Aim Hometown Innovations E-Magazine, Issue 2

HOMETOWN

INNOVATIONS I S S U E #2

Revitalization

through art

Dillsboro enhancing rural downtown with art, cultural gallery 1

In This Issue COV E R S TO RY

Dillsboro Arts PAGE 8

Downtown Yorktown

PAGE 4

Hometown Innovator: Lamb PAGE 12

Collaborating on community PAGE 14

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LABORATORIES OF INNOVATION

Resources to support the health of Indiana's cities and towns As community stakeholders work to address drug addiction, Aim is coming alongside Indiana’s cities and towns to facilitate new resources.

In December 2018 Aim received a $50,000 grant from RALI, the Rx Abuse Leadership Initiative. In our successful proposal, Aim laid out a plan to conduct a micro-grant program for cities and towns looking to connect their citizens with drug and opioid addiction Matt Greller, and abuse resources.

CEO of Aim We also suggested that funds could be used to help forge relationships and foster better communication with government leaders, prescription providers, and other healthcare stakeholders.

Another component of the RALI grant was the provision of 20,000 drug disposal kits. The kits are quite literally a plastic bag containing properties that instantly dissolve prescription drugs, rendering them harmless.

Upon notification of our successful proposal, we created the Aim Drug and Opioid Abuse Grant Program.

Throughout February and March of this year we accepted applications for up to $5,000 and/or as many drug disposal kits as a community determined necessary. The response was bittersweet. While Aim received applications for more approximately $84,000 in funding, far exceeding our expectations, it was the answer to the first question of our application that brought home the challenges our communities are facing. Question one asked them to outline the drug and opioid abuse problem in their city or town.

Upon reading the applications, soliciting the help of an independent panel of judges, and making the calculations regarding which applications would receive funding – and which would not – we knew something different had to be done.

We knew that not helping each city or

town fund their project simply wasn’t an option for Aim. Therefore, we went back to the drawing board and decided to ask the folks at RALI Indiana if they would fund ALL grant applications received by Aim and increase our grant amount from $50,000 to $84,000.

Following a brief application process they agreed!

Earlier this month we were able to notify all applicants to the Aim Drug and Opioid Abuse Grant Program their projects will be fully funded. The kinds of projects receiving funding later this month include: parenting tip cards, on-scene distribution materials for police officers, training for school resources officers, meeting expenses, radio public service announcements, and so much more.

We do have an understanding that a grant of $5,000 or fewer will not end a community’s drug crisis. However, our hope is to give these cities and towns a chance to catch their breath and along the way develop some solutions that other communities can use. We want them to know that we see their struggles and as an organization we want to help. Do we have access to millions of dollars and all of the solutions? No. We saw a need that we could meet and did what we could to meet it. I’m proud of this program and I’m especially excited to see how the projects fair and report back in the coming months. .

Congratulations to those receiving funds and/or drug disposal kits Batesville Beech Grove Bloomington Cedar Lake Chandler Churubusco Clarksville Clermont Columbus Danville/Hendricks Co. Sheriff’s Office Decatur

Evansville Fort Wayne Greenfield Indianapolis Lawrenceburg Monticello Nashville Peru Portland Shelbyville Warsaw Waynetown

A HOOSIER MOMENT "I enjoy being from the town of Akron because of the rural community. We are passionate about our parks there and just the family atmosphere and great schools.

We have a lot of stuff going for us with just a small community of 1,200."

- Rebecca Hartzler on living in Akron "I love living in Bloomington, Indiana, because it is the biggest small town you will ever know. We have an energetic community, filled with compassionate and patriotic citizens who are concerned about their neighborhoods, state, nation and world. In five minutes, you can be on either a great trail in the woods or at a world class music or art performance at IU or downtown."

- Trent Deckard on living in Bloomington "I love the community of people that I can trust. I love breakfast at Forkey’s, the new bakery and new restaurants popping up on the square. I love the slow pace and friendly vibe."

- Tara Stewart on living in Martinsville

Reimagining city park Greenwood leaders are reimagining one of the city’s most historic and storied public spaces.

And the plans unveiled by Mayor Mark Myers for Old City Park will make it a one-of-a-kind destination. The centerpiece of the project is a customdesigned 20-foot cube tower, which will be the first of its kind in Indiana.

The cool amenities don’t stop there.

The park also will feature: a promenade running adjacent to the park’s creek, a custom climbing wall and net, a new pedestrian bridge, urban porch swings, and a bocce court.

“This transformation will impact Greenwood for decades to come,” Myers said. “Old City Park will once again become a central cornerstone of Old Town, with connectivity to the

Greenwood Amphitheater and Craig Park, the soon-to-be-developed, 19acre middle school property, Greenwood Public Library, the new Madison Avenue trail and more. It will serve as an example for future generations of what’s possible for our great city.”

Park improvements also show Greenwood’s dedication to linking economic development to quality of life, Myers said.

“We must demonstrate that we understand the changing needs between a young professional looking for their first apartment, a new family searching for a safe place to raise their kids, and a retired couple wanting to downsize and spend their weekends walking around Old Town before meeting friends at Vino Villa,” Myers said.

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Focusing on its future, Yorktown looks to downtown

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Yorktown leaders cast a bold vision for the community’s downtown.

They wanted downtown to serve as the social-economic hub of Yorktown.

And they wanted to create a destination, where residents and visitors alike can enjoy a growing menu of amenities, such as gastropubs, and an intergenerational sense of place where kids, parents and grandparents can all come and enjoy a culture that’s unique to Yorktown.

Known for its strong schools and the vast community park Morrow’s Meadow, Yorktown officials decided to take those strengths and focus on the town’s future. Now, several projects are in the works to revitalize the downtown’s urban core to make it even more so the center of the community.

“The council has really made a push to redevelop downtown and reinvest in downtown, so we can create a qualityof-life, quality-of-place initiative in our community and do it in a very sustainable way,” said Pete Olson, Yorktown town manager.

Yorktown is constructing a new town hall to serve as an anchor of the downtown. The town hall, Olson said, is a prominent piece of the revitalization efforts and is strategically placed to promote growth in the western end of downtown. The building also will have meeting space for community groups to use, as well as the capacity to centrally locate town functions, including the police department.

Paired with the town hall is a streetscape project to further incentivize business growth and additional residential housing by promoting walkability. The expectation is the streetscape project will act as a catalyst for more restaurants to move into the area. What’s more, the town is planning to construct a bridge to link the improvements to the recreational opportunities of Morrow’s Meadow where a majority of community celebrations are held.

Adding to the efforts, town leaders also plan to install a civic green to host

We want people to know when they come to Yorktown they can find amenities they are looking for.

— Pete Olson, Yorktown town manager farmers markets and other community events around the new town hall. Where a lot of communities benefit from being a county seat, Yorktown doesn't have a traditional downtown square.

So, town leaders are designing a space to function as the downtown gathering spot for community events. The space also will be equipped with a street that can be closed off to accommodate larger festivals.

Through the projects, Olson said Yorktown leaders are dedicated to

preserving the town’s identity. They aren’t trying to become the next Carmel or Fishers. However, there are positives of those communities he hopes Yorktown can emulate.

“Those are communities where people want to go and spend some money and some dollars,” Olson said.

“We want to encourage that to go on in our community as well. We want it to be Yorktown. We want people to know when they come to Yorktown they can find amenities they are looking for.”

The projects show a commitment to enhancing quality of life, while balancing the day-to-day tasks of town officials, Olson said. The focus is on creating neat places where people want to gather with their friends and families and opportunities for businesses to see success.

“Really it’s being that hub where people want to go,” Olson said.

THANK YOU

TO OUR STRATEGIC PARTNERS!

Working together to build a brighter future for Indiana.

aimindiana.org

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FORT WAYNE TO CELEBRATE RIVERFRONT PARK Fort Wayne will soon celebrate the opening of a new riverfront park.

The completion of Promenade Park is the initial phase of an overall plan to revamp the Fort Wayne riverfront district.

The park will feature a pavilion, amphitheater, canopy trail, kids’ canal, playground – and more.

“Our community continues to work together to bring the Riverfront Fort Wayne vision to life and create a world-class point of destination that offers people ways to connect

with nature, culture and community,” said Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry as the Promenade Park project moved into its final phases of construction.

The city is currently planning a three-day grand opening for the park.

“Visitors will experience a floating band performance, three community art projects, a lighted boat parade, a butterfly release and free boat rides. Plan now to join us. It’s going to be an once-in-a-lifetime event,” Henry said.

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HISTORIC MILL TO BECOME EVENT CENTER A historic cotton mill in Downtown Madison will get a new life as a boutique hotel and conference center.

The project, in collaboration with Riverton LLC, city officials and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, will repurpose the vacant building into a destination that is expected to boost the tourism industry and the city’s ability to attract investment and talent.

“This stellar project is a game changer for the Madison community and will bring to life a project that our community has imagined for almost 30 years,” Madison Mayor Damon Welch said. “I appreciate the IEDC, the Riverton team, Matt Wirth at the Jefferson County Industrial Development Corporation, and

my staff – especially Nicole Schell and Andrew Forrester – who have worked relentlessly to bring us to this point. I’m eager to work with the Madison City Council, Redevelopment Commission and Economic Development Commission as we move forward on this exciting project.”

The Eagle Cotton Mill was built in 1884 and originally served as a twine and fabric factory along the Ohio River. It has sat vacant since the early 1980s and was listed on Indiana Landmarks’ list of 10 Most Endangered Historic Structures.

“The Eagle Cotton Mill was once an important economic driver and source of civic pride for the community. This significant redevelopment will breathe life

back into one of southeast Indiana’s most historic buildings, enhancing Madison’s tourism industry and supporting the growth and vibrancy of the downtown area,” Gov. Eric Holcomb said. “Through quality-ofplace projects like the Eagle Cotton Mill, Indiana will continue to help transform our communities into vibrant destinations where people choose to live, work and play.”

Riverton plans to invest more than $21 million to transform the Eagle Cotton Mill building into a new 80-room boutique hotel, with an initial commitment from Marriott Hotels. Additionally, the repurposed property will feature a conference center, guest amenities, restaurant, and enhanced outdoor spaces with views of the Ohio River.

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INNOVATION

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DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION

Arts as launch pad I

n one Indiana town, a once vacant storefront is a budding cultural center, where residents and visitors alike can enjoy fine art in an unexpected place: a rural community of 1,300 in southeastern Indiana.

Dillsboro leaders see Friendship Gallery as the first step in revitalizing the downtown through the arts. Town leaders hope the gallery, through its high-quality art pieces and connections with musicians, writers and artisans, will foster a new energy in Dillsboro.

And since its opening in 2017, the gallery has been doing just that.

Rebecca Davies, a local artist and gallery manager, tells the story of one patron describing the gallery as walking “off the streets of Dillsboro to feel like you’re in New York City.”

“I feel like that was quite the compliment.”

When town leaders brought the idea of opening an artistic experience to Davies, she remembered thinking it was a great concept but worried about the challenges. Soon after, Davies’ concerns were eased when a bank agreed to sell the town a building for the gallery at a discounted price.

Within months of the purchase, Friendship Gallery opened with a show featuring seven artists who live in a Dillsboro ZIP code.

“People were blown away by the space,” Davies said. “They had no idea there were that many people in Dillsboro who worked as artists on a professional level.”

And the surprises haven't stopped there. One of the latest exhibits, “Landscape – No Boundaries,” featured unique twists on natural sceneries.

Another, “Kids Observe,” showcased drawings by local elementary school students. The newest show, "Being Human: From Portraiture to Concept" will run in June and July and fill the gallery with art depicting humanity in

the modern era.

The gallery is adding a new dimension to Dillsboro, said Susan Greco, the town’s economic development director who was a leader on the project.

Dillsboro is only 45 minutes away from Downtown Cincinnati, but some people might not know how to navigate a city that size or want to spend the extra money to experience the arts, Greco said.

“Bringing this culture to this small

Bringing this culture to this small town, it makes it accessible. It is bringing excitement to the community that didn't exist before.

— Susan Greco, Dillsboro Economic Development Director

town, it makes it accessible,” Greco said. “It is bringing excitement to the community that didn’t exist before.

Our Main Street isn’t very well built up. When I was a young girl, it was all businesses. We didn’t have empty buildings and blighted housing.

Dillsboro was a booming little town.

This is the beginning. The way I look at it, it’s easy to market the empty building behind me when we got something exciting next door.”

When the town purchased the building, its seller, Friendship State Bank, donated $18,000 back to Dillsboro to help fund the gallery’s operational costs. The goal is to eventually fund future maintenance and utility costs on the building through an artist-inresidency program. The gallery and its programming is part of Dillsboro Arts, a nonprofit created to promote and showcase local art and artists. The latest feature is The Porch, an outdoor

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music and performance space that opened this spring.

The gallery is strategically positioned near Dillsboro’s Heritage Pointe, a pocket park that acts as a community gathering spot for Dillsboro’s Veteran’s Day program and other events. To fund improvements for the gallery and Heritage Pointe, town leaders have tapped into a series of state grants. A crowdfunding effort through the state’s CreatINg Places program raised $6,000 for audio equipment for the downtown area. With strong community support, Dillsboro met its crowdfunding goal quickly, and the state matched those dollars.

“To me, more important than the money was the buy-in from the community, and people who would step up and walk in with a $20 bill and say we want to be a part of this, too,” Greco said. “It meant a lot.”

This year, Dillsboro received $4,370 through the state’s Quick Impact Placebased Grant program, which supports small quality-of-place projects that make big impacts. The town will use the funding to further its arts focus by transforming an asphalt space into a cultural and educational hub. Local artists will paint murals and a dance floor, and community artisans will craft

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outdoor furniture.

The gallery is a draw for the Dillsboro community, Town Manager Doug Rump said.

“If we expect millennials to come and live in Dillsboro, we have to have quality of life,” Rump said. “It’s not about a Walmart or a grocery store, even though those things are important. For millennials, those quality-of-life things are important like (the art gallery) and the parks. This is just exciting.”

Along with economic development, Davies, the local artist and retired schoolteacher, wants the gallery to impact the everyday lives of residents.

Davies grew up in Dillsboro and had little exposure to the arts until she left for college. Living away from home for the first time, she initially felt insecure about her abilities before gaining confidence in her skills in her early 20s.

Now the first thing Davies points out at the gallery is an art piece she created with worn-down colored pencils she saved from students throughout the years. It tells a story, she says, of how art can positively affect lives.

“I want this place to be the kind of place,” Davies said, “that would have meant the world to me when I was a child.”

IF YOU GO What Dillsboro Arts will launch a new show at Friendship Gallery in June, called "Being Human: From Portraiture to Concept."

When The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays, 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and 4 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays.

Where Friendship Gallery, 12926 Bank St., Dillsboro Details Free admission, https://dillsboro.in/ arts/dillsboro-arts-friendship-gallery

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HOOSIER INNOVATORS

Listen to Mayor Lamb on the Aim Hometown Innovations Podcast here.

Quality of life as an economic development priority The city of Sullivan has made huge strides through Mayor Clint Lamb's focus on quality of life as an economic development tool. Aim sat down with Mayor Lamb to discuss his vision for the community and what other cities and towns can learn from Sullivan.

When did you first become interested in community development?

I wanted to be mayor when I was in kindergarten, literally. I was always interested. My grandfather would pick me up every day, and in the afternoons, we’d go to the drug store and have a Cherry Coke and sour cream potato chips and talk

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to the old timers As mayor, you’ve been an down there. They advocate for improving would laugh and the quality of life of your tell stories about community. Why did you how alive the decide to make that your community was focus? and how vibrant the community Clint Lamb, Because of Aim. was. They were Sullivan Mayor Because of the first filled with so much mayor’s school I went pride in Sullivan. to (quality of life) was the History is repeating itself. main topic. The common As I talk right now, I'm denominator of every looking at the wall in the successful mayor and every mayor's office, and there are successful community is black and white pictures of quality of life and quality of Downtown Sullivan. I don’t place. Here in Indiana, it’s not see black and white pictures a cookie cutter approach, but of smokestacks. I see a one common denominator downtown. when I look at the black and That means it meant white pictures on the wall is something. It was a point of people gathering and people pride. loving their community.

There was emotion. I’m a passionate person and that played into the first day of walking into mayor’s training.

I decided my No. 1 economic development focus was going to be stopping the mass exodus of population. Every single day, we are gradually addressing that here in our community. You can have a major $2 million sewer project but spend $1,500 on flowers and see the spirits of my community raised.

What were some of the first steps in focusing on quality of life?

It was the slogan, “It all starts here.” For me, it was the old Central Elementary

School that had been abandoned for 12 years in downtown. We knew we had to increase the city’s assessed value. All of us were educated there. It’s where we were inspired and where we met each other. It's where our relationships developed and where the community’s character was molded on those 4.3 acres. After I went to mayor’s school, I thought what better place to restart the community spirit and the quality of place of our community. They are almost sacred grounds. It was sad to see the old Central Elementary School go, but there was no way it could be salvaged. We attacked that right away and partnered with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs and were awarded a $500,000 grant, which was absolutely huge. We were able to demolish the old school and save the gymnasium. It was a 1980s add-on, and we put together a team to create the Sullivan Civic Center.

When we came into office in 2012, we decided before we could ask anyone to invest in the city, we needed to invest in ourselves. And since then, we’ve seen $22 million worth of private investments and grants and awards.

The Sullivan Elementary School PTO has moved their annual color splash back to downtown and on the old Central grounds. I remember speaking to the group on an August morning and thanking everybody for coming out to support the PTO. I then asked the crowd of about 400, “By a show of hands of many of you would be in Downtown Sullivan right now if not for the event."

Nobody raised their hands. I said, “Do me a favor. When you leave here today, get your groceries here downtown at Baesler’s or Save-A-Lot, go and fill your gas tank at 500 or Casey's and eat a late breakfast or early lunch at the Newsstand or Mimi’s." We literally had to ask these folks to start believing again.

I’m sitting here several years later, and I’m getting ready to cut the ribbon here in a couple weeks on a new restaurant on the north side of the square, and in September, the winery opens on the west side of the square.

What benefits have you seen from your approach to community development?

Just last month, Flaherty and Collins opened an $8 million housing development downtown. We’ve seen

trail projects. We’ve been funded $700,000 from INDOT last year for our trail project that extends downtown to Sullivan County Public Library, and we were just awarded $2 million in February to connect our Sullivan County Park and Lake to our downtown. I came across a document from 1980 where Ball State University came to the city of Sullivan with Mayor Bill Donnelly.

One of the recommendations from the Ball State team was to institute a study and seek funds for a program that would strengthen the link between the downtown and the Sullivan County Park and Lake.

I mean, boom, it’s there in black and white.

This is something we should have been doing all along. This is something 40 years in the making.

What do you think other municipal officials can learn from Sullivan’s story?

Just do it. One thing you run into, you go to an Aim event, go to Mayor’s Institute, you go to these workshops and it makes so much sense and the people are sitting up front and doing demonstrations. But implementing that back home is such a different challenge because we can’t take our citizens to these workshops with us. So I think messaging and marketing. The difference between my first term and second term, my first term I ran into issues because I explained to people what we were doing. During my second term, I explained to them why we were doing what we were doing. And finally, at the end of eight years, you start to see some tangible results.

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It’s been a whirlwind year for the two regions recently designated as the state’s newest Stellar Communities.

This grant cycle marks the first time regions were designated for Stellar funds, as opposed to individual communities, after the state re-envisioned the program to focus on collaboration.

Members of one of the winning regions, The Health and Heritage Region, sat down with Aim to discuss the benefits of the programs.

The region is comprised of Greenfield, Fortville and Hancock County.

Collaborating on a 'Stellar' future

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How do you feel the focus on collaboration helped the program? And what advice would you give to local officials who are hoping to apply in the future?

The change in the program helped communities share resources of staff, time, and funding for consultants.

Many good ideas came to the forefront as we were able to work with a wellexperienced group. It also helped strengthen our working relationship. It gives each community a chance to look at the others projects and say, “We did a similar project before, and here are the issues we faced or what we would do differently.”

Our advice for future applicants is to choose your partner community that is aligned with your community in terms of goals, aspirations, and shared assets.

One of the questions that you need to think about is sustainability, and why this partnership will continue. Aligned goals and aspirations make this easier to imagine and helps your partnership better formulate a way that you can continue to work together long after the designation is over.

What was the Health and Heritage region’s main goals in applying for Stellar?

Our region is a quintessential Indiana hometown area with historic downtowns and community spirit. Our main goals were to strengthen our small town vibes, capitalize on our historic structures, and build quality-of-life assets, useful to retain and attract talent. We also wanted to show how municipalities of very different sizes could successfully work together. Our goal is to have a proposal and projects that create a blueprint for other communities to see that they could accomplish any of the things that we do during Stellar.

Describe the projects the Health and Heritage region are hoping to launch through the Stellar process.

We have a varied project set that includes Main Street reconstruction, sidewalk/road-diet improvements on a corridor desperately needing it, and park improvements that will include an amphitheater and a playground with inclusive play equipment for children of all abilities and ages. It also includes a new mixed-use building with workforce housing in a location to revitalize an automobile-focused corridor into a pedestrian-oriented environment. Trail connections, façade enhancements and alley activation are other desired projects. Additionally, a program for substance abuse recovery is a part of the Stellar initiative, giving us a chance to help fund a program through the Talitha Koum Women’s Recovery House that will make huge impacts on lives. Many of the projects work together and build on each other, or build on projects that were happening in the community, to bring cohesion to the package and a positive impact on the region.

At the end of the day, how do you feel those projects will strengthen the region?

What we all felt about our region is

that there is such a great foundation to build on in our respective jurisdictions.

These projects will enhance pride in our communities, maintain our historic assets, and as stated in the onset, build quality-of-life assets needed to retain and attract talent. Stellar Communities also allows us to complete additional projects in a shorter time frame, and to leverage funds on projects with state funding. This helps us spread our regional resources further, and deliver projects to our constituents on an expedited timeline.

that one of the things we were able to show in our proposal was that we had the capacity as a region to succeed in Stellar and keep our day-to-day going alongside it. As projects come online, it will involve an even greater amount of attention and time from staff, but a good investment of such time as the projects will be transformative and impactful to the community, and something that we know we are equipped to handle.

How has earning the Stellar Communities designation changed your day-to-day community development work?

We wanted anyone to be able to look at our region’s name and immediately know something about our regional mission. We felt that a name that reflected our goals rather than just our names or location would cement the vision that we were trying to achieve and clue partners in to where they could fit in as well. Preserving our heritage and including projects meant to improve local health outcomes were prominent in not only our Stellar project list, but many of our region’s past projects and goals. So it was only natural to include this in the brand of our region as these are our cornerstones.

One of the best conversations that is ongoing is finding ways to communicate effectively across the region. It is really helping us better understand how we can pool our resources and contacts together and create better lines of communication between our communities, to our residents, and outward to our partners and interested outlets. It has already acted as a catalyst for interest from private developers in the region, and we have received more inquiries. It had involved spending additional staff time regarding preparation of the Letter Of Intent and Regional Development Plan, and meeting and discussing the proposal with the public. We think

And finally, how did the region decide on the name Health and Heritage?

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