easy, ‘one-tank’ trip that doesn’t require families to travel long distances.

The trail includes stops at:

  • Jiffy Treet | Linton, Greene County
  • Yoho General Store | Solsberry, Greene County
  • Let It Snow Creamery | Odon, Daviess County
  • Bo Mac’s Drive-In | Shoals, Martin County
  • Zax Creamery | Jasper, Dubois County
  • Windmill Chill | Holland, Dubois County
  • The Happy Hive | Marengo, Crawford County
  • Stephenson’s General Store | Leavenworth, Crawford County
  • French Licks | French Lick, Orange County
  • Superburger | Paoli, Orange County
  • Dairy Bell | Mitchell, Lawrence County
  • Jiffy Treet | Bedford, Lawrence County
  • Little Twirl Dairy Bar | Livonia, Washington County
  • Six Scoops | Salem, Washington County

To download a passport and start the trail today, visit http://discoversouthernindiana.com/icecreamtrail/.

 

Radius Indiana Hosts Royalty-Free Pitch Competition Ten Crane technologies available for entrepreneurs, inventors and start-ups.

Posted on by Radius Indiana

BEDFORD, Ind. (July 8, 2020) – Radius Indiana, in coordination with Elevate Ventures, Naval Surface Warfare Center-Crane Division, and the Indiana Small Business Development Center, will host the region’s first “Royalty-free IP Pitch Competition” July 30. Winning entries will share in cash prizes totaling $5,000.

The competition offers unprecedented, royalty-free access for those who seek to commercialize patented technologies and concepts developed at NSWC Crane–Indiana’s only federal research laboratory. Radius Indiana and Crane leaders hope that businesses and entrepreneurs will use these technologies to support new jobs and economic growth.

Individuals or teams are invited to develop an innovative proposal for one of 10 intellectual properties (IP) selected for the competition. Subjects range from drone tracking, to battery charger and power reduction systems, to Tunable Detection Systems and Hyperspectral Imaging. Descriptions of the IP can be found on the Radius Indiana website.

“The engineers and scientists at NSWC create these solutions to solve problems encountered by the men and women protecting our nation, but many of these also can apply to the needs of everyday life for people anywhere,” said Jeff Quyle, Radius president and CEO. “We hope that our pitch competitors will produce ‘win/win’ results: a practical application of the technology to make life better, and a new business that can grow here among our communities.” 

There is no cost to register and entrants will receive a template to create a slide presentation for the competition. In addition, virtual coaching sessions will be offered July 14, 15, and 16 to pick up pointers on delivering the best pitch, and individual coaching sessions will be available for each participant through the resources of Elevate Ventures and the Indiana Small Business Development Center.

“Programs like the Crane IP pitch competition provide a chance for founders, students, and faculty to innovate around strong intellectual property to create new innovation-driven technology companies in Indiana,” said Landon Young, director of university initiatives and entrepreneur-in-residence at Elevate Ventures. “We are excited to be a part of this event and are eager to see the proposals the applicants come up with.”

The deadline for registration to participate is July 13, 2020. The pitch competition will be held virtually on July 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

To register, visit www.radiusindiana.com.

###

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.

About NSWC Crane: NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory and a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) with mission areas in Expeditionary Warfare, Strategic Missions and Electronic Warfare. The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi- spectral, full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability to today’s Warfighter.

About Elevate Ventures: Elevate Ventures is a private venture development organization that nurtures and develops emerging and existing high-growth businesses into high-performing, Indiana-based companies. Elevate Ventures accomplishes this by providing access to capital, rigorous business analysis and robust advisory services that connect companies with the right mix of resources businesses need to succeed long term. To learn more about Elevate Ventures, visit elevateventures.com.

About Indiana Small Business Development Center: The Indiana SBDC creates a positive and measurable impact on the formation, growth, and sustainability of Indiana’s small businesses by providing entrepreneurs expert guidance and a comprehensive network of resources.

 

Artisan Electronics Receives Award from Radius Indiana’s Regional Impact Fund, Continues Growth at WestGate@Crane Technology Park

Posted on by Radius Indiana

ODON, Ind. (June 22, 2020) — A Radius Indiana Regional Impact Fund grant of $3,625 was recently allocated to Artisan Electronics Inc. for workforce training and to expand its internship program. 

Artisan Electronics Inc. is a defense contractor based at WestGate@Crane Technology Park in Odon, Indiana. The small business specializes in engineering, technical, cybersecurity and IT services for the Department of Defense and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division. 

“Artisan is attracting new talent to the region as they tackle some provocative technology issues for their clients,” said Jeff Quyle, president and CEO of Radius Indiana. “I’m glad to see a locally owned company like this growing and showing leadership in workforce and technology circles.”

Artisan Electronics, which was awarded second place by Best Places to Work in Indiana in 2019, plans to use part of the funding toward training programs which will result in adding 20 full-time employees to its current staff of 50 employees by 2023.  

“We are excited to offer more opportunities for exceptional people to build a rewarding career here in southern Indiana. The support of Radius, Daviess County Economic Development Foundation, and the IEDC has been phenomenal and we are looking forward to continuing to grow and add value to our DoD clients with their help,” said Greg Sapp, Vice President of Artisan Electronics.

Daviess County Economic Development Foundation will provide an additional $1,000 in matching funds to supplement the Regional Impact Fund grant.

“Artisan Electronics has established company culture and a brand that is recognized in the region, the state of Indiana and beyond,” said Bryant Niehoff, executive director of Daviess County Economic Development Corporation. “We are thrilled to be a part of Artisan’s continued growth in WestGate and proud that they call Daviess County home.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation has also offered Artisan Electronics $325,000 in Economic Development for a Growing Economy Tax Credits to promote the company’s expansion. 

Including Artisan Electronics, there are currently five projects underway at the WestGate@Crane Technology Park. Two larger national firms and three locally-owned firms are looking at sites in the tech park in all three of the WestGate counties (Daviess, Martin, and Greene). The projects would involve increased employment within the tech park, and some include the construction of new buildings as well as the installation of new equipment. The Regional Impact Fund is involved in two of the projects and may assist others if needed to help finalize the projects.

“It is very encouraging to see all of the positive activity taking place at WestGate,” said Niehoff. “As NSWC Crane continues to demonstrate leadership at the national level, the Tech Park is becoming more and more of a destination for those innovative companies such as Artisan that support Crane’s mission. The level of interest and ongoing projects that we continue to remain engaged in are validation of WestGate’s growth potential.”

###

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.

About the Regional Impact Fund: The Regional Impact Fund is a sub-organization of Radius Indiana with the purpose of making investments in public and private organizations that advance regional economic development strategies. The Regional Impact Fund is a deal-closing fund that makes such investments in the form of grants, loans, equity investments, or other such vehicles deemed to be in the best interests of Southern Indiana. The Regional Impact Fund gives high priority to projects that include job creation, site development and expansion.

About Artisan Electronics: Artisan Electronics is a small business headquartered within the Westgate@Crane Technology Park. Since 1996, Artisan has been working with the Department of Defense and commercial clients to engineer results for complex issues. Its team translates client needs into comprehensive technical projects by bringing technical ability, dependability and applied creativity to engineering, information technology and electronics support projects.