INTERSTATE 74 SOUTHEAST CORRIDOR — An organization of successful cities and counties near Interstate 74 southeast of Indianapolis has submitted a funding request to the state to support $866 million in projects and programs for building communities and the region’s workforce. The organization, Accelerate Rural Indiana, has requested $50 million from the Indiana Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) as a next step toward launching the projects.
Accelerate Rural Indiana is composed of Batesville, Greensburg, Rushville, and Shelbyville along with Decatur, Rush, and Shelby counties. Its application includes 40 core initiatives gathered from interactions with more than 3,000 residents, anchor institutions, and other key stakeholders.
The improvements sprang from overarching regional priorities which remove barriers and enable the region to seize opportunities to grow. Specific regional projects and programs include more and better-quality housing alternatives; improved quality of life amenities such as trails, parks, and family activities; targeted education and workforce development programming; enhanced water, sanitary sewer, road, and broadband infrastructure for attracting regional investment; and regional marketing to attract talent and investment.
“We see a promising future for our region on the other side of this development plan – a future that is characterized by regional collaboration and enhanced opportunities for our area’s
residents,” said Bryan Robbins, chair of the region’s steering committee. “We’ve had a historic amount of cooperation toward devising a vision of who we want to be as a region, and READI is
an opportunity to gather that momentum and accelerate toward our promising future, together.”
Accelerate Rural Indiana communities are working together formally for the first time after having blazed a path of rural excellence in Southeastern Indiana through informal cooperation. In the past five years, they have landed more than $73 million in grants and philanthropic funding, leveraging more than $1.4 billion in private investment.
(HWC Engineering/Accelerate Rural Indiana press release)
