Greensburg named 'Stellar' finalist

Greensburg will join Madison and Vincennes as one of three finalists in its category for the designation, which puts the city one step closer to working with state offices on new community projects intended to improve the quality of life, boost the economy, and bring new amenities to smaller rural communities.

It would be the beginning of what those behind the Stellar designation say is an effort that is “transformative” for communities.

There is precedent for that as state officials said Wednesday that previous winners have seen improvements by “utilizing previous planning efforts, leveraging existing assets, fostering regional investments, and stimulating continued growth for long-term relevance.”

In short, Stellar designees will highlight what’s already great about their communities while working toward improvements that could pay positive dividends for years to come.

Achieving Stellar status also paves the way for grants that could turn many community improvement dreams into reality.

“We have seen such transformation throughout the previous cities and towns who have received the Stellar Communities Designation and recognize the hard work, collaboration and dedication it takes from the local team to work alongside our state agencies committed to making a true impact throughout smaller communities across Indiana,” Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch said.

The SCDP began in 2011 and is a collaborative effort of the Office of Community and Rural Affairs, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority and the Indiana Department of Transportation.

Driven by community input culled from public meetings and surveys, the Greensburg-Decatur County Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Greensburg, Visit Decatur County, the Decatur County Community Foundation and the Economic Development Corporation of Greensburg/Decatur County combined efforts to create a plan that would put the Tree City in the running for the prestigious designation. Collectively the group is called “Partners for Community Progress.”

David J. Fry, owner, consultant and contractor for Effective Advancement Strategies, serves as the project’s lead.

That input formed the “Community Vision Plan,” which was the bedrock for outlining some of the city’s intended future improvements -- regardless of the Stellar outcome.

Recognition as a finalist comes less than a month after the city filed its formal letter of intent seeking to receive the Stellar designation.

As a finalist, the city will receive $10,000 to create a “strategic investment plan” that will be submitted to the state. There will also be an upcoming site visit from SCDP officials, in line with program protocol.

“We look forward to receiving the strategic investment plans from each of the finalist communities to see what state and local collaborations might be possible to take our hometowns to the next level,” Crouch said.

The strategic investment plans are due to be submitted in August, and site visits are planned for September and October. The new Stellar designees are slated to be revealed Oct. 25.

Greensburg is part of Division 1, which includes cities with between 6,000 and 50,000 residents.

The Division 2 category is reserved for communities with fewer than 6,000 people. Churubusco, Culver and Union City are the trio of finalists in that division.

The cities nearest to Greensburg to have previously won the Stellar Designation are North Vernon and Rushville, with the former earning the honor in 2011 and the latter in 2016.

Mayor Manus readily admitted to being overjoyed at the Stellar finalist announcement. After a series of rainy, gloomy days, the news was a welcome bit of proverbial sunshine, but he said Greensburg’s status among an elite group didn’t come as any kind of shock.

“We’re very happy,” said Manus. “We’re not too surprised, though, because we had a good program in place."

The mayor lauded the work of the Partners for Community Progress group and expressed enthusiasm for the future.

“We’ve really got a good group of people working on this,” the mayor said. “And also the community’s involvement … that’s just a good thing.”

Community involvement, in a sense, was the heart and soul of the innumerable hours of work put into preparing for the Stellar process.

A special meeting in December at City Hall revealed that project leaders had pinpointed more than a dozen projects that community members hope to see come to fruition at some point in the future.

Survey responses called for a dog park, amphitheater, a wider range of available jobs, additional walking trails, new restaurants, road improvements, and numerous other ideas that span everything from overall quality of life to infrastructure improvements.

Fry said one major goal is to focus on Greensburg’s location, which is within 50 miles of Indianapolis and Cincinnati. Situated approximately halfway between those two major metropolitan areas could be advantageous to Greensburg as it puts the Tree City only about 50 miles from an estimated 1.7 million people.

The hope is to create a “Cultural Corridor” that, among other things, would include completing downtown streetscapes, creating “family fun zones,” and improving parks.