Discussion of IU’s 10-year strategic plan dominated Wednesday’s annual conference of the non-profit Bloomington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC). IU President Pamela Whitten keynoted the State of the Bloomington Regional Economy meeting, which was held at the Monroe Convention Center.
Phil Powell, of the Indiana Business Research Center, opened for Whitten, painting a glowing picture of Bloomington’s economy. He cited 2.5 percent unemployment rate and 6.3 percent wage increase.
Powell focused on four areas already important to the local economy: innovation, manufacturing, health and teaching. Bloomington retains a number of manufacturing jobs while the university and biotech companies push forward research and development.
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“There are sectors and industries and markets that we're really good at. Let's double down and invest in those, and that's gonna be the quickest route to even higher level of prosperity here in Bloomington,” Powell said.
He described recent layoffs at local biotech companies Cook and Catalent as "one-time corrections" and expects the industry to continue growing in Bloomington
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Whitten also emphasized expanding IU’s life sciences and computing programs to train and retain Indiana’s future workforce.
“Put simply, Hoosiers need greater confidence in their ability to afford higher education, they need more tools to help them do so and they need more substantial incentives to pursue their education right here in Indiana,” Whitten said. “I don't want another smart Hoosier kid leaving our state to go to college.”
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When asked about her plans for IU’s Indianapolis campus, Whitten said she wanted to create a “world class urban research university” with opportunities for the Bloomington campus to partner.
IU’s vice president for university relations Michael Huber elaborated.
“Indy, to Bloomington, to Crane and all of the jobs that make that ecosystem - the common thread is life sciences and medicine and then these emerging Department of Defense needs coming out of Crane,” he said. “There is so much there that plays to IU’s strengths.”
The same afternoon in Indianapolis, IU and Purdue University formally split IUPUI between them.
BEDC President Jennifer Pearl also identified several Bloomington areas ripe for improvement, including its lower score on the index for innovation and high level of households struggling to afford the basics in Monroe County (47 percent, according to the BEDC).
