By East Central Indiana Regional Partnership—
MUNCIE, IN — The East Central Indiana Regional Partnership has announced the launch of its robust strategic plan, created with consultant Smart Solutions Group, which sets forth a steadfast vision for propelling the region’s economic growth. With a commitment to the region’s prosperity, ECIRP presents a detailed blueprint that outlines actionable strategies for the next 2-3 years.
Trevor Friedeberg, CEO and President of East Central Indiana Regional Partnership, expressed enthusiasm, stating, “This new strategic plan will provide more focus, clarity, and transparency around the exciting and impactful work the Partnership is conducting. It serves as a roadmap to where we are headed as we work to continually enhance our impact on East Central Indiana in a thoughtful and strategic manner.”
The plan initially lays out the challenges the region is currently facing. Most notably, the region has witnessed a population decrease over the last five years, and the current projection of continued population decline underscores the urgency for comprehensive and strategic economic revitalization.
With a strong economic focus, the core priority of the strategic plan revolves around fostering a growing and diversified industry base. This will serve as a catalyst for bolstering the region’s population and advancing income levels, thereby nurturing a healthy regional economy.
The Partnership recognizes that effective collaboration and trust-building among local economic development organizations and elected officials are integral to achieving its collective goals. Accordingly, the strategic plan emphasizes the cultivation of efficient communication between key partners and creating action-oriented teamwork.
To assert a strong regional identity, between both internal and external audiences, ECIRP is dedicated to enhancing quality of place initiatives. These initiatives described in the Forge Your Path Regional Development Plan encompass comprehensive efforts to address crucial aspects such as housing, early childhood education, commercial development, education, recreational spaces, and talent attraction.
The strategic vision for East Central Indiana is to cultivate a flourishing and vibrant region celebrated for its robust economy, exceptional quality of life, and an inclusive and welcoming community with opportunities for all residents. The comprehensive strategies included in the plan are based off research and discussions from collaborative workshops and aims to stimulate population growth, employment opportunities, and income advancement. To read the full plan, visit http://www.ecirp.org/strategic-plan.
About Smart Solutions Group
Smart Solutions Group has positioned themselves to be probably one of the very few, if not only, full service economic development consulting groups. They have worked with over 400 economic development or chamber of commerce organizations, done site selection work, designed apps, provides executive searches, and sells economic development software. Smart Solutions Group has over 80 years of experience working at the local, state, and utility level in economic development. Their firm believes in results more than planning.
About the East Central Indiana Regional Partnership:
Established in 2005, the East Central Indiana Regional Partnership’s mission is to market the assets and resources of the 9 county East Central Indiana region. The Partnership teams with local economic development organizations and the state’s lead economic development agency – the Indiana Economic Development Corporation – to bring capital investment and new jobs to the region and to assist existing businesses grow and prosper. The Partnership serves as the initial point of contact for economic development for the area.
