ALBION — Noble County has joined a regional group that will plan projects aimed at attracting talented workers and businesses by promoting quality of life.
The Noble County Council voted 6-0 to join the Northeast Indiana Regional Development Authority, a proposed 11-county entity that will apply this summer for $42 million in state funding over two years to be used for projects designed to bolster the region.
The money would be divided between all the counties as projects are prioritized, but projects such as a river walk in Ligonier, a Rome City-to-Kendallville trail or trails that stretch to other counties are all possibilities that would benefit Noble County if the region wins the state money, Noble County Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Rick Sherck said.
Nothing is promised, but a large northeast Indiana region could be well-placed to compete with eight or nine other regions across the state that might apply for half of the $84 million the state is making available, said John Sampson, president and CEO of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership.
Noble County doesn’t have to pay anything to be a part of the RDA and would only have to sign on to support the projects it wants, said John Stafford, a consultant and former director of the Community Research Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Northeast Indiana’s population is only growing at a rate of about 0.7 percent per year, which isn’t fast enough to sustain its workforce as older, skilled baby boomers leave it, Sampson said. At current rates, northeast Indiana will be short 15,000 to 20,000 workers in the next 10 years unless the region can attract new workers.
The state’s new Regional Cities Initiative is encouraging cities and counties to partner and plot projects that have an appeal beyond their boundaries. Younger generations, including millennials, are being draw to urban and suburban areas due to job opportunities and quality-of-life aspects, such as parks, trails and entertainment, Sampson said.
That’s why communities should be investing in those projects — to retain their hometown workers and to attract new people.
“Investment in quality of place, according to benchmarks, is a key way to do this,” Sampson said.
Noble and DeKalb counties committed to the regional group Monday, while Wabash, Allen, Huntington, Whitley and Wells are either committed or preparing to commit. LaGrange, Steuben, Adams and Kosciusko counties are also being tapped to join.
A committee of more than 30 representatives from the region is finalizing an application, including a list of possible projects, which will be submitted to the state by July 1. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. will select two areas to split the $84 million in Regional Cities Initiative funding over two years.
Regions can be as small as two cities in adjacent counties or two neighboring counties. Northeast Indiana’s size could be an asset in the application process, Sampson said.
“We should be a strong contender,” he said.
State law previously required counties to approve an income tax to fund a RDA, but that is no longer a requirement so there’s no financial burden for counties to join, Stafford said. Counties also don’t have to commit to any projects, so Noble County wouldn’t be forced to pay for a project that is benefiting Fort Wayne, for example.
“You have no commitment to funding until a project comes along that you want to fund,” Stafford said.
If all 11 counties join, the RDA would officially have 27 members, made up of representatives from all of the counties and all of the cities. Noble County would get three representatives, one from the county, one from Kendallville and one from Ligonier.
The overall membership will elect a five-member executive board, Stafford said. The five executives must be approved by all of the 27 members, so while Noble County might not get its own representative elected into one of the executive seats, it would have a say in approving who is running the organization, Stafford said.
Even if the northeast Indiana group isn’t selected for the state funding, the RDA can still begin planning projects to benefit the region and seek out other federal grants or ways to fund projects.
Other areas across the nation such as Boise, Idaho, or Des Moines, Iowa, have launched similar regional efforts without any kind of state funding, and projects are paying dividends with new growth, Sampson said. Quality-of-life improvements are something northeast Indiana should work toward, regardless, he said.
“It’s not magic. They simply commit to doing things that make their community better, and it’s attractive,” he said.