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Stellar Pathways Program

Stellar Pathways Overview

The Stellar Pathways Program is a multi-agency, multi-million-dollar investment initiative led by the Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The program works with both individual communities and multiple communities within a self determined region on a shared vision for community and economic development. Stellar helps promote local and regional partnerships, and assists in implementing sustainable solutions to challenges that Indiana’s rural communities are facing. The Stellar Pathways program will provide resources for transformative quality of place, community, and economic improvements by:

  • Enhancing Local Planning
    • Stellar Pathways is focused on accelerating local planning. It's designed to scale up local capacity while teams create holistic, collaborative plans for community and economic development.
  • A Collaborative Approach
    • The Stellar Pathways program embodies a spirit of collaboration, mirrored by State partners: Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, Indiana Destination Development Corporation, Indiana Department of Transportation, Indiana Department of Health, the Indiana Arts Commission and Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
  • Resource-Rich Partnerships
    • Through these strategic partnerships, Stellar Pathways is poised to offer the necessary resources for transformative quality-of-place improvements. Participants will tap into time-tested community development strategies by leveraging existing assets to stimulate increased investment through state and local partnerships.

The lead applicant can be any county government, city, municipality, town, township, or a non-profit that serves the entire community, such as a community foundation or economic development entity. Communities are welcome to partner together but should not include any CDBG entitlement communities.

Stellar Pathways Workshops

Stellar Pathways Workshops will take place in the fall of 2026 in Indianapolis. The workshop dates will be posted here in the coming weeks. Interested applicants must attend a Stellar Pathways workshop in order to submit a letter of interest and be eligible to apply.

Resources

To learn more about the program and ways to get involved, visit the resources below. Please note, as the Stellar Pathways Workshop dates approach, more application documents and resources will be posted here.

Stellar Pathways 2024 Designees

The following regions have been chosen as the 2024 Stellar Pathways Designees:

  • One Dearborn County: Stellar Pathways for Indiana Gateways, including, Dearborn County Economic Development Corporation, Dearborn County, Dillsboro and Greendale. For more information on Dearborn County's Stellar Pathways projects, click here.
  • Wabash County, including, Wabash County, City of Wabash, North Manchester, Roann, La Fontaine and Lagro. For more information on Wabash County's Stellar Pathways projects, click here.

For more information on the two 2024 Stellar Pathways designated regions, view the press release here.

Check out past Stellar designees here.

Stellar Investment Statistics 2011-2023

The graphic shows the level of investment from the State of Indiana, local unit of government match and investment and private investment. Of the 17 designees from 2011-2023, the state dedicated approximately $193 million. Local governments, including counties, cities, and towns, allocated approximately $154 million towards local investment in the Stellar projects and complementary projects. Lastly, Stellar Communities designees received an outstanding $831 million in private investment to support their economic development efforts to create safe, sustainable, and thriving communities.

Total Stellar Investments

Stellar Communities was recognized nationally as a premier community development program when it received the 2012 President's Award for Innovation from the Council of State Community Development Agencies.

To date, more than 110 communities have participated in the process; 37 have completed Strategic Investment Plans/Regional Development Plans, and 19 have received the Stellar Communities Designation.