Elected Officials Gather for Radius Indiana’s  New Economic Development Course

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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.