REGIONAL ECONOMIC and COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT in SOUTHERN INDIANA Contents
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2015 School of Public and Environmental Affairs Spring 2015 V600 Capstone Class REGIONAL ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN INDIANA Contents Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Regional Tourism Development Plan ........................................................................................................... 5 External Marketing .................................................................................................................................. 5 Building a Regional Brand .................................................................................................................... 5 Target Marketing Specific to the Chicago Area ................................................................................... 8 Target Marketing Specific to the St. Louis Area ................................................................................. 10 Target Marketing Specific to the Louisville Area ................................................................................ 12 Attract Indiana University Alumni to Revisit the Area ....................................................................... 13 Tourism as a Recruitment Tool .......................................................................................................... 14 Internal Marketing ................................................................................................................................. 16 Promoting Indiana Artisans ............................................................................................................... 16 Increase CollaBoration between SIRMC and Explore Southern Indiana ............................................. 17 Recommendations for Age-Targeted Marketing ............................................................................... 18 Increasing CollaBoration between County & State Tourism Offices .................................................. 20 Tourism Mapping ................................................................................................................................... 21 Interactive Map .................................................................................................................................. 21 Static Map .......................................................................................................................................... 23 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 23 URLs for the Maps .............................................................................................................................. 25 Appendix ................................................................................................................................................ 26 Regional Workforce Development Plan ..................................................................................................... 29 WorkOne Indiana: Utilizing Existing State Resources ............................................................................ 29 Regional Presence & Function ............................................................................................................ 30 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) ............................................................ 33 Best Practices ..................................................................................................................................... 34 Challenges .......................................................................................................................................... 35 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 36 Stem Initiatives: A Non-Profit Approach ............................................................................................... 37 STEM Education in United States vs. Other Countries ........................................................................ 37 Importance of STEM Education Initiatives ......................................................................................... 38 1 Potential Solutions for Current Situation ........................................................................................... 39 Proposed Solutions ............................................................................................................................. 40 Afterschool and Summer Education: Privately Funded Programs ......................................................... 42 Existing Regional Programs ............................................................................................................... 42 Strengths of Existing Programming ................................................................................................... 45 Weaknesses of Existing Programming ............................................................................................... 45 Best Practices ..................................................................................................................................... 46 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 46 Program Evaluation: Pre-Screening & A New Approach ........................................................................ 49 Why is Evaluation Necessary? ............................................................................................................ 49 Evaluating Program’s Effectiveness: Best Practices and Findings ...................................................... 50 Evaluation Template for Proposed Programs .................................................................................... 53 IU Rural Center of Excellence ..................................................................................................................... 59 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ 59 Background ............................................................................................................................................ 62 Project Strategy ................................................................................................................................. 63 IU Bicentennial Strategic Plan Integration ......................................................................................... 63 Stakeholder Analysis Overview .......................................................................................................... 64 Rural Center of Excellence Focus Areas ................................................................................................. 66 Focus Area 1: Rural Business and Rural Cooperative Development ................................................... 66 Focus Area 2: Rural STEM Programs .................................................................................................. 72 Focus Area 3: Rural Health & Substance Abuse ................................................................................. 75 Focus Area 4: Rural Technology and BroadBand ............................................................................... 81 Other Opportunities ............................................................................................................................... 84 Challenges .............................................................................................................................................. 86 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 87 Appendix I: Stakeholder meetings .......................................................................................................... 88 Appendix II: Relevant Faculty MemBers ................................................................................................. 89 Appendix III: Grants List ......................................................................................................................... 94 Bibliography – Regional Tourism Development Plan ............................................................................... 103 Bibliography – Regional Workforce Development Plan ........................................................................... 103 Bibliography – IU Rural Center of Excellence ........................................................................................ 107 2 Executive Summary Tourism Development: Tourism is a major industry in southwest central Indiana, serving as a significant economic driver in the 11 counties detailed in this report. However, there is still room for the growth of tourism in the area. In order to more fully develop this sector in southwest central Indiana, this report makes recommendations within three categories: external marketing, internal marketing, and tourism mapping. External marketing recommendations include building a regional brand for tourism, pursuing specific target markets in nearby major population centers, utilizing Indiana University’s alumni base, and advertising tourism as a recruitment tool for businesses. Internal marketing recommendations include increased promotion of the