The Brown County Community Foundation has released a plan outlining the changes Brown County should consider making if it wants to continue to be “a desirable place to live, work and play.”
Brown County’s Quality of Place and Workforce Attraction Plan was written by consulting companies that were hired with a $50,000 planning grant. They looked over various planning studies dating back to 2005, led a town hall meeting in January at the Brown County Playhouse, and distributed a survey which 307 local people answered.
Priorities were broken into three categories: quality of place, workforce attraction, and amenities and attributes. Residents who took the survey ranked the following items as the most important:
Quality of place: 1. Increase availability of affordable housing options ($125,000 to $150,000, or rent of $800 or less); 2. develop youth-friendly recreational opportunities; 3. revitalize the Brown County Partnership, getting residents and representatives from government, business and nonprofits in regular meetings to improve communication.
Workforce attraction: 1. Expand technical trade programs and apprenticeships for youth; 2. increase K-12 STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) initiatives; 3. improve employer attraction, retention and expansion efforts.
Amenities and attributes: 1. Expand broadband and WiFi access; 2. improve child care availability and affordability; 3. increase health care accessibility.
Based on the past studies and the survey data above, the consulting groups outlined several “opportunities and objectives” that they believe the community foundation or other local groups should pursue.
Within the next two years: form a “community support coalition” to help with planning and project implementation; create a retiree network; develop a “refreshed, actionable comprehensive plan”; improve the county’s internal communications; further develop the “Escape comes naturally” brand for Brown County; and expand STEAM learning initiatives.
Within the next five years: increase trail connectivity and upkeep; focus on trade programs, vocational opportunities and employer collaboratives; improve access to child care; look into consolidating sewer districts and making other investments in water and wastewater infrastructure.
Long-term projects through 2030: take steps to increase housing options; work toward establishing internet countywide; support health care resources and look at developing new ones; increase standards of environmental protection and do cleanup.
“If the county is successful in implementing many of the projects outlined in this plan, certain community performance indicators should improve, e.g. assessed value … local tax revenue, per capita income, population growth, educational attainment rates and public school enrollment,” the Brown County Quality of Place and Workforce Attraction plan says.
Right now, the community foundation is using the plan to guide its grant applications. Next month, it will apply for up to $250,000 through the Regional Opportunity Initiatives Ready Communities program to explore how to expand child care in Brown County.
Three rounds of funding will be available; the other two rounds will open in summer 2019 and in early 2020. Grant awards will range between $100,000 and $250,000 per recipient, each round.
Only counties that have completed a Quality of Place and Workforce Attraction plan are eligible to apply for funding.
The community foundation is not the only group in Brown County that’s able to apply. Eligible organizations include incorporated cities and towns, nonprofit organizations, schools and other educational groups, county commissioners and councils, chambers and economic development organizations, and other tax-exempt entities, ROI reports.
Projects submitted for funding must align with priorities identified in the county’s plan. The funding categories are aesthetics and beautification enhancements (such as place branding, art, parks and the like); connectivity infrastructure development (such as trails, internet or transit); and community cohesion and support (such as workforce training, public spaces, child care and farmers markets).
“For our communities and our region to thrive, we must create high-value quality of life assets and amenities,” said Tina Peterson, chief executive officer of ROI, in a press release.
“We want to ensure that our children, families and employers have every reason to stay in the Indiana Uplands. By investing in quality of place, we will enhance the live, work, play environment for the benefit of all and improve our ability to attract and retain talent.”
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Read Brown County’s Quality of Place and Workforce Attraction plan: https://regionalopportunityinc.org/ready-communities/plans
Learn about ROI grant eligibility and application requirements: https://roigrants.communityforce.com
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