14 counties: White, Carroll, Clinton, Benton, Warren, Fountain, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, Fulton, Cass, Howard, Tipton, Miami, Wabash

Target industries: Advanced Manufacturing; Advanced Materials; Agribusiness, Entrepreneurship and education opportunities for older workers

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Implementation Plan

Region Information

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The North Central Indiana (NCI) WIRED network will bring together partners, regional stakeholders and resources to accelerate structural changes necessary for an economic renaissance in the region.

Strategies carried out by the NCI WIRED network will be organized around three major regional change efforts:

1. NCI Entrepreneurial Collaborative
2. NCI "Next Practice" Cluster Initiative
3. Maturity Matters Older Worker Initiative

The NCI Entrepreneurial Collaborative will:

1. Make entrepreneurship a vibrant, mainstream part of the region's economic and educational culture.
2. Further develop regional cooperation across multiple jurisdictions in North Central Indiana.
3. Nurture early-stage ventures from start-up through survival and success, creating direct and indirect employment.
4. Establish networks for peer support and learning for entrepreneurs and for community leaders and policy makers who support them.

NCI "Next Practice" Cluster Initiative goals include:

1. Increased innovation, sales and job growth among NCI firms in the advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, and agri-business/food processing/technology clusters.
2. Aligned regional workforce, economic development, and education systems to support growth in these clusters.

Maturity Matters Older Worker Initiative will:

1. Increase post-secondary education attainment rates among the region's mature residents, especially low skilled, mature incumbent workers in declining industries.
2. Prepare businesses in the region for the demographic reality of the aging population and the mature workforce.