IEDA In Your Ear

In his 2021 State of the State Address, Governor Eric Holcomb announced the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, now known as READI.  The Indiana General Assembly enacted legislation to fund the initiative at $500 million and to authorize the Indiana Economic Development Corporation to implement the program.  IEDC Chief of Staff Luke Bosso shares details of the READI program with Lee Lewellen in this podcast.

‘To tell the authentic story of Indiana…’ is how Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and Secretary Elaine Bedel describe the purpose and goal of the Indiana Destination Development Corporation (IDDC).  Crouch and Bedel talk in this podcast about the IDDC strategic plan and how they hope to work with IEDA members on attracting workers to Indiana.

The 2021 Indiana General Assembly appropriated an additional $60million for the Indiana Small Business Restart Grant Program.  Luke Bosso, Indiana Economic Development Corporation Chief of Staff, talks in this podcast about getting the word out quickly to Hoosier small businesses that were financially hurt during the pandemic so that they can take advantage of these funds.

In 2020, the federal government spent over $132 billion on small business contracts.  Indiana small businesses captured $867 million of that total.  Chris Jeffers, Indiana Director of the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) wants to increase Indiana’s share of all government purchasing and asks for your help in this week’s podcast.

Mayor, licensed minister, broadcaster, educator and now Executive Director of OCRA, Denny Spinner brings a wealth of experience to his new role.  Denny talks with Lee Lewellen about OCRA’s ‘four competencies,’ and how he hopes the agency will serve Indiana’s rural communities.

In 2020 the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and the Indiana Power Partnership launched the Strategic Sites Inventory project to expand the number of developable economic development sites in Indiana.

In this podcast program creator Victor Leotta, Duke Energy’s Erin Schneider, and IEDC’s Matt Wade talk about the program and its potential to increase the competitive advantage of every Indiana county.

In spite of all the disruptions caused by the pandemic, Indiana had another record year in economic development.  Indiana Commerce Secretary Jim Schellinger joins host Lee Lewellen for a second podcast and talks about the successes in 2020 and the opportunities and challenges facing Indiana in 2021.

After over 40 years with NIPSCO, 20 of which were spent directing the utility’s economic development efforts, Don Babcock retired at the end of 2020.  In this, the second in a series of occasional podcasts to highlight the careers of retiring economic development professionals, Don shares his thoughts on leadership and how the economic development profession has changed during his career.

After nearly 22 years, Diane Thalmann is stepping away from her role as the Economic Development Manager at NIPSCO.  In the first of an occasional podcast series to highlight Indiana’s ‘seasoned’ economic development professionals, Diane talks about how she entered into and learned the economic development field, how the field has changed and shares advice about leadership and service.

The Indiana Main Street program has operated in Indiana communities since 1985, but COVID 19 has highlighted the critical role the program plays in fostering thriving downtowns.  Program Coordinator Jackie Swihart talks about past successes of the Indiana program, how communities used Main Street resources to respond to the pandemic, and changes coming to the program that will extend its success even further into Hoosier communities.