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Region seeks near $50 million grant to leverage $378 million investments

John Clark

Organizations throughout South Central Indiana are partnering in $378 million dollars in projects to stimulate housing, regional amenities, workforce training and innovation in the region.

To that goal, the group announced yesterday that it would be applying for a $49.5 million dollar grant from the State of Indiana.

The South Central Indiana Talent Region includes the communities of Columbus, Seymour, North Vernon and Edinburgh, and their counties of Bartholomew, Jackson, Jennings and portions of Shelby and Johnson counties. That includes about 156,000 residents.

The organizations put together a 187-page grant proposal offering details on 25 projects and initiatives to be implemented in the region. Those include:

  1. Mobility Test Park & Proving Ground — Columbus, $31.8 million.
  2.  Propeller Innovation Center & Venture Studio — Columbus, $6.7 million.
  3. Seymour High School Career & Technical Program Extension — Seymour, $10 million.
  4. AirPark Columbus College Campus Access & Success Project — Columbus, $19.8 million.
  5. Jackson County Learning Center Expansion — Seymour, $2 million
  6. Panther Technology Education Center — North Vernon, $10 million.
  7. Arvin Manufacturing Blight Elimination Project — North Vernon, $1.6 million.
  8. Country Squire Lakes Housing Redevelopment — North Vernon, $17 million.
  9. Downtown Columbus Housing & Urban Grocer — Columbus, $40 million.
  10. Edinburgh Housing and Road Extension Project — Edinburgh, $8.5 million.
  11. Housing Developer Incentives Program — Regionwide, $7 million.
  12. Jennings County Broadband Expansion — Jennings County, $6.8 million.
  13. Land Bank of South Central Indiana — Regionwide, $10 million.
  14. North Vernon Knobstone Subdivision — North Vernon, $28.6 million.
  15. Uniontown Sewer Expansion — Uniontown, $8 million.
  16. “Welcome Home” Talent Attraction Program — Regionwide, $1 million.
  17. Workforce/Affordable Multi-Generational Housing — Seymour, $13 million.
  18. Chateau de Pique — Jackson County, $3 million.
  19. Columbus Riverfront Project — Columbus, $10 million.
  20. Downtown Hotel & Conference Center — Columbus, $44 million.
  21. Downtown Revitalization Fund — Regionwide, $5 million.
  22. NexusPark — Columbus, $78 million.
  23. Quarry Adventure Park — North Vernon, $5 million.
  24.  Schneck Cancer Center Linear Accelerator Project — Seymour, $7 million.
  25. Shared Arts-Based Placemaking Programming — Regionwide, $600,000.

The group is applying for funding through the state’s READI grant program, or Regional Economic Acceleration Development Initiative which was first announced in May. The program requires all READI funds be matched on a dollar for dollar basis by local governments or other public sources. The program established 18 regions, with the possibility of up to $50 million in grants for each and the hopes of attracting $2 billion in private and public investment.

You can read more about the plan here.