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Lead Entity: Austin Rural Enterprise Community, Inc.

State: Indiana
County (Census Tract) Scott (9668)
Community Population: 4,333
Poverty Rate: 31%
Net Land Area: 4.25 square miles

• 60% of residents 25 and older did not complete high school, the highest rate in Indiana
• 6.8% of babies born have evidence of illegal drugs in the system, twice the state average for rural areas
• Only six new industries have located in the applicant area since 1899
• Unemployment rate of 15% for the town of Austin

The town of Austin is located in the southeast corner of Indiana, approximately 40 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky. It has several natural attractions such as Hardy Lake, and is a gateway to Madison and other Indiana towns. A large percentage of the population emigrated from neighboring Kentucky, and poorer regions of Appalachia. Morgan Foods, one of the three major manufacturers of soup, is located in the area. The abundant natural resources in the area supported stable wood products and packing industries, which provided the majority of employment in the community. With the decline of natural resource based industries in the Midwest, the economy went into decline and has not recovered. Although it is a place that has suffered from persistent economic problems it is still rich in resources. Austin has a history of community-minded people coming together to work for the common good, including a beautification committee, the Lions Club and an active Senior Center, among others.

• Education and Life Skills-create a pre-employment skills training program to assess the needs of those seeking employment, implement a holistic approach to helping families through life skills training, after school services to assist working families, family education workshops and family counseling services;
• Health and Human Services-create an Intergenerational Community Heritage Center, establish an Elder Care system for senior citizens, develop a rural health clinic to provide desperately needed services to rural communities, organize youth drug and alcohol abuse services;
• Housing- initiate a Homeowners’ Association and work to assist families that would like to own a home, establish a housing revolving loan fund, formulate a program to rehabilitate substandard housing coupled with a program to provide temporary/transient housing for families during the process, implement the "Live the Dream-Own a Home" program to educate high school students on the process that needs to take place so they may one day own a home;
• Economic Development-create a Business Revolving Loan Fund to provide access to capital for small businesses, develop an Industrial Revolving Loan Fund to provide loans for capital growth and expansion of new and existing industries, currently Austin lacks adequate facilities for industry the community plans to create a new industrial/business park to resolve this problem.

The town of Austin has a tireless Lions Club that raises funds and volunteers for community projects and an active beautification committee that voluntarily plants flowers to enhance the community. There is also an active senior center that relies on volunteers to serve meals. Austin has a community pantry that is an all-volunteer staff and each year the Volunteer Fire Department raises a significant amount of money for children with special needs. The community-minded climate generated a multitude of partnerships prior to and during the strategic planning process. The strategic plan identifies 59 different participating entities that are focusing on 11 different components of bringing about economic and community development.

The town of Austin has a history of pulling together to achieve a common goals. Recent community driven efforts include the creation of the Heritage Trail an environmental walking path across the county and in 1993 the community worked together to create a YMCA community center. The Town of Austin raised funds for some of the costs of creating a strategic plan this financial support was coupled with the dedication of hundreds of volunteers that informed citizens about the initiative and organized and participated in the strategic planning process. Through their efforts the town of Austin has created a vision for the future and a strategy to achieve it.

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