Frequently Asked Questions

In 2015, the Southern Indiana region recognized that one of the state’s biggest threats to economic development is population stagnation, along with educational attainment and offering employers a qualified workforce.  The Southern Indiana region strives to be recognized as a center for talent attraction and retention by utilizing our existing resources and working together regionally to embrace new ideas and challenges. The Southern Indiana Region is poised to lead the state and the Midwest in an economic renaissance, based upon existing natural resources, geographical location, and position within the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the vast amount of economic development potential that has recently become available.

In 2017, the County Councils of the five counties – Clark, Floyd, Jefferson, Scott and Washington — each voted unanimously to form the Our Southern Indiana Regional Development Authority (Our SoIN). By the end of that year, the County Commissioners for the five counties unanimously appointed a five-member Board of Directors for the RDA. This group has met monthly when possible to not only understand the needs of the region, but also to meet with elected officials and policy makers to determine a plan of action to compete as an economically viable region of the state.

The RDA Board of Directors consists of five members appointed by the Boards of Commissioners of Clark, Floyd, Jefferson, Scott and Washington counties. Board members serve a four-year term. The 2018-2022 board members and the counties they represent are:

• Dana Huber, VP, Marketing and Public Relations for Huber’s Orchard, Winery & Vineyards and the Starlight Distillery, Clark County. Dana is the group’s chairperson. 
• John Jones, founder of John Jones Automotive Group, Washington County 
• Kevin Kellems,  business & public affairs consultant, Jefferson County
• Steve Meyer, retired, Scottsburg High School, Scott County. Scott is the group's vice-chair.
• Ken Rush, retired, vice President of Sellersburg Stone Co., retired, Business Development with Irving Materials (IMI), Floyd County. Ken serves as Secretary for the group.

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The Our Region | Our Plan is a strategic approach to creating a broad and visionary strategic growth plan for the region. The goal is to focus on developing plans and recommendations that will result in drawing investment and quality-of-life improvement to the Southern Indiana region. The Our Southern Indiana Regional Development Authority began work on the plan in January 2018, which was a collaborative effort among the RDA members, counties of Clark, Floyd, Jefferson, Scott, and Washington; local municipalities; as well as numerous public and private organizations.  The plan was approved by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation in December 2019.

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This planning process was funded through an Indiana Economic Development Corporation planning grant and with the generous support of the  Paul Ogle Foundation.

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The plan contains the following:

• Vision, goals and objectives for the five-county area.
• Regional assets and challenges.
• Anticipated regional trends.
• Work plan for each county in achieving the regional goals.

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The plan provides strategic goals, objectives and recommendations for the region as a whole and the five counties individually – Clark, Floyd, Jefferson, Scott, and Washington – so that potential investors may know when considering investment and quality-of-life improvements to the region.

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