Frequently Asked Questions

How much money did Lilly Endowment award to Columbus and Southeast Indiana?

COLUMBUS, INDIANA – Dec. 12, 2007: 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).

What is the money to be used for?

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

Why was it given?

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."

How will Southeast Indiana be involved?

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.

What are the objectives, strategies, supporting projects, and impact of EcO15?

• Objective #1 - Move residents up one level in their education, training, and/or job placement.
  Strategies to achieve this objective include: creating an Advanced Manufacturing Network of Excellence; a Healthcare Service Network of Excellence, and Pathways within Hospitality and Tourism.
  EcO15 will impact 38,000 advanced manufacturing workers, 14,000 healthcare service workers, and 14,000 hospitality/tourism workers. That represents 50% of the total employment in Southeast Indiana.
  Supporting projects include: Dream It Do It Campaign, Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence (Hub), Regional Integrated Technology Labs (Nodes), Southeast Health Consortium, High Fidelity Sim and Mobile Labs, Allied Health and Nursing Education, Career Pathway Development, and Customer Service Training Module Development.
• Objective #2 - Coordinate and align a regional learning system by 'connecting the dots.'
  Strategies to achieve this objective include: align education, workforce, and community programs and career pathways, create career awareness, and cultivate emerging innovations. This will impact 34 high schools, 10 learning centers, 7 college campuses, and 6 work one sites.
  Supporting projects include: EcO15 Director and Regional Coordinators, Pathways and Project Coordination, Marketing and Outreach Coordination. Identify, Recruit, and Refer Coordination, and emerging innovations: Latino Workforce Development, E-Learning, Mandarin Language, etc.
• Objective #3 - Be a catalyst for regional leadership.
  Strategies include: increase regional collaboration, prepare regional foundations for change, and position foundations for visionary leadership. These strategies will be achieved through leveraging the $38 million investment.
  Supporting projects include: EcO15 Advisory Council, Regional Foundation Workshops and Conferences, EcO15 Funding and Support.

What is 'Dream It Do It'?

Dream It Do It is a nation-wide campaign that Southeast Indiana is participating in through an agreement with the National Association of Manufacturing. The campaign is designed to: create broad awareness about manufacturing careers, redefine the image of manufacturing, showcase the industry’s growing range of career opportunities, demonstrate how young people and adults can secure great advanced manufacturing jobs through training and education, and to bring together our region’s education and workforce system.

The original campaign was designed for 18-26 year olds, focused on a marketing campaign only, and concluded in 12-18 months. Given the needs of Southeast Indiana, we have increased the scope to middle school to senior citizens, expanded the campaign to take a systems perspective that includes raising awareness through marketing, directing citizens to education and training that may be needed to be considered for manufacturing jobs, and to assist in the placement of a highly qualified workforce through a catch and referral system. Finally, the Dream It Do It campaign will be ongoing program.

Dream It Do It is a major project in the meeting our manufacturing education strategy.

Web Design by TLS
© 2010 The Manufacturing Institute