NEWS

Lilly approves almost $40M grant to make the area global 'epicenter' in ag, manufacturing

Shannon Hall
Journal & Courier
Community leaders gather to hear about Lilly Endowment's $40 million grant.

LAFAYETTE — The Wabash Heartland community will get a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” with a $38.9 million Lilly Endowment grant.

Wabash Heartland Innovation Network's (WHIN) chair Gary Henriott said the almost $40 million grant will help a 10-county region become a global hub for agriculture and advanced manufacturing.

The hope is that by having globally recognized infrastructure, more global companies will be interested in coming to the region by using sensor and digital-based networks.

Henriott called the grant a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

The goal is to create a prosperous economic ecosystem in the Wabash Heartland region — which includes 10 counties: Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Montgomery, Pulaski, Tippecanoe, Warren and White.

"I've watched this project mature, evolve and shape for two years," Purdue University President Mitch Daniels said. "We have such a wonderful opportunity to do good."

The project fits the region, the university and the future, Daniels said. 

In 2018, the WHIN board will host a kickoff event for interested parties from the 10-county region who can learn more about how the funding will be used, what various partners’ roles will be and the potential economic benefits, according to a news release.

A regional cultivation fund will support “place-making improvements” within the 10 counties to increase the attractiveness and livability of the region, according to the news release. The $10 million fund will give grants among the 10 counties. 

The grant also will allow WHIN to:

  • collaborate with Purdue University and Ivy Tech Community college to build and support “testbeds” for the development of sensors and digital-based network applications in agriculture and in manufacturing;
  • enhance and provide additional support to Purdue’s Birck Nanotechnology Center for sensors and data analytics in service to the new testbeds; and
  • establish training centers to educate students and retrain existing workers for the Internet of Things field.

Work will begin in 2018. 

In 2014, the Lilly Endowment provided a $500,000 planning grant that created a 10-county economic prosperity committee, which then created the nonprofit — Wabash Heartland Innovation Network.