YOUR GUIDE TO
STELLAR COMMUNITIES
A view of Fourth Street in Huntingburg as envisioned by Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group of Indianapolis.
Huntingburg: All in for Stellar designation By JONATHAN STREETMAN Herald Staff Writer Although this is just the first year Huntingburg has applied for the Stellar Communities designation, city leaders treated the process as if it will be their last opportunity. From the moment he began the push, Huntingburg Mayor Denny Spinner has dreamed of becoming, as the logo on the city’s official bid paperwork proclaimed in a play off the city’s message on welcome signs along U.S. 231, “A (Stellar) city like no other!” He’s put in the work to make it happen. But even more than that, Spinner realized a project of this magni-
tude requires countywide support. “As we were going into this, we wanted to be focused on Huntingburg, of course. But we had to show that this is more than a Huntingburg thing. That this is a regional thing,” Spinner said. “It’ll be a designation for Huntingburg but it’s got to go beyond the city.” It is a massive undertaking — nine projects are scheduled for completion by 2018 — for which the city will need as much support as it can muster. “The way that we put this together has come together very well and there are (projects) that everyone around us,” Spinner said. “For example Jasper and Dubois County have looked at this and
go, ‘Yeah, we can be behind that.’ Having that kind of broad support is extremely important.” Neighbors, more friends than rivals in terms of pushing the county and region forward economically, concur. “As Mayor of Jasper I’ve often said that, as the county seat that what’s good for Jasper is good for Dubois County,” Jasper Mayor Terry Seitz said in a statement. “In a similar way, what’s good for Huntingburg or Ferdinand positively impacts the entire area, too. We are seeing municipal governments all across the state band together to promote their entire regions. “Here at home, Mayor Spinner and I
The Herald ■ YO U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R S I N C E 1 8 9 5 D U B O I S C O U N T Y H E R A L D. C O M
DUBOIS COUNTY, INDIANA TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2014 SECTION B
each have our duties on behalf of our cities yet we also bear the greater responsibility of strengthening our county and building its leadership role in the state. We wish the City of Huntingburg all the best in the Indiana Stellar Communities competition.” Dubois Strong, the county’s economic development organization, is throwing its full support behind the process, as well. “We are very supportive of Huntingburg’s bid for the Stellar designation. It plays very nicely into our major strategic plan for the community,” said Alan JohnSee ALL IN on Page 4