INDIANAPOLIS – Governor Mike Braun today announced plans to create a more unified regional framework for Indiana’s workforce and economic development efforts, improving coordination and providing greater clarity for employers, workers, and regional partners.
“Indiana has long needed to align its regional landscapes to cut down inefficiencies and expand opportunities,” Gov. Braun said. “Locals on the ground are best suited to coordinate services for businesses and the Hoosier workforce. This realignment will instill a coordinated process connecting Hoosiers to high-wage, high-demand jobs.”
The effort will adjust workforce development area boundaries to better align with federal and state requirements, support more efficient service delivery and coordinate with labor markets and existing economic development regions. The workforce regions, under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), help coordinate services and resources for job seekers and employers.
Last year, Gov. Braun issued Executive Order 25-45, directing a comprehensive assessment of the unique strengths and assets within each of the state’s economic development regions. The assessment included an analysis of existing industry clusters, workforce capabilities, infrastructure, and natural resources.
Findings from the assessment led to the decision to align Indiana’s workforce capabilities with the state’s existing READI economic development regions.
“By reimagining how we deliver workforce development services, we are taking a worthwhile step toward unlocking new opportunities to spearhead growth and support a highly skilled Hoosier workforce,” Indiana Commerce Secretary Chuck Goodrich said.
The new regional structure will create a unified framework for workforce and economic planning under WIOA, strengthening coordination among local workforce areas by bringing them into shared regional planning structures, ensuring that local areas plan together, develop joint strategies, and collaborate more effectively on service delivery.
The realignment will also enhance engagement with READI regional partners by ensuring that workforce priorities, economic development goals, and community strategies are developed together. Through this unified regional structure, local areas and their READI partners can more easily pursue coordinated funding, align resources and support long-term regional growth.
“This realignment will benefit those we serve, and it does so by acknowledging that workforce development is synonymous with economic development,” Indiana Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Kate Shelby said.
The regional realignment is expected to take effect July 1, 2028, coinciding with the next full WIOA State Planning cycle.
