Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
BLOOMINGTON – Southern Indiana Development Commission, in partnership with Regional Opportunity Initiatives and other local economic development organizations, is hosting a Small Developer Boot Camp to jump-start small development projects in Southern Indiana and Indiana Uplands.
The training will guide residents and small businesses to become small developers of underused and vacant properties.
“The Indiana Uplands region needs all kinds of housing, whether it’s affordable, single-family, duplexes or townhomes,” said Julie Halbig, vice president of Economic and Community Development for ROI. ““The partnership with the Incremental Development Alliance (IDA) is a multi prong approach to tackle the housing shortage.”
This boot camp is a four-week virtual training program that offers informational sessions, coaching and small group support. Aspiring developers will walk through the steps of project formation, from zoning, site plan design, proformas and financing structures, to assembling a pitch package to bring to a potential investor.
These trainings are being sponsored by SIDC and ROI, in partnership with the Incremental Development Alliance, which has trained over 8,000 people across the country in how to become a small scale developer.
“Growing housing developers in our region that understand our community and have our communities’ best interest at heart is our primary focus of the boot camp. We want future development to represent our communities and there is no other better solution for delivering the volume and variety of housing options needed for the region, than through growing our own developers,” said Greg Jones, executive director of Southern Indiana Development Commission.
Halbig said participants will be encouraged to bring a potential project to the boot camp.
“Even if it’s conceptual, the IDA can walk them through the process, work the numbers and point out potential zoning issues,” she said. “The goal is for each potential developer to complete the boot camp with a complete pitch packet to take to investors or a local bank.”
Adequate housing has become a crucial issue for the Indiana Uplands in order to attract and retain a talented workforce. Job growth in the life sciences, defense, advanced manufacturing and tourism are driving the need for housing.
Halbig pointed to ROI’s 2019 Indiana Uplands Regional Housing Study (updated in 2023) that analyzed all 11 counties – Brown, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Owen and Washington.
“One of the consistent recommendations in all 11 counties was the idea of adaptive reuse of commercial buildings and addressing homes that had been abandoned or vacant,” she said. “We know large developers won’t be interested in infill development. Incremental Development Alliance fills that gap and lets us create our own pipeline of smaller scale developers by giving them the tools to work on these infill development projects.”
In late January, three stakeholder meetings were held in Bloomington, Jasper and Salem to lay the groundwork for the small scale development initiative. Earlier this month, would-be developers attended a workshop with officials from municipal planning and zoning departments and local banks.
The boot camp kicks off Monday, April 7 from 5-7:30 p.m. with an Incremental Development Strategies meet-up with special guest industry expert, IncDev Executive Director, faculty member and Principal of Flintlock LAB, Alli Thurmond Quinlan.
Who should attend?
● Individuals in construction, design, planning or real estate looking to either enhance their current practice or make career transition
● Volunteers or professionals in business associations, main streets associations, historic preservation groups and neighborhood improvement groups looking to champion small scale development in their communities
● Public sector professionals in city management, economic development, planning, and related agencies who are looking to make it easier for small scale development projects to occur in their community
● Professionals in non-profit development organizations, churches, and community development or housing development organizations who need new strategies for small lot development
Attendance at one of the previous workshops is preferred but not required to attend the boot camp.
Visit https://www.incrementaldevelopment.org/events/sidcbootcamp to register for the boot camp.