Accelerate Rural Indiana Celebrates Five Years of Regional Success and Full Disbursement of $20 Million READI 1.0 Award
Accelerate Rural Indiana (ARI) recently marked its five-year anniversary and announced the full disbursement of its $20 million READI 1.0 award. The announcement was made at the State of the Region event held at the Love Community Center in Rushville, Indiana. ARI, which encompasses Shelby, Rush, Decatur counties, and Batesville, was among the first regions in the state to reach 100 percent disbursement of its READI 1.0 funds, ahead of the state's year-end 2026 deadline. This initiative has catalyzed over $485 million in total investment, including more than $408 million in private investment and over $34 million in local matches. The projects funded by READI 1.0 are projected to create more than 270 jobs, add 260 childcare seats, develop 600 housing units, and attract 170,000 annual visitors. Building on this success, ARI also secured $30 million in READI 2.0 funding, the largest per capita award in the state, with all projects formally approved by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and n...
