Radius Indiana will help market eight counties

That was fitting.

Admissions taxes at the French Lick Casino, which happens to be next door, are the reason for the group's formation.

Unlike many other economic development groups that primarily promote a specific area -- such as the Greene County Economic Development Corporation -- Radius Indiana is designed to consider the resources of all the counties involved.

"One team, one voice," Thomas Cooley, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and the group's president and CEO, heralded at Tuesday's meeting that attracted more than 200 business leaders and elected officials from the eight counties.

Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman was the keynote speaker and lauded the efforts of the Indiana Economic Development Commission for forging Radius Indiana.

In a short economic pep talk she told those gathered that "no community represented here today is an island" and cited south-central Indiana's diverse work force and resourcefulness as two of its strengths.

Radius Indiana is not designed to take the place of local economic development commissions. Its goal is to be "the next level" of development, said Ken Sendelweck, president of private banking and wealth management at German American Bank and Dubois County's representative on the Radius board of directors.

"The positives of Radius is the regional perspective it brings. Historically, Jasper and Dubois County have a reputation of being proud and taking care of themselves. If (local) companies have a need, they will go out and fix it," he said.

But if local resources don't exist -- whether that is the labor force or a facility -- Radius could help.

Legislation that led to the construction of the French Lick Casino included language that earmarked 25 percent of admission taxes be used for economic development in Orange County, and the five counties it touches: Dubois, Martin, Lawrence, Washington and Crawford.

The admissions money was sent to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and in turn was funneled to the six original counties.

An ad hoc group among those counties was formed to divvy the proceeds.

Radius Indiana also includes Daviess and Greene counties, which do not border the casino's home county.

Their addition can be traced the location of one of the region's economic landmarks: Naval Support Activity Crane, the military base built during World War II in Martin and Greene counties; a large portion of its work force of more than 3,000 lives in Daviess and Greene counties.

Crane's economic impact touches 40 Indiana counties through payroll and contracts, and it puts $2 million each day into Indiana's economy, according to its public affairs office.

Crane is where Radius Indiana will maintain its offices.

Greene County Economic Development Corproation Executive Director Joan Bethell sees the affiliation with the regional group as beneficial to job creations efforts in Greene County.

"Regionalization will put us in a better position to actually market and tell what the region has to offer. As a stand-alone county does not really rate enough to get on the site selector's radar, so to speak. However, if we pool our resources as a much larger community from eight counties, then that will command some attention," she said.

Bethell also said that using the tools of the combined group will also ease the financial task of marketing the area.

The new group has been in the talking stages for nearly a year and Radius Indiana has actually been functional since April, Bethell said.

The WestGate Authority agreed to fund the bulk of Greene and Daviess counties share of the charter year admissions fee, according to Bethell. The fee was also supplemented with funding from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

For Ron Arnold, director of the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation and executive director of WestGate Tech Park, Crane has the most potential to support economic development in the eight-county region.

He called it the "domino effect" for job creation and existing company expansion.

"We are working on that on a daily basis," he said.

Hak Haskins is the managing editor for the Dubois County Herald in Jasper. He can be contacted at hak@dcherald.com. Daily World Assistant Editor Nick Schneider contributed to this report.