Change is coming to Evansville’s Downtown, and Josh Armstrong encourages everyone to “make it good change.”
Armstrong was one of eight featured speakers at the 2014 Southwest Indiana Chamber Biz Expo held Thursday at Old National Events Plaza on topics ranging from social media to negotiations. Six weeks ago, Armstrong became the downtown alliance director for the Southwest Indiana Chamber.
During his presentation of “What’s Up, Downtown?,” Armstrong gave updates on Downtown development, gathering strategic teams, ways to support current and new local businesses and said he’s given many tours of the Downtown area to showcase potential new business locations or relocation spots for others.
For those who want to see growth in Downtown Evansville, Armstrong encourages them to get involved.
“I like the word serendipitous,” he said. “Mostly because it’s long, but I like that sense of surprise you get when you walk down the street and you see something you haven’t seen before, or you see your neighbor that you weren’t expecting to meet, and that’s an interaction you don’t get when you’re in your car. It’s an interaction you don’t get when you’re walking through a parking lot. But it happens all the time when you’re in a downtown area. And that feeling of recognition, that’s important. It’s a pretty primal human need to be recognized. It feels good.”
Merrill Bradford, Southwest Indiana Chamber events manager, said 66 exhibitors were on hand for the ninth year of the expo. Bradford said the goal is to connect businesses, organizations and agencies.
“It was previously the Tri-State Business Expo, but we’ve really refreshed the event, added some new experiences, kind of bringing it into the modern age,” she said. “This is a great opportunity for all of our community member and chamber member businesses to showcase their products and let the community see all of the business that’s being done in the city.”
Tameka Hilson, staffing specialist at Evansville’s Extra Help, Inc., spent time at the Biz Expo for the first time on Thursday. Hilson, who commutes from her home in Mount Carmel, Illinois, said she wanted to introduce herself to local Evansville businesses and learn new things about the community. She was pleased with the welcoming attitude of everyone at the event, and their willingness to introduce themselves, what they have to offer, and answer any of her questions or concerns.
“I’m very hands on,” Hilson said. “I just love interacting with people, working with people and then making sure that at the end of the day they’re satisfied with what we have to offer them.”
A native of Pasadena, California, Armstrong has lived in Downtown Evansville for nearly a decade. The recent Leadership Evansville alumnus and member of the organization’s board of directors said there are many ways to get involved, including joining a civic organization, supervising clubs at a local school, suggest your ideas at a Voice meeting through Leadership Evansville or go for a walk to pick up trash.
His words and vision for the future of Downtown Evansville include “vibrant, festive, inclusive, clean, safe and fun.”