Shovel Ready Program
The Indiana Shovel Ready designation certifies sites that are ready for economic development. Communities of any size may apply for the designation through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA).
Indiana recognizes three tiers of readiness: Shovel Ready, Shovel Ready Silver, and Shovel Ready Gold. The base level defines boundaries with a clear title, establishes a price, demonstrates executive level local government support, defines utility capacity, and provides documentation such as Phase I environmental assessment, ALTA, topographical, property layout, and plat maps.
Shovel Ready Silver builds upon those attributes by maintaining documentation that is less than one year old, has proper zoning, and has infrastructure built to the property.
Shovel Ready Gold expands beyond Silver by being less than five miles from a two-lane highway, have seismic data, soil borings, are a minimum of 20 acres, and hold a Phase II environmental assessment with no environmental concerns.
Certified Shovel Ready, Silver, and Gold sites are featured on Indiana’s Site Selector Database and will be included in the Indiana Economic Development Corporation’s (IEDC) marketing materials.
Site data and documentation is reviewed annually by OCRA. Sites are responsible for providing updates in order to maintain a current inventory.
Applications for certification are accepted on a rolling basis. The first step is to contact your OCRA Community Liaison who will be able to offer current program details, evaluate readiness to proceed, and provide application instructions. OCRA, on behalf of the community, will engage the multiple state agency FASTeam (Fast Access Site Team) for prompt approval and certification.
Stay Connected
