Share your vision for Washington County

On Tuesday, April 30, Washington County residents will have the opportunity to voice their ideas regarding a 2040 vision for county development. Stop by the Community Learning Center, 1707 N. Shelby St., Salem any time between 4 and 6:30 p.m. and share your  ideas for future growth.

In November 2018, the Regional Opportunity Initiative – Indiana Uplands challenged its 11 county region to create a county - quality of place and workforce attraction plan. Indiana Uplands reached out to each county economic development and community foundation office to discuss an opportunity that would provide a grant to each county for planning.

As a part of the grant application, the economic development and community foundation office was to build a quality of place and workforce attraction team (QPAT).  The QPAT team consists of  Sabrina Burdine, Washington County Economic Growth Partnership; Judy Johnson, Washington County Community Foundation; Justin Green, City of Salem; Cheryl Lee, Washington County Awareness; Seth Purlee, Washington County Fair Board; Ryan Buchanan, Skyline Suites; Tom Hein, Bear Creek Cattle; Tara Kritzer, Washington County Chamber of Commerce, and Jill Saegesser, River Hills Economic Development. The QPAT team completed an application for grant funding and was awarded $50,000 in December 2018.

In January 2019, the QPAT team began to reach out to consultants that had experience in community planning and received four proposals from interested consultant companies. After review and consideration, during the March 2019 QPAT team meeting, Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group LLC (TSWDG) was accepted as the consulting company to complete the Quality of Place and Workforce Attraction plan.  

The QPAT team is working diligently to create a framework that encompasses all aspects of quality of place and workforce attraction. 

“The QPAT team wanted to create an all-encompassing plan that looks at every sector ie: healthcare, public transportation, county infrastructure, school programs, business and industry needs, improved or new recreation opportunities, to name a few,  and how each sector affects Washington County and workforce attraction,” said Johnson, executive director, WCCF.

The next step to completing the quality of place and workforce attraction plan is to engage the community for ideas and opportunities the QPAT needs to consider.  The QPAT team is hosting the community meeting at the Community Learning Center on April 30. It will be a “come and go” style meeting, spend as long as you need sharing an idea any time during  the 4 to 6:30 p.m. time frame.  

“We are extremely excited for this opportunity to put together a cohesive plan that we can make a reality through various grant opportunities and community support. We hope to see a great turnout at our community meeting and look forward to hearing ideas from our community members,” stated Burdine, executive director, WCEGP.

If you would like more information about the Washington County Quality of Place and Workforce Attraction Plan, please contact Burdine, sabrina.burdine@wcegp.org or call 812-883-8803.