A bill that would create an initiative granting funding to collaborating groups in regions around the state is moving through the Indiana Senate.
The Regional City Fund would grant or loan regions money to improve the area based on a proposed growth plan.
Indiana Economic Development Corporation President Eric Doden says it’s similar to the state’s existing Stellar Communities grants, but the new initiative is more collaborative.
“We’ve studied regional economies around the United States that have led the nation in economic development; those plans come from the bottom-up, not from the state-down,” Doden says.
Doden says the IEDC wants to broaden in-state talent and attract more from out-of-state.
The bill passed the House and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
