State officials Tuesday announced two 21st Century Talent Regions, a designation that helps economic developers in geographic areas to attract, develop and connect workforce talent. 

One of the new regions is in north central Indiana with Cass, Clinton, Fulton, Howard, Miami and Tipton counties.

Blair Milo currently serves as the State of Indiana’s first Secretary for Career Connections and Talent. Appointed by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb into the position created by Executive Order in August of 2017.  She’s the former mayor of LaPorte.

What is it?

21st Century Talent Regions are places that commit to using a systems approach to attract, develop, and connect Hoosier talent. Regions are self-defined with regard to their geography and are working toward building and implementing a plan to increase educational attainment, raise household income, and grow population.

What does a community need to do to become a 21st Century Talent Region?

1. Commit.  Commit to working across geographic lines and across organizations to attract, develop, connect and retain talent.  
2. Organize. The 21st Century Talent Region must organize itself with a designated leader and regional participation including, but not limited to: local governments, business, K-12 education, economic development, higher education, non-profit(s), and workforce development.
3. Connect.  Once organized, the lead organization for the region can connect with the Office of Career Connections and Talent to receive assistance in organizing efforts to attract, develop, connect and retain talent.
4. Build.  In collaboration with the Of?ce of Career Connections and Talent and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and with technical assistance provided by CivicLab, the region must build a plan to grow population (attract and retain talent), increase educational attainment (develop talent), and raise household income (connect talent).
5. Implement.  After building a collaborative talent plan, a region must implement the priorities identified. Following this implementation, a region will receive a 21st Century Talent Region designation.

What does a Talent Region look like to the community once it has been designated?

• Students – able to identify a career and education path best fitting them earlier in order to achieve a post-secondary credential and employment
• Educators – opportunity to further align learning and needs of the community
• Adult workers – able to more easily transition to new career opportunities if impacted by technology, displacement or other individual circumstances
• Businesses – able to access the talent needed to grow
• Community leaders – better able to access and invest resources to develop, attract, connect and retain talent