October 3, 2007

Indiana WIRED forum focuses on regional leadership

The forum takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Pastariffic Restaurant, 3001 S. Webster St., Kokomo, Ind. The event is sponsored by Indiana WIRED. There is no registration charge.

"Creating new approaches to regional leadership is critical for our economic future," said Mark C. Smith, Indiana WIRED project administrator. "To be globally competitive, we need to connect assets across organizational and political boundaries in Indiana. That takes regional leadership.

"This forum will discuss where Indiana WIRED has been and where we are going. We are going to focus on the critical role civic leadership plays in guiding our economic transformation."

Indiana WIRED is a three-year, $15 million program that combines the business, civic and educational resources of 14 Indiana counties - Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Fulton, Howard, Miami, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Wabash, Warren, and White - along with the region's colleges and universities and other key organizations. WIRED stands for Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development.

During the forum, Ruth Person, chancellor of Indiana University Kokomo, will discuss a new regional leadership institute that will be launched this month. Her remarks lead into a leadership learning lab led by Ed Morrison, Indiana WIRED's policy adviser. The learning lab will expose participants to leading-edge approaches to regional leadership.

Other learning lab activities include:

* Reviewing, editing and launching a new regional compact. The compact is designed to set the "rules of the road" for civic collaboration in the 14-county Indiana WIRED region.

* Learning how to apply the latest tools of social network mapping for leadership networks.

* Planning a workshop to map the regional assets of north-central Indiana and identifying quick-win opportunities for regional collaboration.

* Designing a process for guiding economic development toward creating an entrepreneurial "super region" in north-central Indiana.

"We all have a stake in building a more competitive, prosperous Indiana for our children," Smith said. "We all have a role to play. This forum will provide the roadmaps on how each of us can be a civic leader in shaping our future together. The forum will be unlike anything participants have experienced before. They will be doing, not sitting."

To register for the forum in advance, contact Peggy Hosea at phosea@purdue.edu. On-site registration at Pastarrific Restaurant takes place at 9:30 a.m. the day of the forum. Lunch will be provided.

WIRED is a federal initiative designed to energize the nation's economy through regional economic development partnerships and work force education and training. In 2006 the U.S. Department of Labor awarded $15 million each to 13 regions in the United States, including a grant to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

Writer: Elizabeth Fritz, (765) 494-8402, elfritz@purdue.edu

Source: Mark C. Smith, (765) 479-6058, smith96@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
Agriculture News Page

To the News Service home page