Indiana Launched Quality of Place Partnership
State and local leaders will develop new frameworks to measure the long-term impact of public infrastructure investments.
Updated on Sept. 29, 2026 in Remote Work
Live Poll
Do you trust your local government to make infrastructure investments that provide lasting community value?
Governor Mike Braun has initiated a two-year partnership to study how public investments in quality of place drive regional development. The program aims to establish standardized metrics for gauging the success of projects funded through the state's $1.25 billion READI initiative.
Why it matters
As Indiana deploys massive capital into regional improvements, operators need clear indicators of how these investments will shift local labor and housing markets. This effort attempts to move beyond anecdotal success by quantifying the long-term economic durability of civic design.
The initiative ties into the state's broader $1.25 billion READI program, which spans 15 regional territories. Delegations of five people per community will work over the next two years to define success metrics.
The players
Mike Braun
The Governor of Indiana overseeing state-level economic development and regional investment strategies.
Landmark Columbus Foundation
An organization dedicated to architectural design and public space initiatives that serves as the project lead.
Indiana Economic Development Corporation
The state agency responsible for implementing economic growth programs and managing large-scale capital investments.
Indiana Arts Commission
A state agency focused on supporting arts and culture as a component of community and economic development.
The details
The program tasks cross-sector delegations with tackling design challenges to create a framework for measuring infrastructure efficacy. By leveraging 80 years of design study experience from Columbus, the project seeks to move from vague development goals to a starter set of indicators that local stakeholders can use to track ROI. This framework is intended to help officials and business leaders understand which public investments best sustain long-term economic viability.
Timeline
Oct. 8-10, 2026: Summit in Columbus kicks off the partnership.
Oct. 9, 2026: Delegations work on design challenges.
Fall 2026: Draft framework and indicators shared.
2026-2028: Two-year effort duration.
2028: End of cohort hosting period.
Market Landscape
This partnership represents a critical pivot toward data-driven evaluation within the state's existing $1.25 billion READI program. It follows a pattern of state-level efforts to quantify the indirect economic benefits of public infrastructure projects on workforce retention.
Business owners should monitor the forthcoming indicators, as they will likely signal where the state prioritizes future infrastructure spending. These metrics could influence where communities focus development incentives, affecting site selection and real estate planning in the coming years.
The takeaway
Understanding how your locality measures 'quality of place' is essential for anticipating shifts in local government capital allocation. Operators should track the fall 2026 release of the starter set of indicators to see if they align with local economic development priorities.
What happens next
The partnership will host its kickoff summit in Columbus from Oct. 8-10, 2026, followed by the release of a draft framework and starter set of indicators later in the fall of 2026.
Further reading
Learn more about local labor shifts and regional development in Remote Work.
Source note: This article includes information reported by WBIW.
Live Poll
Do you trust your local government to make infrastructure investments that provide lasting community value?
