WHAT IS RESILIENCE?

Generally speaking, resiliency refers to the ability to recover quickly after a tragic disturbance or event has occurs. Resiliency may also refer to the capability to plan or prepare for a future disturbance or threat. Specifically, when looked at from an economic lens, resiliency is an area’s ability to not only recover from major disruptions, but also to withstand and avoid future disruptions. The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), a bureau within the U.S. Department of Commerce, calls these disruptions ‘shocks’ that frequently occur in one of three ways:

1. Downturns in the national or international economy which impact the demand for locally produced goods and consumer spending.

2. Downturns in particular industries that are a critical component of the region’s economic base.

3. Other external shocks, such as natural disasters, relocation or closure of a major employer, or a public health pandemic. (U.S. EDA, Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Content Guidelines, 2020)

Economic resilience strategies must focus on preventing, withstanding, and recovering from disruptions, which requires them to reflect both short-term needs during or immediately after a shock and long-term efforts to avoid major disruptions and to be better prepared when they do happen.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a shock to the Indiana 15 Regional Planning Commission’s (IND15RPC) regional economy and was the impetus for this plan. In addition to significant loss of life, long-term health impacts to some, and considerable pain and suffering for families and friends, the pandemic exacerbated an already tough economic situation. The pandemic furthered job loss and reduced revenue for local and regional workforce. Businesses struggled to close the supply chain gap, fill vacant positions, and recruit a talented workforce to the region. The pandemic also revealed and drained the limited resources found in rural regions. Initial response to the pandemic focused on limiting financial losses, supporting small businesses and their employees, and accelerating public health support.

Successful resiliency and recovery strategies must be collaborative efforts. The response efforts listed above required coordination between multiple levels of government, diverse agencies and organizations, businesses, and residents. Preliminary reports show that those groups or regions that were already organized, collaborating, and planning ahead were best prepared to capitalize on various recovery programs. Going forward, the IND15RPC region must continue recovery efforts for the pandemic, and also identify those strategies that will increase local and regional resiliency for the next unforeseen challenge.