On Wednesday, Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton challenged attendees at the annual Crawfordsville/Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce to think differently about their community. He asked the industry and business chamber members to help find solutions to problems during the keynote speech at the Crawfordsville County Club.
Stating the Stellar Communities designation has helped initiate a lot of exciting improvements to the downtown area, the mayor asked the small business owners and manufacturing representatives to seize the opportunity to add to the momentum to help move Crawfordsville forward.
Barton updated the gathering on all the Stellar projects. His talk was interrupted with applause when he announced exterior rehabilitation to the Ben Hur Building is scheduled to start on May 16.
“I am pleased to announce tonight that the Ben Hur property has been deeded to the developer and work on renovating the exterior will begin one week from this coming Monday,” Barton said.
Encouraging millennials to live in the area and retaining professionals in the city remain the driving force behind Stellar ideas and plans Barton said.
“The millennial generation is now out-numbering baby boomers,” Barton said. “We must provide the things that age thinks are important. Let me remind you, what a 24 year-old thinks is different than what a 61 year-old thinks.”
Barton also said the city needs professionals to live in the area. He said they were an important resource to lead organizations and being civic leaders is important to any city.
Emphasis on increasing the amount of people coming to the downtown is critical to the economic livelihood of Crawfordsville Barton said.
Another announcement the mayor made was that soon downtown Crawfordsville will have its first micro-brewery. The Backstep Brewing Company will occupy property on North Green Street.
“A micro-brewery is listed as one of the top-10 things a millennial desires in a downtown,” Barton said.