EcO15 initiative will directly impact education and training efforts in 10 counties

Lilly Endowment Inc. will provide $38 million in grants to two Bartholomew County organizations, officials announced today. The grants will fund educational programs associated with advanced manufacturing, health care services and hospitality and tourism for 10 counties in Southeast Indiana.

The Community Education Coalition will receive $26 million; $12 million will be awarded to Heritage Fund – the Community Foundation of Bartholomew County. The two organizations will provide leadership, oversight and management support services for the regionally-focused initiative called Economic Opportunities 2015 (EcO15).

“We are very grateful to the Lilly Endowment for this generous grant, which will provide long-term learning benefits for the Southeast Indiana region,” said EcO15 Project Chair John Burnett. “These monies are especially critical given the future economic demands and employment needs of this growing region.”

In announcing these grants, Lilly Endowment President N. Clay Robbins said: 

“The Endowment invited the Heritage Fund of Bartholomew County to propose a plan to enable the residents of its community and region to take fuller advantage of the promising economic development opportunities in front of them. This invitation was offered because of the strength of the community foundation’s board and staff leadership and the vision, dedication and collaborative spirit of the community and business leadership in Columbus and Southeastern Indiana, demonstrated in part through the Community Education Coalition. We also were impressed with the compelling economic opportunities in advanced manufacturing, health care services, and hospitality and tourism industries.

“We are delighted that the educational programs to be supported by the grants will over time help thousands of residents in the region enhance their economic well-being and overall quality of life,” Robbins added. “The Endowment views these two grants as building on its successful GIFT initiative for Indiana community foundations, which began in 1990. Through several phases of GIFT and grants totaling more than $420 million, the Endowment has helped community foundations throughout the state develop their endowments, improve their administrative capacities and enhance their abilities to help their communities forge strategies to address significant community challenges.”

The EcO15 initiative will directly impact the counties of Bartholomew, Dearborn, Decatur, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Ripley, Ohio and Switzerland. Heritage Fund will work with the community foundations in the region to distribute grant funds into each county. The key objective of the initiative is to advance people in the region by at least one level in their training, education and/or job placement.

Proceeds of the Lilly Endowment grants will be focused on three primary economic growth areas and coordinating services, which include:

• Advanced Manufacturing: As more than 28 percent of the region’s workforce (38,000 people) is dedicated to advanced manufacturing, a substantial portion of the grant will be dedicated to developing an advanced manufacturing network of excellence, incorporating the regional Dream It. Do It. initiative. This network will establish a comprehensive advanced manufacturing education and training program that will use regional advanced manufacturing labs positioned throughout Southeastern Indiana.
   

• Health Care Services: More than 10 percent of the region’s workforce (14,000 people) is employed in the health care services sector. Proceeds of the grant will be leveraged to create a regional network of stationary and mobile clinical simulation labs that can be used for accreditation and advanced degree certifications.
   

• Hospitality/Tourism: Revenue from the gaming industry has helped spur tourism efforts in the region and created a heavy demand for service employees. The grant will help create training and career pathway development for meaningful careers in the hospitality and tourism field.
   

• Shared Coordinating Services: To coordinate and align the regional learning system, the grant will provide funds to staff an EcO15 coordinator located in each of the 10 counties. Each coordinator will have an understanding of process and programs to better guide students and will act as a liaison between industry and educational institutions.

The EcO15 Initiative will be guided by a 40-member regional advisory council. The council will be made up of representatives from each of the 10 counties and will include leaders from community foundations, education institutions, workforce partners, private-industry employers, economic development organizations and government representatives.

“The Endowment invited us to develop an initiative that used education as a bridge to connect people to the economic opportunities that are present in this community and county,” said Sherry Stark, president and CEO of Heritage Fund. “We expanded our proposal to include the southeast region of Indiana because issues, challenges and opportunities don’t stop at county lines.”

Jeff Brown, Chairman of the Heritage Fund Board of Directors, observed: "This community has credibility and that is why Lilly Endowment is entrusting it, through the Heritage Fund, with this generous grant. That credibility was developed through strong local partnerships. In short, good local people, sacrificing countless hours of effort, over many years, got us to this point."

Within the next several years, the southeastern region will experience a demand for 4,000 employees for skilled manufacturing jobs. The announcements by Honda Motor Company to locate its new assembly plant in Greensburg and by Cummins Inc. to locate a new light-duty diesel assembly plant in Columbus have provided both opportunities and challenges for the region.

“We can never underestimate the value of lifelong learning to individuals and communities,” said Dick Johnson, chair of the Community Education Coalition. “By bringing together business, education and community leaders throughout Southeastern Indiana, we will be able to give our residents the tools they need to fully capitalize on our region’s economic growth.” 

“These grants will help us create a connection between resources that are working to improve educational opportunities for Indiana’s workforce,” said Joe Loughrey, Cummins’ president and chief operating officer. “For example, CONEXUS INDIANA, a new advanced manufacturing and logistics initiative launched by the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, will work with EcO15 to share its expertise and to take what is learned from EcO15 for use in regions around the state. The goal of all concerned is to position Indiana as a global leader in advanced manufacturing and logistics.” 

Officials said that once the EcO15 Initiative has been implemented throughout the Southeastern region, it will serve as a model within the United States for how regions educate their citizens and leverage that talent to drive the productivity and competitiveness of their regional economies.

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Heritage Fund—The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County (www.heritagefundbc.com) was formed as a community foundation in 1976 with the purpose of continuing a legacy of giving by providing an opportunity for all citizens to make gifts and establish charitable funds to benefit the local community. It was created primarily to:
• Provide responsible stewardship of gifts donated for broad charitable purposes; 
• Develop leadership to address community issues; 
• Serve as a catalyst for positive change in partnership with others; 
• Promote philanthropy broadly within the community.

The Community Education Coalition (www.educationcoalition.com) is a not for profit organization that brings together education, business and community stakeholders to align and integrate a community learning system. Specifically, the CEC works to promote the efficient and successful integration of education, economic vitality and quality of life programming. Over the past few years, the CEC and its partners have established the Columbus Learning Center, a state-of-the-art 130,000 square foot educational facility that provides shared classroom, lab and library space to area educational institutions, secured funding for expanded post-secondary education and training programs, assisted in the development of K-12 school programming and funded initiatives that support the development of pre-kindergarten children.

Lilly Endowment Inc. (www.lillyendowment.org) is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Gifts of stock in that company remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment. It is, however, a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the wishes of the three founders, Lilly Endowment exists to support the causes of community development, education and religion. The Lilly family’s foremost priority was to help the people of their city and state build a better life. Although the Endowment also supports efforts of national significance and an occasional international project, it remains primarily committed to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.