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IND15RPC –SWOT ANALYSIS

On May 25, 2021, sixteen meetings were held throughout the day with various groups and organizations to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the region. A second date was scheduled for November 1, 2021, for groups who could not attend in May to provide feedback.

In total, eighteen meetings were held with each lasting approximately 45 minutes. Individuals who attended these meetings included stakeholders, business owners, residents, representatives of organizations, community members and leaders, and government officials.

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Strengths

The region has several strengths including the small-town character of many of its rural communities, an existing tourism industry that is anchored by Holiday World and Hoosier National Forest, safety within the communities, available land for development, and quality education opportunities. Quality of place and the ability to experience the natural beauty that the region has to offer were identified as two major selling points for individuals who may enjoy living in smalltown communities.

The region is a provider of several services, resources, and materials to other regions. Wood product and transportation manufacturing, which have remained stable throughout the pandemic, are two of the biggest industries within the region. While many industry sectors lost employees, closed, or felt other negative impacts of the pandemic more severely, the wood product and transportation manufacturing industries increased job opportunities.

Several government facilities are working together at the various levels (county, city, town) and with community organizations and local businesses to create an alliance to support each other, and rebuild areas that need help while working towards recovery. Several government leaders including elected officials, local economic development leaders, tourism leaders, and health and emergency management leaders are working on identifying what the needs of the communities are and creating initiatives that will help these communities stabilize.

Weaknesses

During the focus group meetings, several weaknesses were identified that were present before the pandemic and exacerbated during the “lock-down”. These issues were identified as weaknesses that need to be addressed for the overall health of the region. These weaknesses include lack of quality, affordable housing options (especially workforce housing), lack of high-speed internet (broadband services), no available public transportation options, shortened business hours, lack of childcare, and a reduction in product manufacturing due to material shortages.

Recent housing development has been very limited across all six counties in the region. Many of the housing structures were built before 2000 with much of the development happening between 1990-1999. It was discussed during the focus group meetings that many of the existing housing units that are available need repaired and are not quality structures for home buyers and renters. There are many factors as to why recent housing development may have slowed, including the increased price of lumber, utility extension, and lack of broadband service.

Broadband is a leading concern for rural communities not just for the region but across the nation. Several communities during the COVID-19 pandemic with no internet access struggled because of the cultural shift of having to work and learn from home rather than going to work and school in person. Rural communities have been left behind when it comes to quality of services and are not typically provided with the same resources that would be seen in more urbanized areas. The region is working on a program that will provide all six counties with broadband – especially for the areas that have little to no service. Without quality internet service, which is now a necessity for every household, people may not move to the region.

Despite the downfalls of the pandemic and changes that have affected the nation, the region was able to retain many of its major industries jobs and even employ more people indicating that the major industries of the region are resilient. However, there have been issues with manufacturing industries not being able to produce as many products due to a lack of materials. The automobile manufacturing industry is suffering from this issue which may have contributed to job loss in the industry for the region.

For the smaller, local businesses that have remained open during the pandemic, many have had to shorten their hours. This means that business owners are not earning as much money as they were pre-pandemic and lay off employees to remain open.

Opportunities

The region has multiple opportunities for expansion.

There is an opportunity to expand tourism across the region and pull resources from the area’s existing attractions. Holiday World and the Hoosier National Forest serve as significant anchor destinations in the area. Additionally, as the pandemic and “lockdown” occurred, more people sought refuge in outdoor recreation activities. Local tourism offered activities such as hiking, kayaking and canoeing, camping, bird watching, fishing, and hunting for guests of all ages.

Another opportunity includes the capturing of homeowners who commute from outside the region to work within it. Similarly, there is an opportunity to capture more jobs for residents who live within the region, but work outside of it. The region can begin to focus on finding a solution to provide quality homes and offer attractive jobs within a short distance of one another while working towards economic recovery. It will help keep the local economy stimulated and offers convenience for both residents and employees.

To complement the expansion of housing and job opportunities to attract more residents and workers, the region can also focus on ways to recruit high school and college students after graduation. Since the majority industries in the region are in manufacturing and production, trade job experience is in high demand. High schools are focusing on vocational programs that would allow students to gain both the experience and knowledge necessary to begin work right after graduation at potentially higher pay than someone with less experience. For those college students who are looking for more professional job opportunities, the region could begin to place a focus on expanding job availability in certain fields, especially STEM-related professions (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), to work with their existing employment opportunities and compliment them.

To keep the workforce local, it is not enough just to provide quality and affordable housing and have available job opportunities. The expansion of affordable childcare services is an opportunity for every community across the region to work towards. Many of the communities in the region do not have enough facilities to serve families who are in need. The lack of affordable services leaves many parents in the region having to choose between going to work or staying home to care for their child(ren). The expansion of childcare services would allow the region to increase job opportunities and allow parents to return to work.

Many cities and towns prioritize investment in downtown development. Each community can take time to build upon its existing downtown assets and destinations to increase density, increase housing options, increase and support local businesses, and create an inviting destination that encourages residents and visitors to stay.

Several stakeholders identified the need to add more public space to increase the overall appearance and quality of place in the downtown district. Benefits of increasing green space in the downtown area would enable additional quality of life projects to be developed such as trails, performance venues, gathering spaces, and public art.

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