Accelerate Rural Indiana holds first meeting
Apr. 15—GREENSBURG — Community leaders from Shelbyville, Batesville, Rushville and Greensburg met Friday at City Hall to officially develop "Accelerate Rural Indiana" into a governmental agency (a "regional development authority" of "RDA") tasked with the job of creating lasting growth in the shared I-74 South east corridor.
Mayors from Rushville, Greensburg and Batesville, along with Economic Development Corporation Directors and other city leaders from the various counties involved sat at a table and hammered out the details for an organization in the works for nearly 18 months.
Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) is an initiative passed in Indiana that dedicates $500 million in state appropriations to promote strategic investments that make Indiana a "magnet for talent and economic growth."
Through this initiative, the state encourages neighboring counties, cities and towns to partner to create a shared regional vision for their future and map out the programs, initiatives and projects critical in retaining talent and attracting workforce to the area.
READI is expected to attract at least $2 billion of local public, private and philanthropic match funding that will propel investment in Indiana's quality of place, quality of life and quality of opportunity.
Calling themselves "Accelerate Rural Indiana," the group met formally to set up the organization Friday.
Virgil Bremer, Bruce Everhart, Bryan Robbins, Andy Saner and David Toll each introduced themselves as the first Board of Directors, with Robbins voted as Chair, Andy Saner as Vice-Chair and Bruce Everhart as Secretary/Treasurer.
The group read through the oath of Office for Development Board members and then set to the work of adopting the RDA's bylaws in the first meeting, lasting nearly two hours.
The group passed Resolution 2023-10 to authorize Batesville to join the ARI RDA, and then Resolved (2023-12) a written policy governing electronic meeting participation.
A steering committee was chosen, permission was given to develop a fund account and the Board gave its approval to investigate an opening bank account. Legal Counsel was examined, and a meeting schedule of 1 p.m. every second Friday of every month was chosen and then the meeting was adjourned.
Mayor Josh Marsh commented on the proceedings.
"This is the culmination of a year and a half long process to bring the region together for READI and for future generations to continue to improve Southeastern Indiana," Mayor Marsh said.
"Regionalism continues to be important in the use of COVID dollars will allow us to apply for funds as a bigger cohort, not just here, but in other parts of the state. This won't have impact just us, but will have lasting effects on our part of the state," Mayor Marsh added.
For more information, visit www.accelerateruralindiana.com/.
Contact Bill Rethlake at 812-651-0876 or email bill.rethlake@greensburgdailynews.com
