Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development(WIRED) is a groundbreaking approach to workforce and economic development. Launched in November 2005 by the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, the WIRED initiative stresses the critical role talent development plays in creating effective regional economic development strategies.

In January 2007, Southwest Indiana joined 12 other regions to become the 2nd Generation of WIRED Regions and received an immediate investment of $500,000. This investment supported the development of a comprehensive implementation plan. Southwest Indiana ’s WIRED Implementation Plan was approved in January 2008 and the Region received another $4.5 million investment from the Employment and Training Administration to implement the plan.

This plan included a Process Goal and five Strategic Goals. Included in the strategic goals is the idea of creating a supportive culture for new business formation and growth. Entrepreneurial businesses provide more than half of new jobs created within a community and the future economic growth and stability of a region depends on a culture that nurtures and supports the entrepreneurial spirit. WIRED shall provide opportunities for information sharing, learning, networking and mentoring to stimulate ideas, increase knowledge, and encourage interest in entrepreneurship within Southwest Indiana.