Hopefully by now you have heard about our efforts to plan for the future of our community. 

Almost one year ago, five non-profit organizations and leaders in our respective fields came together to entertain the thought of our community applying for the Stellar Community designation from the State of Indiana. Stellar Communities is a collaborative effort from 11 State of Indiana agencies, all who provide funding or assistance for worthwhile projects in communities across Indiana. Being named as a Stellar Community, there are two chosen each year since its inception in 2011, allows the winning community the opportunity to be at the forefront of achceiving their dreams of future development and improving its community. That is because the hard work has been done - planning, planning and more planning, all with a clear direction of what the community wants for its future.

The five local non-profits funding this effort by hiring a consultant to lead the way include your Greensburg/Decatur County Chamber of Commerce; Economic Development Corporation Greensburg Decatur County; Decatur County Community Foundation; MainStreet Greensburg; and Decatur County Visitor and Recreation Bureau. As a group, our board of directors saw the value of this collaborative effort and approved its organization on making this worthwhile investment of our hard earned dollars. 

And we picked a good person to lead the way in hiring David Fry from Effective Advancement Strategies. David has a love and passion for our community and it shows in his work. While he may be getting paid to lead our efforts, it evident that he really wants what is best for our future. We could not have asked for anyone more qualified to spend the countless hours he has in meetings, planning and organizing this huge undertaking. 

As a result of this effort, a new group has formed, the Partners for Community Progress, comprised of about 22 local citizens ranging from various and diverse backgrounds. All playing a role in moving this process forward. We have been meeting on a regular basis to discuss plans and the result of meetings and surveys. There were over 2,200 responses to our electronic surveys we sent out weekly over a course of five weeks.There were also community neighborhood meetings where citizens had the chance to have input in this process and were allowed to voice their ideas about the future plans of our community. 

And now those plans and ideas are being shared with our citizens. In the coming weeks, I venture to say you will see several articles in the Greensburg Daily News outlining many of these ideas and I will continue to write about them and share on this blog, This is MY Greensburg/Decatur County. 

Stay tuned and pay attention to the local media because these ideas and thoughts are good ones. They are your thoughts and ideas. You spoke and we listened.

I know we have all been through many planning stages over the years, but I believe the five original organizations that started this effort, along with the support and backing of Mayor Dan Manus, are committed to seeing good things come to fruition. 



Jeff Emsweller is the Executive Director of the Greensburg/Decatur County Chamber of Commerce. He has two sons, one a senior at the University of Cincinnati and the other a senior at Greensburg Community High School with plans on attending UC in 2017. He also has a rescue dog named Pixie.