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Boone EDC Weekly
Greetings from the Boone EDC,
Welcome to Boone EDC Weekly.
As an organization, the Boone EDC is constantly researching and benchmarking to learn what our competing communities are doing to attract and retain business. Boone EDC Weekly is a compilation of noteworthy National and Indiana news about economic development trends. We will also post information about upcoming conferences, events, and
webinars that you may find interesting.
Boone EDC Weekly is another tool that you can refer to as a community leader to help Boone County continue to move forward in a positive manner.
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Grant County Aims to Plug 'Brain Drain'
Grant County is launching a new program designed to help persuade college graduates to live and work in the area. The Grants for Grads project offers up to $5,000 in housing assistance for eligible applicants. Grant County Economic Growth Council Marketing and Communications Director Erin Wheeler says an educated and highly-trained work force will help attract businesses looking to start up or relocate.
Click here to learn more.
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| Indiana Unveils '100 Reasons' List
The state has come out with a list of the top 100 reasons to move a business to Indiana. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation's "Indiana's Top 100" highlights facts and figures designed to make the state more enticing to business ventures including corporate tax rates, short commuting times and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Click here to learn more.
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| Water Infrastructure is the 1,000 lb. Gorilla
A study by the American Water Works Association "Buried No Longer: Confronting America's Water Infrastructure Challenge" estimates it will cost a trillion dollars to repair, replace and expand the water systems in the U.S. to meet the demand over the next 25 years. The figure grows to $1.7 trillion by 2050.
"We all agree water is an essential element in our daily lives, but, for North Americans, water service is a convenience that we too often take for granted," AWWA Executive Director David LaFrance said. "Those buried pipes deliver the water that is vital to our quality of life and economic vitality."
The Valparaiso Utilities Board started a program a couple of years ago to set aside $500,000 a year to replace its aging water infrastructure and hopes to do the same for the sewer system this year if the City Council approves a sewer rate increase to fund it. That's less than half the amount needed to replace the lines over a 75- to 100-year schedule.
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Community Conversation Sites Selected
Five Indiana communities have been selected to host a Community Conversation customized to meet their region's most critical needs. This is the fourth year for the series, convened by Indiana Humanities and the Bowen Center for Public Affairs at Ball State University.
Selected regions and topics include:
* Elkhart County: Working together: collaboration and regional community development
* Dubois County: Quality of place: arts, education, environment
* Kosciusko County: Working together: collaboration and regional community development
* Wayne County: Quality of place: arts, education, environment
* Trenton Natural Gas Field 20-County Region: Quality of place: arts, education, environment (The 20-county region includes: Adams, Blackford, Boone, Decatur, Delaware, Grant, Hamilton, Hancock, Howard, Huntington, Jay, Jennings, Madison, Miami, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Tipton, Wabash, Wells)
Click here to learn more.
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Chief Executive Magazine Votes Indiana 5th Best State for Business
In Chief Executive's eighth annual survey of CEO opinion of Best and Worst States in which to do business, Texas easily clinched the No. 1 rank, the eighth successive time it has done so. California earns the dubious honor of being ranked dead last for the eighth consecutive year.
North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Utah held their positions in the top 10, with Indiana moving up a notch to fifth. CEOs indicate that workforce quality is the state's single greatest strength, and since it became the 23rd right-to-work state last year, the Hoosier State is likely to punch above its weight competitively in the future. "Indiana is like a breath of fresh air," volunteered one manufacturing CEO. "I have operated on both coasts, the Southeast and Chicago, and Indiana is where I will keep my manufacturing operations."
It may be no accident that most of the states in the top 20 are also right-to-work states, as labor force flexibility is highly sought after when a business seeks a location.
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Character is Key to an Economically Vibrant City
Around the world, cities are seeking the recipe for economic success in a rapidly changing global marketplace. Indispensable assets in a post-industrial economy include well-educated people, the ability to generate new ideas and to turn those ideas into commercial realities, connectivity to global markets, and multi-model transportation infrastructure.
Another critical but often neglected asset is community distinctiveness. "If I have learned anything from my career in urban planning, it is this: a community's appeal drives economic prosperity."
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| Indiana to Take Part in Rail Study
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced that Illinois, Indiana and Michigan have agreed to move forward with a comprehensive study that will help determine ways to reduce rail congestion and let trains achieve higher speeds along the Chicago-to-Detroit high-speed rail corridor.
The goal of the study, which will be funded through a $3.2 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration and $200,000 each from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Norfolk Southern, is to reduce passenger travel times between Chicago and Detroit and efficiently move freight through one of the nation's busiest freight rail networks, the congested Chicago to Porter, Ind., segment.
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Ball State Community Development Course
The Community Development Course is a must attend for all community and economic developers! It is a three-day, unique educational experience which utilizes a mix of theoretical and practical applications applied to real life situations.
Mentors with over 75 collective years of experience will facilitate your learning throughout the program. Real-life case studies will be discussed and you will leave the course with new strategies to deal with the community challenges you face. You will interact with community development professionals from across the state and learn from their experiences and background.
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Boone County Cash Mob
A cash mob is a way to support a locally owned business with a little home-grown economic stimulus. Here's how it works. At a specific place and time, people are invited and encouraged to show up and spend $20 or more and also to invite their friends to do the same.
We sincerely appreciate those who attended our last Cash Mob at Faucett & Flame!
Be on the Lookout for our next event.
Support the Cash Mob on Facebook
Follow the Cash Mob on Twitter
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Boone EDC Video Blog
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Mayor Lewis talks about Lebanon's great location.
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Meeting Dates:
Boone County Commissioners: - May 21 @ 9 a.m. Boone County Council: - June 12 @ 8:30 a.m. Boone County APC: - June 6 @ 7 p.m. Boone County RDC: - May 18 @ 2 p.m. Advance Town Council: - May 14 @ 7 p.m. Jamestown Town Council: - June 5 @ 7 p.m. Lebanon City Council: - May 14 @ 7 p.m. Thorntown Town Council: - May 21 @ 7 p.m. Whitestown Town Council: - June 12 @ 6:30 p.m. Zionsville Town Council: - June 4 @ 7 p.m. Boone EDC Board of Directors: - May 24 @ 4 p.m. Boone EDC Executive Committee:
- June 14 @ 7:30 a.m.
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