The cleared playground area at the Brown County Educational Resource Center. The area will be filled with grant-funded playground equipment for its Early Education Center.
Submitted photo
The Indiana Uplands region, which includes Brown County, has $24.6 million in committed investments from $30 million in funding that will support projects identified in a regional development plan.
Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) grants were announced Dec. 16 by Regional Opportunity Initiatives, a nonprofit that serves the 11-county Indiana Uplands region.
The area includes Brown, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Owen and Washington counties.
“We are grateful to the state legislature, Governor Eric Holcomb, Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers, and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation for this incredible opportunity to invest in the Indiana Uplands, a region on the rise,” said ROI President and CEO Tina Peterson.
“READI is allowing this region to build upon opportunities, to advance industry innovations, develop the talent needed for a technology-driven workforce, and create the assets and amenities that make this a great place for people to live, work and play.”
Of the committed investments, $229,040 was designated for one project in Brown County, for outdoor facility upgrades at the Brown County Early Education Center.
READI funds will be used to install an “outdoor classroom” with playground equipment. The EEC opened in August 2022 in the former Brown County Intermediate School, with 70 high school students participating in early learning workforce training opportunities at the center.
While Brown County Schools has remodeled the former school, the outdoor space has not yet been updated for use by children under the age of 6.
At the Nov. 17 Brown County School Board meeting, Deborah Harman, the director of student support services, presented information about playgrounds.
Harman said that grant money from the state allowed the repurposing of preschool-specific playgrounds at Helmsburg, Sprunica and Van Buren Elementary Schools, as well as the Educational Resource Center.
Harman said that it was necessary the schools have playgrounds that are specifically designed for the age groups they serve. Currently, preschool age students play on areas meant for ages five and up.
Through pandemic relief funds and grants, the schools had the opportunity to upgrade playgrounds and facilities at the three elementary schools and the EEC.
The vendor that was chosen to design the preschool playgrounds is Adventurous Child, which only does playgrounds for children 5 years old and younger.
“There are few (vendors) that know how to do outdoor education spaces, that’s really what we want to see, is outdoor educational space,” Harman said on Nov. 17.
“One of the things we want to be prepared for is being able to go outside and do productive educational work outside, science area, art area, motor area, literacy … so that we can actually do productive education outside.”
The preparation of grounds started in November, thanks to a grant and donated time of Brown County Rotary Club.
The Brown County Community Foundation assisted the schools in the grant process for the playground upgrades, Harman said.
“The whole early education initiative in the county has been so well supported in the community and the community foundation has been instrumental,” Harman said last week.
“The region understands the childcare desert and gap in services. This is definitely a regional effort.”
About READI
In May 2021, Holcomb and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) launched the READI initiative with $500 million in state appropriations to promote strategic investments to make Indiana a “magnet for talent and economic growth,” according to a press release from ROI last month.
“Through READI, regions worked collaboratively to create visions for the future, with programs, initiatives and projects critical to retaining talent and attracting the workforce of tomorrow,” the release states.
In the Uplands region, this effort, led by ROI and Radius Indiana, included participation from hundreds of stakeholders and organizations and leadership from a steering committee with 17 members representing regional anchor institutions and regional organizations.
Since the December 2021 funding announcement, ROI and its partners have worked with regional stakeholders to refine programs and projects in the “Region on the Rise READI Development Plan” to align with the eligibility requirements defined by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funded READI program.
There were more than 60 regional and local projects in the original 163-page plan. A total of $115,105,394 in READI grant funding was requested. Ultimately $30 million was awarded to the region. Of those requests in the development plan, $2.3 million was for the building of more facilities at Hard Truth Hills distillery, and seed money for the Brown County Land Bank programs. Both projects have not received READI funding.
The Uplands READI Steering Committee has also worked to launch and advance funding strategies in the areas of innovation, housing, community development and talent.
Ready Innovation projects are identified as those that have the potential to capitalize on the growing vibrancy and vitality of the region’s key sectors to catalyze significant economic growth in all 11 counties of the Uplands region.
The Ready Housing program is funding projects to increase the supply of owner-occupied and rental housing to support needed workforce and meet the goals outlined in the READI Region on the Rise plan.
The Ready Communities 2.0 program is funding projects or programs strategically designed to improve regional capacity to attract and retain workforce by creating community amenities or enhancing the attributes that make the region an attractive place to live, work and play.
Ready Talent programs and projects are identified as supporting or producing a workforce talent pipeline that meets the evolving needs of highly concentrated industry clusters and employment anchors in the Uplands.
A total of 17 regions, including the Indiana Uplands, developed plans that outline strategies focused on improving the quality of place, quality of life and quality of opportunity.
To help regions achieve their goals, the IEDC awarded READI funds to accelerate the implementation of regional development plans and the programs and projects identified that will catalyze economic and population growth. In December 2021, the Indiana Uplands was awarded $30 million in READI funds for our “Region on the Rise.” Regions are expected to provide a 4:1 match in support of projects and programs. This includes a required 1:1 match from local public funding and a recommended 3:1 match from private and philanthropic sources.
A READI review committee then looked at and scored the regional plans based on “established guidelines and against other relevant data, including historical population trends,” a press release from Holcomb’s office said in 2021.
According to the resolution approved by local boards this summer, READI grants are meant to accelerate “efforts to attract and retain talent by working together to create high quality, vibrant and dynamic places that stand out from a crowded field of options.”
Read the plan
The Indiana Uplands plan, entitled “A Region on the Rise,” can be accessed on the ROI website at: regionalopportunityinc.org/readi.
