The Big Idea
WIRED is all about transformation. Transformation at many levels from how we define our regional economy, what we recognize as our core economic assets, our approaches, systems, structures, and institutions that support our regional economy.
Technology and innovation have created a need to evolve how communities foster economic growth. This evolution requires taking a regional approach. The city, county, state, and institutional boundaries are irrelevant in a global economy. WIRED's blueprint required us to begin by doing five things: (1) identify our regional economy, (2) form a core leadership group, (3) identify regional economic assets, (4) develop a set of transformational strategies, and (5) link assets, leverage resources, and take action.
Identifying our Regional Economy
This was actually not an easy task. The WIRED opportunity came right on the heels of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development's efforts to reconfigure the ways in which they do workforce development and the economic regions that make up our state. Twelve of the counties in our WIRED region are referred to as the less-than-catchy Economic Growth Region (EGR) 4. For our WIRED effort, we added two additional counties (Fulton and Wabash) because they were included with six other counties in a federally-designated Economic Development District. It gets a bit complicated but in the end, we have a WIRED region that includes 14 counties that are economically inter-dependent on one another.
Forming a CORE Leadership Team
We ended up with a pretty basic structure that includes a Policy Team and a Core Team. The Policy Team consists of executive-level leadership from industry, government, higher education, and other key stakeholders in the region. The Policy Team's role is to assure that the public and institutional policy environments are supportive of the region's plans for economic transformation. When policy issues arise, this is the group that tackles them.
The CORE Team is made up management-level leadership from many of the most of groups represented on the Policy Team as well as some others. This is the group that helps guide the WIRED work plan and make WIRED investment decisions.
In addition to these two teams, we also have a team of Local Economic Development Organizations (LEDOs) that provide valuable input to WIRED and are charged with a difficult task - working regionally in a way that will ensure BOTH local and regional economic growth.
Identify Regional Economic Assets
WIRED is committed to an asset-based approach to economic and workforce development - identifying the region's economic assets, linking and leveraging those assets and creating a networked whole that is much stronger than its individual parts. Are there economic challenges in this region? Absolutely, challenges are not what sets a region apart. Our challenges are similar to those faced by a lot of other regions, especially those in the Great Lakes area of the U.S. What does set us apart is the fact that no other region in the world has the exact same mix of assets. What are our assets? Fortunately, there are a lot.
- Three strong industry clusters
A great deal of economic research went into determining our region's strongest industry clusters. Each of these clusters represents an economic strength. Other regions may have the same sectors but each region has a different set of businesses, corporate leaders, and workers, who make up that cluster. That uniqueness is what makes the cluster an asset. Our clusters include Advanced Manufacturing, Advanced Materials, and Agribusiness Food Processing & Technology. - Higher Education
The presence of a world-class research university (Purdue ) a regional campus of another world-class university (Indiana University Kokomo) and a top-notch community college with two campuses (Ivy Tech Kokomo and Ivy Tech Lafayette) our region is fortunate to have institutions that represent a major source of innovation development, technology transfer, technical assistance, knowledge, and teaching. - Technology Parks
Our region is home to both the Purdue Research Park (the #1 university-affiliated research park in the U.S. and Inventrek, one of the state's premier non-university technology parks. Both of these assets represent a significant source of entrepreneurship-focused economic growth in the region. - A Strong Manufacturing Heritage and a Bright Manufacturing Future
We are a region that knows how to make stuff. What we make and how we make it changes, but the ability to make stuff is part of our regional DNA. - A Myriad of Local Economic Assets
With a region made up of 14 counties, we've got a lot of strong local economic assets. Linking and leveraging those assets to contribute to the regional economic transformation is part of our charge. - A Workforce Poised and Ready for 21st Century Skills
The accumulated knowledge of the baby boomers in this region is astounding. Thirty years of experience "making stuff" is an asset we cannot lose. This is an asset that must be leveraged. We also know that our young people, nearly ready to join the workforce, represents another vital talent asset. Giving them a reason to stay in the region is paramount.
Develop a Set of Transformational Strategies
We have ended up with four primary transformational strategies that include (1)Creating Globally Competitive Industries, (2) Building an Entrepreneurship Super-Region, (3) Developing a Workforce with 21st Century Skills, and (4) Weaving Supportive Civic Networks.
Link Assets, Leverage Resources, and Take Action
This last component of our blueprint is summed up in the phase "Strategic Doing." We're forming new partnerships, having new conversations, and working our way toward regional economic transformation.