$6.4 Million Awarded in South Bend – Elkhart Region READI Programming Funds
The South Bend – Elkhart Regional Development Authority awarded $6.4 million in Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) grant funds to 11 programmatic projects during its meeting at the ETHOS Innovation Center in Elkhart. The $6.4 million was in addition to $40 million in READI funds awarded in September to Quality of Place projects. With the awarding of the programming funds, the South Bend – Elkhart region has allocated all of its READI dollars.
The program awards fell into four major areas: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Talent Attraction, and Talent Development. The programs selected for funding fall in line with the Smart Connected Communities 2030 Plan, which serves as an outline for the strategies of the South Bend – Elkhart region. The plan was designed to increase talent attraction and retention, improve overall quality of place and quality of life, and amplify the impact of the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and innovation economy.
The projects receiving READI funding in each category are:
Talent Development – $3,176,370
• enFocus Fellowship Expansion
• Engineering Your Future
• Experiential Learning Coordinator, Saint Joseph – District 7 Career Hub
• Next Path Training
• Regional Higher Education Talent Pipeline and Partnership Consortium
• South Bend – Elkhart Regional Internship Program (Intern SBE)
Innovation – $1,380,000
• South Bend – Elkhart READI Manufacturing Readiness Accelerator
Entrepreneurship – $1,161,065
• Digital Storefront Project
• enFocus Entrepreneurship Expansion Support
• Talent for Tomorrow
Talent Attraction – $700,000
• WE+YOU Talent Attraction and Retention Campaign
Launched by Governor Holcomb and led by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, READI encourages regional collaboration and data-driven, long-term planning that will attract and retain talent in Indiana.
The $500 million READI fund was passed by legislation during the 2021 session.
Through READI, 17 regions across the state, that represent all 92 counties, are moving forward with projects and programs designed to enhance Indiana’s regions for current and future generations of Hoosiers. Collectively, the state’s $500 million investment is expected to yield an additional $9.86 billion public, private and nonprofit dollars invested.
The IEDC awarded the maximum grant amount of $50 million each to five of the regions, including the South Bend – Elkhart region. Awards for the other regions ranged from $5 to $30 million.
