Radius Indiana Launches Women In Economic Development Leadership Initiative

BEDFORD, Ind. (Jan. 26, 2017) – Radius Indiana kicked off its new Women In Economic Development Leadership Initiative Jan. 24 at the West Baden Hotel. This is the first-ever course of its kind for the region, and the state, and is designed to promote professional development for women.

The course will focus on a broad range of topics, including business attraction, retention and expansion, entrepreneurship, quality of life initiatives, networking, and international business etiquette. The initiative will span 2018 and encourage an open dialogue among participants to share successes, challenges and best practices.

This program adds to the portfolio of educational economic development initiatives that Radius currently leads, like the Economic Development for Community Leadership Program that will be held for the second time this year in March.

“Radius Indiana has undertaken a number of initiatives to strengthen the culture and practice of economic development in Southern Indiana. We saw that there were a number of new people who have come on the economic development scene in a relatively short period of time all in a compact area, and we felt this course could help them all and their communities,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “We opened up the program to our region and surrounding counties and have nearly a dozen participants from eight counties representing local economic development, the utility sector, community development, chambers of commerce, marketing and telecommunications.”

Quyle selected Chelsey Manns, president of Manns Consulting, LLC to facilitate the course. Manns is a veteran in economic development and helps communities develop and execute project plans for business growth, quality of life initiatives and community development. Manns formerly served as the Executive Director of Morgan County Economic Development Corporation, and as business development director for Banning Engineering, a central Indiana-based civil engineering and surveying firm. She began her career as a project manager with the Indy Partnership.

“I commend the Radius Indiana team for spearheading this new program,” said Manns. “I am excited for the opportunity to be involved and look forward to sharing my experiences and helping to strengthen the foundation of economic development professionals in the area.”

Manns and Quyle both hope that this initiative will leave participants with a better sense of the industry, and see this as a chance to serve as a networking opportunity for the region.

Rachel Steckler, director of Communication & Community Development for the City of Huntingburg, who is attending the course, added, “The Women in Economic Development Initiative is a great opportunity for women in this industry to discuss important issues in our region, and share best practices to not only sustain our communities, but to promote and enhance them, as well. I applaud Radius for supporting regional collaboration, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be included with this great group of economic development professionals.”