City Partners With BEDC To Stimulate Economic Development

City Partners With BEDC To Stimulate Economic Development

Date of Record: June 6, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2006

For more information, contact:
Ron Walker, Director of Economic Development, City of Bloomington,349.3406
Maria K. Heslin, Communications Director, City of Bloomington, 349.3569

[image:2152,right]Bloomington, IN -- Rounding out the City's pledge to announce six Community Collaborations in 60 days, Mayor Mark Kruzan announced today that the City of Bloomington is granting $65,000 to the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC).

"The City, through this sixth of six collaborations, is partnering with the BEDC to strengthen our community's workforce, create new business opportunities, and benchmark the local economy," Kruzan said. "The BEDC is collaborating with numerous entities in and around Bloomington to enhance our economic vitality and this grant supports those efforts."

Specifically, the funds will be divided among three initiatives administered by the BEDC: the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership (BLSP), the Bloomington Information Technology Sector (BITS) and the development of a local economic benchmarking report.

"The Bloomington Economic Development Corporation is grateful to Mayor Kruzan and the City Council for their continued partnership in economic development initiatives," said Steve Dawson, Chair of BEDC. "Funding support for the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership and the Bloomington Information Technology Sector will allow these programs to continue to assist small and start-up businesses that are creating quality jobs for local students and the community. We are also excited about the partnership to assist with the development of an economic benchmarking report that provides valuable information for organizations and elected officials."

BLSP is a public-private partnership of industry leaders, academia and government working together to create opportunities for life sciences business formation, growth and expansion in the Bloomington area. BLSP will receive $50,000 to support its work with the Human Capital Task Force to build a cutting-edge workforce for the life science community; assist with the development of laboratory space for research and development; and cooperate with Bloomington firms to increase contract manufacturing opportunities with life science organizations in San Diego and other areas of the country.

"Over the past few years we have seen exciting growth and development in life science related companies in Bloomington and the surrounding area," said Dan Peterson, Chair of Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership. "The investment from the City of Bloomington will allow us to continue our efforts in the areas of workforce development, physical facility development for new business start-ups, and programs for entrepreneurs."

The remaining funds will be allocated to BITS and the development of the benchmarking report.

BITS, an association sponsored by the BEDC, is dedicated to continuing the expansion of the high-tech economy in Bloomington. The City grant includes $10,000 to assist with marketing, sponsorship and program development for four programs facilitated by BITS: Tech-Ops, New Economy/New Rules, icebreakers and the Bloomington Angel Investor Network.

"On behalf of the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation we are excited about the opportunities that the City of Bloomington funding will facilitate," said Linda Williamson, President of BEDC." The Bloomington Information Technology Sector (BITS) is an exciting collaboration of local information technology companies and this funding will allow us to provide assistance to these companies in order to grow the companies and, more importantly, job opportunities in this community."

The final $5,000 of the City grant monies will assist with the development of a new and expanded local economic benchmarking report. These reports provide an economic profile and useful data for evaluating Bloomington against comparable cities within Indiana and the nation. The expanded report will feature new workforce metrics, address sustainable indicators and help the community track economic growth.

# # #