East Central Region of Indiana on the Comeback
East Central Region of Indiana on the Comeback According to Inside Indiana Business
Source: bmanzurova / Getty
INDIANAPOLIS — Inside Indiana Business recently took a deep dive into the region and highlighted some of its projects and developments.
The East Central region of Indiana is on the rebound, making the difficult transition from large automotive manufacturing-based industry into other areas.
The traditional manufacturing heritage of east central Indiana runs deep, the city of Marion is learning how to thrive in a new landscape, after the closure of its RCA Thomson factory. One of those areas is education and creating skilled workers.
“One thing that we are pushing is trying to become the trade capital of the state, so I recently did a deal with Ivy Tech to allow students that graduate from Marion High School the ability to attend and study the trades at Ivy Tech for free,” says Marion Mayor Ronald Morrell, Jr.
Cyber security and the need for it, is something that the communities of East Central Indiana are looking to explore while trying to pivot into as a new way of stimulating the economic fortunes of the area.
This past summer, US military and homeland security officials outlined the dire need to Jud Fisher, CEO of the Ball Brothers Foundation, “We were told there are 9,000 job openings dealing in cybersecurity in this state alone. So that is an incredible opportunity and a need,” He added.
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Lilly Endowments College Community Collaboration Initiative is directing nearly $115 million in grants to universities in East Central Indiana.
In Marion, Indiana Wesleyan University will use its $24.3million grant, the largest in its history to fund projects centering on early education and community wellness in Grant County.
Just down the road in Upland, Taylor University has broken ground on the Main Street Mile…linking the campus to Upland’s business district. The Lilly grant money combined with private funding that could result in nearly $100 million in projects over the next 5 years.
$25 million dollars went to Earlham College in Richmond, another community looking to re-invent itself. “Revitalize Richmond” is a plan to create urban housing downtown and provide better transit solutions to the Earlham campus.