Cities and counties in the South Bend-Elkhart area have teamed up to ask for $50 million in state funding for economic development projects. Regional officials were in Indianapolis Wednesday to present their proposal to the state.
Seventeen regions across Indiana are competing for funding from the state’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI).
The South Bend-Elkhart regional proposal aims to boost innovation, attract new talent and improve quality of life across the region.
South-Bend Elkhart Regional Partnership President Regina Emberton said the proposal includes concrete investments in things like affordable housing and arts and culture amenities.
“Sort of the brick-and-mortar type projects that make our communities the places where residents want to move from Michigan and other states,” Emberton said.
But she said it also includes investments in the region’s job and education programs, like the LIFT Network or Notre Dame’s iNDustry Labs.
“So we’re looking at strategies more related to, ‘How do we increase our entrepreneurship and innovation scope through programs?’ Or our educational attainment programs,” Emberton said.
The state is expected to announce the first round of READI recipients later this month.
Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.
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