Month: August 2017

Radius Indiana Holds Economic Education Session for Southern Indiana Finance Community

BEDFORD, Ind. (August 28, 2017) — Radius Indiana held the region’s first economic development incentive seminar for area accountants and financial managers Aug. 22 at French Lick Resort.

Radius organized the event to raise awareness about incentives that are available in the region, and from the state of Indiana, that can help local businesses looking to grow their company or expand operations.

“Supporting growth for our existing businesses is one of the most important focus areas for Radius Indiana; it’s an important partnership with local economic development leaders,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle. “I believe this education session for local CPAs provided great information for our attendees and will help existing and new businesses better utilize some of the great incentives we have available.”

Presenters provided information on a variety of topics to 20 attendees from regional firms and economic development organizations, which will add to the financial tools businesses and their advisers can use for planning. The session included:

• Susan Vaughn from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation covered state incentives such as the Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) Tax Credit and the Hoosier Business Investment (HBI) Tax Credit, which support job creation and capital investment.

• David Umbleby, from Krieg Devault, shared information on New Market Tax Credits, which offer tax incentives on private investments in many Radius communities to fuel community development and economic growth.

• Misty McCammack from Duke Energy and Harold Gutzwiller from Hoosier Energy offered a utility perspective for the group and explained Economic Development Riders, which can provide discounts and savings for relocating or expanding businesses.

• Jeff Quyle rounded out the program with an overview of the Regional Impact Fund (RIF). The RIF is a fund dedicated solely to economic development projects in the Radius eight-county region, and is the only deal-closing fund in Indiana.

Debra S. Deckard, certified public accountant and partner at Bedford-based Turpen & Deckard, who participated in the session added, “The Radius session at French Lick was a great opportunity for local CPAs to connect with their peers while gaining valuable information about regional programs, tax incentives, new market credits, and energy programs to better serve their clients.”

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ABOUT RADIUS INDIANA: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of the region to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.

IEDA Brings Site Selector Conference to Radius Indiana Region

BEDFORD, Ind. (August 21, 2017) – Radius Indiana served as the host sponsor for the 2017 Indiana Economic Development Association’s Site Consultant Event at the French Lick Resort, Aug. 16-18.

IEDA created the site consultant event in 2012 as a way for its statewide membership to connect with site selectors. This year’s conference in the Radius region marks the first time the annual event has been held outside of Indianapolis.

“Traditionally our members have to travel around the country to different conferences to meet with site selectors, said Lee Lewellen, CEO of IEDA. “This event gives us an opportunity to provide an unvarnished view of Indiana as well as learn from site selectors what they are looking for. We can then translate what we learn into actionable items for communities, business leaders and legislators.”

More than 100 business leaders, elected officials and economic development professionals from across Indiana gathered to hear from 10 national site selectors about how businesses choose locations for relocation and expansion, and what cities and counties can do to best position themselves for growth.

The two-day conference included multiple sessions from the visiting site selectors on topics from workforce to technology and manufacturing investment to site preparedness as well as presentations from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Indiana Office of Defense Development, and the Indiana Department of Transportation.

“This conference was very beneficial by giving perspective on new trends and data related to advanced manufacturing and location requirements. The diverse group of presenters made for a very informative session, and I look forward to taking this information back to my community to help us as we plan approaches to attract new business, said Justin Green, Salem City Council and Radius Indiana Board member.

As the eight-county economic development partnership for the region, Radius Indiana advocated to bring the conference to the area, and applauds the IEDA for its willingness to move to a new location this year.

“Radius, along with our local economic development organizations, travel to cities around the country to educate site selectors and business advisers on the advantages of doing business in our region. Bringing this event to southern Indiana was a tremendous opportunity for everyone to see for themselves what our area has to offer,” said Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle.

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ABOUT RADIUS INDIANA: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of Southwest Central Indiana to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.

ABOUT IEDA: The Indiana Economic Development Association was formed in 1968 by industrial developers to provide continuity to statewide community development efforts. Today the nonprofit, 400-member association serves as the voice of economic development for Indiana. Made up of economic developers, utilities, attorneys, consultants, financial institutions, higher education professionals, engineers, architects and construction professions, the organization works to attract and retain jobs for Indiana. IEDA works to promote state and federal policies that support a positive business climate and ensures that the important economic development issues are on the agenda for state administrators and elected officials.

Radius Indiana Begins Tracking Tourism Impact for Region

BEDFORD, Ind. (August 02, 2017) — Radius Indiana released today its first findings from the Radius Tourism Index (RTI). The index shows that the Radius region is outpacing other areas of the state in the overall vitality of the tourism industry sector.

Radius Indiana developed the RTI as part of a series of three indices, which also include manufacturing and small business, to provide the organization with analytic tools that monitor the strength of the regional economy in southern Indiana.

Radius used data from a previously published report from Rockport Analytics, a study commissioned by the Indiana Office of Tourism Development and Radius, along with other economic factors to create a baseline for the region’s tourism industry. The index tracks changes to key economic indicators including tourism jobs, wages, spending, tax receipts and overall economic impact, and compares them to the same data for the state of Indiana as a whole.

The RTI gives the region an initial score of 61.3 for the positive changes to the key economic indicators over a two-year period. The most significant change noted was a 13 percent increase in tourism spending for Radius, and the score was bolstered by double digit increases in tourism jobs and tax receipts. The state of Indiana as a whole also showed increases in all the key indicators, but less so than the Radius region, resulting in a score of 38.1.

“The Rockport report gave us a complete snapshot of regional tourism and now the Radius Tourism Index gives us a good tool to begin tracking its growth,” said Kevin Manley, executive director of the Dubois County Visitors Center and Tourism Commission and chairman of the Radius Indiana Tourism Development Advisory Council.

As the 7th largest industry in the region, tourism accounts for nearly 5,000 jobs Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange and Washington counties. Radius will continue to track tourism data to keep area stakeholders informed on how the industry changes over time.

“From Rockport we learned that annual visitor spending totals $271 million for our region and has an economic impact of $198 million for our eight counties—monitoring this industry from year to year is vital to our understanding of the area’s economic health and this very important economic sector,” said Jeff Quyle, president and CEO of Radius Indiana.

ABOUT RADIUS INDIANA: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of the region to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.