Culver’s Community Conversation

Last night the Culver Chamber of Commerce sponsored a Community Conversation bringing together representatives of the Chamber, Second Century Committee, LMEC/F, Town Council,  Plan Commission, Redevelopment Commission, the Town Clerk and Town Manager as well as others.   Linda Yoder of the Marshall County Community Foundation was also in attendance. Dawn Brockey with the Culver Coffee Company  and current Chamber President was kind enough to host the event providing wine and light appetizers for the group.

The goal was to discuss strategies to strengthen the business community in Culver.  Ralph Winters brought up the proposed new Comprehensive Plan.  I was asked to discuss how it would affect the community (20/20 Vision for Culver!) and there was a spirited dialog.  There was discussion as to how the various groups could participate and what funding sources were available.  One thing that Ralph emphasized was that everyone needs to read the current plan before we start on the revisions.  I thought that was an excellent recommendation.

There was quite a bit of discussion on how to extend the business season beyond the summer. There was discussion of how the Triathlon, Winefest and Ice Fishing Tournament can help the retail merchants.  (One sad note was hearing that the L’Max Film Fest will be moved to the Culver Academies and away from the downtown theater.)  There was a request for brainstorming for other events like those.  I’ve been negative on the Marshall County Tourism in the past, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear how they were helping with many of these events.

There was discussion regarding a need for a community calendar.  I found that discussion interesting since there have been many attempts at this which have not gotten support.  One of those, IHeartCulver, is still up, but struggling and close to being taken down due to lack of support.  It would seem that an existing model such as that could be built on and support a local entrepreneur in lieu of reinventing the wheel.

All in all there was good discussion.  It will be interesting to see how the Chamber moves forward with the input they received.