Governor Holcomb visiting Kokomo June 12 with IEDC to consider economic investment
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Gov. Eric Holcomb will visit Kokomo on Wed., June 12, to chair a public meeting of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC) and the Indiana Economic Development Foundation. It is expected that the bodies will consider various investments for the local region that could mean significant changes for Kokomo and Howard County.
While the individual requests for investment will remain confidential, it is believed that many of them are connected to the state’s READI 2.0 grant program.
The Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) will invest $500 million across the state in an effort to attract business and industry to the state, resulting in more than $2 billion in local public, private, and philanthropic investment. The goal is to improve Indiana’s quality of place, quality of life, and quality of opportunity.
Paul Wyman, a representative of the Region 5 North Central Indiana Regional Planning Council, disclosed recently that the region was awarded $35 million in READI 2.0 grant funding, topping the $30 million the region received in READI 1.0 funding in 2022.
“The IEDC had put out the opportunity to get up to $75 million, so we put out that much in requests,” said Wyman. “We were awarded $35 million. We kind of figured that was how it was going to work out, because there are 17 regions around the state doing great work, and the state is trying to divvy up a half a billion dollars between them.”
Wyman believes the $65 million awarded in the two READI phases shows the state’s confidence that the local region can have great impact statewide economically.
“The IEDC recognized the tremendous work that we did with the initial $30 million that they gave us,” said Wyman. “They also recognized the tremendous boom that we're having in our region right now, obviously a result of the battery plant, and now the announcement of a second battery plant.
“They're looking at our region saying, ‘Wow, this is just a region that's on the move.’ So, getting some additional dollars, I think, was a recognition of that by the IEDC.”
The two awards are significant as they represent the fourth largest per capita investment in the program across the state. That puts the North Central region on a competitive playing field with communities like Terre Haute, Bloomington, and Lafayette, and Wyman said the region’s rise is getting noticed.
“Even those communities are taking notice and saying, ‘Wow, look what's going on in North Central Indiana’,” said Wyman. “It's exciting. Between READI 1.0 and READI 2.0, this is $65 million pouring into our region that's going toward economic development and quality of life. And people are starting to see it. Our region is becoming more and more a region of choice where people want to live, they want to work.”
Wyman pointed to the influx of educated professionals and technology-focused workers that are taking positions with StarPlus Energy and the affiliated industries locally. This increase in an already highly skilled workforce means the future is here in Kokomo and Howard County.
“That's the type of workforce we've been attracting,” said Wyman. “Those are the people who are moving to our community and taking advantage of great quality of life opportunities, but great jobs as well.”
Wyman also credited local government leaders for streamlining the development process to facilitate a quick path to market. Rezonings and annexations have occurred at an unprecedented rate in Howard County over the past 24 months. And that translated into the first electric vehicle batteries being produced in the StarPlus plants over the past two months.
“We’re just knocking that stuff out,” said Wyman. “And those things go into decisions of companies because it's dollars to them. The longer it takes to produce that battery, it costs them more money.”
Wyman explained that the final list of investment requests for READI funding underwent a refinement in recent weeks as the Eli Lilly Foundation recently announced its own economic development grant program, investing an additional $250 million into Indiana communities.
As a result, local planners are reviewing the READI requests to see which of them might be better suited as a request for Lilly funding. Wyman disclosed that the majority of the region’s READI requests focused upon housing due to the recent explosion of demand. He believes that all of the region’s requests will be at least partially funded between the two grant programs, which is enough to allow them to advance.
“One of the things you always want to be able to show any company that comes to a community is we are able to meet the housing demand and need,” said Wyman. “Many of those are going to come out of this, and they're going to start over the next 12, 18, 24 months. You're going to see a tremendous amount of multifamily and single-family housing that will come out of it.”
The surprising aspect of the IEDC’s investment is the response from the private sector. READI funds require public and private matching funds. Wyman explained that local governmental units already have devoted funding to assist the match, but it is the investment from the private sector that really has planners excited.
“The private sector match, to me, is probably one of the most exciting parts of it, because that's where investments coming from the private sector make these projects a reality,” said Wyman. “That private sector investment is creating this incredible ripple effect throughout our region. That's what I love about READI 2.0. It is the epitome of public-private partnership. That's how these things get done. It's worked like a charm, and it's just going to continue to work that way.”
Wyman was quick to credit the hundreds of local leaders in the public and private sectors for their commitment to making READI work for the communities of Region 5.
“I cannot be more proud of the leadership in every one of the counties in our region; the economic development leaders, the mayors, the commissioners, the council members,” said Wyman. “When I look at our region and how well we all work together, every region isn't like that.
“Right now, our region is firing on all cylinders. Whether it's leaders in our nonprofits, elected officials, the private sector, everybody's at the table right now, and I couldn't be more thankful and more proud of how we've been working together.
“We're going to be able to meet any opportunity that comes before us as a region. The battery plants are not the last shot. They send a message to the world.”