First things first, WIRED is an acronym for Workforce
Innovations in Regional Economic Development. We call our initiative Indiana WIRED but technically, our primary focus is a fourteen county region in sort-of-north/sort-of-Central/sort-of-West Indiana.  See why we went with Indiana WIRED? The back story is that this whole WIRED thing is a grand experiment to re-invent the way we do economic development and workforce development, and basically transform regional economies. No small task! WIRED is enabling us to think in new and different ways about how we (ourselves, our kids, our businesses, our institutions, and our communities) get and keep the competitive edge in today's global economy. Welcome to our website. We want this to be a place where you can learn about what we're doing, how you can get involved, or how you can build on these ideas and start the transformation in your own part of the world. |
Creating Globally Competitive
Industry Clusters
We are investing in creating networks of businesses committed to high-performance production in North Central Indiana. In particular, we are investing in business networks that are particularly important for our region: advanced manufacturing, advanced materials and agribusiness. We are supporting
initiatives that increase the competitiveness of industry through innovation transfer, technical assistance, and skill development.
Building an Entrepreneurship
Super-Region
We are investing in initiatives to teach and support entrepreneurs from primary school to older adults. Among our efforts, we are coordinating existing entrepreneurship training and extending this training into our high schools. Our goal is to have entrepreneurship training in every high school in the region. To support these efforts, we are creating a network of entrepreneurship support at locations throughout the region. We are also committed to increase the number of business ideas generated in the region and the financial capital available to support these new ventures.
Developing 21st Century Talent
We are investing in new initiatives to deliver 21st Century Skills from primary school to older adults. We are particularly focused on the skills involved with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in high school. We are encouraging high schools to adopt new methods for teaching STEM courses, such as Project Lead the Way. In addition, we are working to expand training opportunities for older adults to make it easier for people to restart their careers. We’re also interested in innovations that will develop skills for our existing (incumbent) workforce.
Weaving a Supportive Civic Network
We are investing in new networks of civic leadership to encourage the collaboration and sharing that has become critical to successful innovation. In particular, we are promoting quarterly regional forums in order to share what we have learned and celebrate our success.
(see more) How We've Invested Indiana Wired Summary.doc |
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