Lt. Governor Holcomb Announces 2016 Stellar Communities Designation Program Finalists – Culver Makes the Cut!
Indianapolis – Today, Lt. Governor Eric Holcomb announced the six communities who are the division 1 and division 2 finalists for the 2016 Stellar Communities Designation Program (SCDP).
Established in 2011, the SCDP began as a collaboration between the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA), Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) and Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) to support community planning and development initiatives by streamlining access to available funding sources and capacity building resources. Through the annual designation, the Stellar Communities Designation Program provides resources for transformative quality of place community improvements by utilizing previous planning efforts, leveraging existing assets, fostering regional investments and stimulating continued growth for long-term relevance.
“Cities and towns across Indiana continue to benefit from a strong business climate that makes them attractive places to live, work, and play, and the Stellar Communities Designation Program remains an important catalyst fostering local economic growth,” said Holcomb. “I congratulate this year’s six finalists for taking this pivotal step of identifying key projects in line with their assets and visions for the future. I look forward to visiting each of the finalist communities over the next few months to see firsthand the state and local collaborations helping our hometowns thrive well into the future.”
Finalist communities are separated into a division based on their population. division 1 is for communities with populations 6,000–50,000 and division 2 is for populations 5,999 and below.
Ten communities submitted proposals for the 2016 SCDP. After evaluating the letters of interest, the top six communities were chosen as finalists.
2016 Stellar Communities Designation Program Finalists:
Division 1:
- City of Rushville (Rush)
- City of Shelbyville (Shelby)
- City of Warsaw (Kosciusko)
Division 2:
- Town of Corydon (Harrison)
- Town of Culver (Marshall)
- City of Union City (Randolph)
As finalist communities, each will receive a planning grant to either create or build upon existing local Strategic Investment Plans, detailing projects, partnerships and proposed sources of funding. Site visits will then be conducted by the Stellar Team which is comprised of representatives from the partnering agencies who follow a standard agenda and set of questions. Later this summer, one community from each division will be named a 2016 Stellar Communities Designee.
Since its inception, the SCDP partnership has grown to include:
- Indiana Arts Commission (IAC)
- Indiana Bond Bank
- Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
- Indiana Finance Authority (IFA)
- Indiana Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (OSBE)
- Indiana Office of Tourism and Development (IOTD)
- Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity (DNPA)
- Serve Indiana
While OCRA, INDOT and IHCDA have made financial commitments to the program, all eleven agencies will provide a high level of technical skills that will support leveraging the existing assets already within the community. Their efforts will focus on building human capital, supporting existing businesses, creating a spirit of entrepreneurship, redeveloping commercial property and infrastructure, preserving natural and cultural amenities and improving the health and well-being of residents, which fosters the creation of a vital destination.
Previous Stellar Communities:
- 2011 – North Vernon and Greencastle
- 2012 – Princeton and Delphi
- 2013 – Richmond and Bedford
- 2014 – Huntingburg and Wabash
- 2015 – Crawfordsville and North Liberty
Funding for the Stellar Communities Designation Program comes from multiple existing federal and state programs.
Buxton Farewell
Pam Buxton
Saturday night Becky and I attended a farewell party for John and Pam Buxton at John and Carol Zeglis’s home. John Buxton is leaving his position as Head of Schools at the Culver Academies and they will be moving to the east coast. John and Carol honored them by asking representatives of the various charitable and service boards and committees they served on over their tenure at Culver to come and say a few words about their service to the community. I am sure I will miss some, but there were representatives there from the Marshall County Community Foundation, Leadership Marshall County, LIFT, Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council, Lake Maxinkuckee Gift of Warmth (Film Festival), Culver Boys & Girls Club, Culver Lions Club, St. Joe Regional Medical Center and the Town of Culver.
John Buxton
There were 30 guests in attendance and as John Zeglis said, there was as much overlap between those in attendance as there was between the various groups and the Buxtons. I know I have had interactions with all of these groups and served on several of their boards and subcommittees.
Both of the Buxtons have been very involved in our community. While most of my direct involvement was with Pam, I witnessed John’s influence in many other areas. To paraphrase one of John’s comments, “When you are guiding the 900 pound gorilla through a community you don’t always get to participate in some of the hands on things which interest you.” While that’s true, their influence was felt and their presence will be missed.
Build Your Future Indiana
Lest anyone think I know when to stop beating a dead horse, I thought I would share some pictures from the Build Your Future Indiana guide. It’s sponsored by Associated Buildings and Contractors of Indiana/Kentucky and as a Board Member, I received a copy at a meeting last week. The guide promotes construction as a career in Indiana. (I plan to share my copy with Jerry Chavez at MCEDC the next time I see him.) It gives job descriptions and base wages for careers in various construction trades.
One of the things that currently is a problem in Indiana is finding construction workers. We need to encourage young people that the construction industry is a viable career and educate them that it is a career with potential, but one that requires mental as well as physical skills.
So about that poor horse… I’ve reprinted the rear cover of the guide to the right. Notice the Wind Turbines in the background? Seems that when I go to most other areas of the State, they’re proud of Indiana’s alternative energy initiatives. But not Marshall County… Even though we have people that work in the wind conversion industry living in our county and manufacturing parts for the industry in our county.
Most pages in the guide have three trades per page. The Wind Turbine Maintenance Tech gets his own page and apparently around $46k per year. Sounds like it could be a sweet gig!
Okay, I’ve beat the poor beast enough. As if I hadn’t beat him enough here and here and here. Feel free to search for “turbine” in the search box on the right if you want more. Try “Extended Territorial Boundary” if you want to see me get really wound up!. No guaranties that I won’t run across something else that warrants a rant about this, but the poor horse could be an extra on The Walking Dead at this point…
Blast from the Past – ITAMCO
An article in The Pilot News (See right) a few months back was cause for reflection on one of Easterday Construction Co., Inc.’s long time clients. ITAMCO (known to us here as Indiana Tool) celebrated their 60th anniversary in August of last year. Founded by brothers Donald and Noble Neidig, the company has been a big part of the Plymouth community.
I found the article interesting since, even when I work with a company such as ITAMCO often, I get surprised sometimes by the things I don’t know about them. I was aware of their work with the schools through my board position with the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC), but I was unaware how their business had evolved into areas of software development.
As with many relationships, Easterday Construction’s connection to ITAMCO began with some minor projects. The Neidigs were members of the Grace Baptist Church and through some repair projects there, a relationship was formed between my father and the Neidig family – and Don Neidig in particular. From that beginning, dozens of other projects were completed, mostly on just a hand-shake. That was the kind of relationship that was formed. We completed several plant additions to the Plymouth facility including the office renovation and addition, which for a long time was featured on the front of our company brochure. We were also the go-to for many of the family’s home projects as well.
As I previously related here on Don’s passing, Don trusted Dad implicitly. When Dad retired, Don called me. He told me, “I always called your Dad and all I had to say was ‘Berger, get it done’. I hope I can trust you the same way.” What could I say? I said, “Yes, Sir!” And Don called me for all the things he needed and I was happy to help him. One of the last things I did for him was some remodeling work at his home. I enjoyed seeing him during those times. I will miss those conversations.
When Noble Neidig passed last year, it was a generational change for their company. We had also worked on Nobe and Barb Neidig’s home and new them well. We still have a relationship with the family and still do work for ITAMCO. While economic changes have resulted in fewer projects of the scope we completed in the past (plus their purchase of the Argos facility giving them ample room for current expansion needs) we still work with ITAMCO and the Neidigs on various small projects and remain friends. We look forward to a continued friendship and working relationship in the future.
Sidewalk Ads
I saw these ads while in Wabash working on the Charley Creek Inn project. I thought they would be something for Culver to consider and suggested them at the Culver Redevelopment Commission Meeting on Monday. We’ll see if they found them as intriguing as I did. I was told that they were sponsored by Wabash Marketplace.
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