Community leaders in Washington and Daviess County were briefed Friday on possible development opportunities through a 42-million dollar Lily Endowment Grant to 11 counties in the region.
The Washington Times Herald Washington Times Herald says the grant goes to a Regional Opportunities Initiative which has identified 14 industry sectors in the area with manufacturing, life sciences and the defense industry as the top three. Goals include raising employment opportunities and wages and finding ways to keep a workforce in the region as opposed to them leaving to find better jobs.
The grant money was also awarded for The Applied Research Institute which is about finding ways to develop connections between Crane and area businesses.
Also the money is helping to fund The Rural Center at Indiana University. It’s an initiative to discover what is attractive to IU and build evidence based approaches to issues that are facing rural communities right now.
The Times Herald reports areas which I.U. is looking to make a difference are healthcare and the fine arts.
Local development leaders say because the potential directions are so large, it may take awhile to formulate the exact ideas they might want to pursue