About Us

Economic Opportunities 2015 (EcO15)

Connecting the Residents of Southeast Indiana to Economic Opportunity through Education by 2015

Lilly Endowment Inc. provided $38 million in grants to two Bartholomew County organizations: Heritage Fund-the Community Foundation of Bartholomew County and The Community Education Coalition. The two organizations provide leadership, oversight, and management support services for the regionally focused initiative called Economic Opportunities through Education by 2015 (EcO15).

The grants will assist the Community Foundations of each county in funding educational programs associated with Advanced Manufacturing, Healthcare, and Hospitality/Tourism for 10 counties in Southeastern Indiana. Counties include: Bartholomew, Dearborn, Decatur, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Ripley, and Switzerland.

Advanced Manufacturing is the value-added combination of people, processes, and products, which remains competitive in a high-wage environment in the pursuit of continuous improvement. Advanced Manufacturing is the major economic cluster in SE Indiana, therefore, the major focus of the initiative. To meet the workforce needs of today’s manufacturers, EcO15 and the national Dream It. Do It. Campaign are helping to develop resources for both educators and students to increase manufacturing job readiness skills. Resources include relevant, work-based learning institutions, such as Middle School, High School, Career tech, Adult basic education and certification centers, Ivy Tech Community College, IUPUC, and Purdue College of Technology.

Healthcare is the next most important industry sector to Southeastern Indiana, employing more than 10% of the region’s workforce.

To meet the needs of the healthcare industry, a Regional Clinical Simulation System was formed to address the need for more-and better trained-healthcare providers. The RCSS will provide high fidelity simulations for healthcare educational programs. The RCSS will be available to secondary and post-secondary students and/or employees of healthcare organizations who are providing opportunities for employees to upgrade their professional skills for advancement and promotion.