East Central Indiana Regional Partnership readies READI Grant application for February

MUNCIE, Ind. − Trevor Friedeberg, president and CEO of the East Central Indiana Regional Partnership, was focused between Christmas and New Year's Day as he doggedly works toward a Feb. 23 application deadline.

On that day, he will have carried the sizable hopes, dreams and many would say needs of East Central Indiana to Indianapolis, in what could be the right combination to unlock as much as $75 million in state READI Grant 2.0 funds.

READI stands for Regional Economic Acceleration and Development program by which a half-billion dollars will be spread across 17 regions in Indiana. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. is expected to announce the winners in April.

Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour told the Muncie Redevelopment Commission in December that $75 million is the limit on prizes for each READI region.

"I would expect $30, $40 or $50 million," he said.

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The mayor anticipates that the nine-county area that makes up East Central Indiana's district should be able to do better than last time. In December 2021 the Partnership garnered $15 million in READI Grant funding while other districts around the state won $50 million or $30 million amounts. Smaller regions also received $15 million and a single-county entrant was awarded $5 million.

"It's been a much different process this time," Ridenour said of the IEDC's program. "It's much more involving of communities."

For Muncie, READI grant projects now include Ball State University's remake of The Village retail area, including an on-campus performing arts center and a new 100-room Tapestry by Hilton Hotel.

Ridenour also said other parts of READI in Muncie would include an effort he calls "Shine Muncie," which involves putting colored lights in and around White River downtown, providing light sculptures in the water, and images similar to what has been done with the St. Joseph River in downtown South Bend.

The mayor told the commission that READI funds would likely also be aimed at developing a trail from the BSU campus to downtown with the path potentially moving through Tuhey Park along the way.

Also in the works for READI are plans for the city to build a pedestrian bridge over the White River connecting Minnetrista Museum and Gardens to the Muncie Central High School campus. The connection would also be near the McKinley Neighborhood, which is being redeveloped, and also near the YMCA now under construction just south of the school.

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Ridenour also said said he is hoping to use READI funding to restore and upgrade the historic Muncie Fieldhouse. The mayor said the building is a community gathering spot and the most iconic structure in the city that needs to be maintained and protected. He also said he hopes to add air conditioning to the fieldhouse.

But READI is not just about Muncie and Delaware County. Communities across Grant, Blackford, Henry, Wayne, Jay, Randolph and Rush counties all have projects that Friedeberg is helping to pull together in an overall development plan that will be submitted.

Friedeberg came to Muncie in 2022 to pilot the READI 2.0 plan and assure the mostly rural collection of communities earned its proper share. He had served at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. for 13 years prior to his arrival where he worked as director of business development projects.

The READI rules have changed since the 2021 competition, he said, to become more about establishing strategy for development within a region. It's less about presenting an assortment of development projects.

The IEDC has said that READI 2.0 will emphasize "Quality of Place investments," which lay the groundwork for "a strong infrastructure for growth." It includes things like good housing options for people of all income levels.

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It will also look for "Quality of Life investments," which include amenities such as walking trails, cultural activities and childcare options and "Quality of Opportunity," which means the development of employment opportunities.

It remains a competition and Friedeberg does not wish to disclose East Central Indiana's strategy. But all involved know the old adage, "It takes money to make money," applies to READI. While the sums awarded are large, the grant match required is also large.

"The required match is four to one," Friedeberg said.

That means for every $1 READI can provide the community must come up with $4. And that is further broken down with the state wanting communities to provide $3 of their matching funds to be private or philanthropic for every dollar of public funds used, with READI providing no more than 20 percent of the money for a given project.

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Ridenour said Muncie can produce the match for its projects but it can be prohibitive for some communities.

On this point, however, East Central Indiana might have something of an edge. Lilly Endowment Inc., one of the world's wealthiest private endowments, also takes a special interest in its home state of Indiana. Earlier in December, Lilly gave $146 million to to six colleges in Indiana to help with projects to benefit the schools and their communities. Half of those schools are in the East Central Indiana region.

"We can find ways to leverage Lilly money," Friedeberg said.

The injection of money for projects that will also be part of the READI plan gives the region more matching funds. Ridenour said the city partnered with Ball State and sought to make those dollars available to other communities that didn't have matching funds.

"We want to build East Central Indiana," Ridenour said, in addition to Muncie.

∎ In Muncie, Ball State University received $35 million for the Village revitalization project, which the university plans as a $174 million project. Ridenour said $98 million of the university's development will pay local property taxes.

∎ In Richmond, Earlham College aims to use its $25 million grant from Lilly as part of its "Revitalize Richmond" effort to reinvigorate downtown Richmond and better connect it to the college campus. The project includes revitalizing historic buildings for residential and commercial use, improving a local park creating a multimodal pathway physically linking downtown to Earlham campus.

∎ In Upland, Taylor University will use a $30 million Lilly grant as part of a $100 million investment in both the campus and town of Upland. The private university plans to build or improve a one-mile corridor connecting the campus to downtown Upland. The project includes plans for residential and mixed use retail, development of a campus inn and renovations to the Upland Public Library.

All of the projects noted show projects in which the college campuses are engaging with the communities around them.

Friedeberg works with the economic development teams from each county in the region and said the communities within the East Central Indiana region have a lot more in common than one might think. Success in any of the communities is felt across the region.

"A rising tide raises all boats," he said.

The READI program was developed by Gov. Eric Holcomb, who is entering his final year in office.

"There is no guarantee of a future READI," Ridenour said. "There is no guarantee it will be a priority for the next administration."

David Penticuff is a reporter with The Star Press. He can be contacted at dpenticuff@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Towns and gowns in ECI working closely for mutual benefit