Regionalism Works: 20 Years of Momentum, Measured in Results

Twenty years ago, Northeast Indiana made a bet on a simple idea: if we act like a region, we can win like a region. Not as 11 separate counties competing with one another and getting outplayed by larger metros, but as one coordinated marketplace with shared priorities, a stronger story, and the capacity to deliver.

That bet has paid off.

Regionalism has helped Northeast Indiana punch above its weight, aligning business leaders, local governments, philanthropy, and education around long-term strategies that grow population, raise wages, expand credential attainment, and strengthen the industry clusters that define our global relevance.

Over time, the region’s work evolved from building a movement to driving action. Early on in 2009, Northeast Indiana received $20 million from Lilly Endowment to accelerate workforce and talent development in support of the aerospace and defense industries. A year later, the region entered a new era of coordinated community and economic development with Vision 2020, establishing a shared, long-range focus on sustainable growth.

In 2015, Indiana launched the Regional Cities Initiative to spur talent attraction and quality-of-place investment through regional collaboration. Northeast Indiana responded with Road to One Million, a regional development plan designed to accelerate population growth and strengthen our ability to attract and retain talent. The region secured $42 million and leveraged that investment into $270 million to catalyze transformative quality-of-place projects, reinforcing the value of region-led planning and execution.

As the region approached 2020, NEI and partners recast the work into Vision 2030, sharpening the focus around measurable outcomes. Vision 2030 made the objectives clear and urgent: raise per-capita personal income to 90% of the U.S. average, grow the region to one million residents, and increase postsecondary credential attainment to more than 60%.

Those goals became a common framework that aligned initiatives, investments, and partnerships across the region.

State leaders respond to regions that can demonstrate alignment, readiness, and follow-through. Northeast Indiana has built that reputation through multiple “big moments,” including:

These aren’t isolated wins. They reflect a repeatable regional capability: define the constraint, build the strategy, align the partners, secure the capital, deliver outcomes.

Few regions can credibly claim a world-leading orthopedic and medical device ecosystem. That advantage is not guaranteed; it must be defended, modernized, and reinforced through talent, housing, amenities, and innovation capacity.

That’s why the region rallied behind the Orthopedic Industry Retention Initiative (OIRI). NEI supported the regional case by preparing a MedTech study and supporting analysis that helped frame the opportunity and the urgency for decision-makers. That work helped advance a successful effort to secure $30 million for OIRI, with OrthoWorx serving as steward of the funds to help attract talent and retain and expand the orthopedic device industry in Indiana.

NEI has also helped shape the region’s next-generation growth engine through the Northeast Indiana Strategic Development Commission (SDC). Created by the Legislature and charged with aligning resources around wage, population, and credential growth, the SDC developed a five-year strategic plan designed to focus regional action and investment.

In April 2024, the State Budget Committee approved a $30 million grant to advance SDC-aligned programs across the 11-county region. And in 2024, the Regional Development Authority (RDA) became the administrative agent supporting execution of these funds—another example of regional systems working in tandem to deliver generational impact.

Your investment has never been about “supporting an organization.” It’s about backing a regional model that consistently converts alignment into results, business growth, talent strategies, stronger communities, and a more competitive Northeast Indiana.

As we kick off our 20th year, we’ll celebrate the milestones, but we’ll stay focused on the mission: build the regional product, tell the story with clarity, and compete to win.