BLOOMINGTON — Regional Opportunity Initiatives (ROI) has officially opened the nomination window for the 2026 Indiana Uplands Regional Innovation Awards. Members of the public have until Wednesday, August 28, 2026, to submit individuals, businesses, or cross-sector collaborations that are making transformative strides across the region.
The annual awards are designed to spotlight the people, groups, and organizations driving meaningful progress in education, workforce, economic development, and quality of place across the 11 counties that form the Indiana Uplands: Brown, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Owen, Orange, and Washington counties.
Final winners will be revealed and celebrated on Friday, October 2, 2026, when ROI’s premier event, the Annual Report to the Region, returns to the historic French Lick Resort.
Regional Opportunity Initiatives
2026 Official Award Categories
Nominations are currently being accepted across six distinct categories, each highlighting a different facet of regional advancement:
- Becky Skillman Regional Leadership Award: Honors an individual or organization that has shown uncommon dedication to uniting the Indiana Uplands in pursuit of collective success, collaboration, and economic prosperity. Regional Opportunity Initiatives
- Regional Collaboration Award: Celebrates two or more distinct entities that have broken down traditional silos to work together on moving the needle in regional education, business, or community infrastructure. Regional Opportunity Initiatives
- Regional Welcoming Award: Recognizes individuals or organizations implementing inventive and forward-thinking strategies to attract, integrate, and retain a diverse workforce or newcomers to the Uplands ecosystem. Regional Opportunity Initiatives
- Employer Innovation Award: Highlights an area employer utilizing creative solutions to solve modern talent and workforce pipelines, specifically through partnerships with K-12 schools, universities, or peer employers. Regional Opportunity Initiatives
- Quality of Place Innovation Award: Recognizes physical projects, architectural improvements, and placemaking designs that enhance the region’s towns as inventive, friendly, and industrious places to live and play.
- Talent Innovation Award: Honors an entity that has deployed breakthrough methods for training, upskilling, or advancing the technical capabilities of the regional workforce. Regional Opportunity Initiatives
Highlighting a Tradition of Excellence
The presentation of these awards serves as a core pillar of ROI’s annual gathering, which draws hundreds of public officials, educators, and industry executives to French Lick.
The event acts as a showcase for systemic changes reshaping the region’s economy. Past award winners have included groundbreaking student-run businesses, forward-thinking manufacturing partnerships like the collaboration between Jasper Group and Orleans Community Schools, and critical quality-of-place infrastructure upgrades funded through regional initiatives.
The full itinerary for the October 2 event at French Lick Resort kicks off with registration at 8:30 a.m., followed by the executive state-of-the-region address from ROI leadership, morning breakout panels, and a keynote luncheon where the official Innovation Awards will be presented.
How to Submit a Nomination
Do you know a visionary employer, a passionate STEM educator, or a community-wide collaboration that deserves recognition?
Submissions must be finalized digitally by the August 28 deadline. To access the online submission forms, review specific eligibility criteria, or browse inspiration from previous regional winners, visit the Official Indiana Uplands Innovation Awards Portal. For direct coordination or technical issues with the submission platform, reach out to the ROI communications team via email at info@regionalopportunityinc.org.
