The South Bend-Elkhart Regional Partnership is hosting a launch event June 17 where people can submit project ideas for a $50 million state grant.
“The main goal is to invest in projects or programs that are going to accelerate our ability to attract people and accelerate our economic growth,” regional partnership president Regina Emberton said. “Our north star is increasing per-capita personal income.”
The grants come from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, or READI.
The event starts at 10 a.m. in South Bend’s Howard Park. The proposal will be submitted to the state at the end of August.
“We want to really get the juices flowing and have people bringing ideas about what’s important to them, what they’d like to see in their communities across the region,” Emberton said.
The regional partnership is focusing on five pillar areas for economic development — entrepreneurship, talent attraction and retention, industry growth, education and workforce and diversity, equity and inclusion.
Contact Jakob at jlazzaro@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @JakobLazzaro.
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