In Nov. 2018, The Office of Community and Rural Affairs was awarded a $100,000 grant from the USDA Rural Development to create the IMPACT Main Street program. The program’s goal is to strengthen and protect existing businesses, contribute to expansions and create job opportunities.
The nine Main Street organizations selected for this pilot include: Seymour, Fairmount, Tell City, Tipton, Rockville, Sullivan, Dillsboro, Elwood and LaPorte. The organizations will be working with Ball State University’s Indiana Communities Institute to design and implement business investment strategies for their downtowns.
The Indiana Communities Institute will provide the following to each of the nine Main Street organizations:
- compile and analyze community data on market strengths and weaknesses to help identify new businesses;
- provide technical assistance on emerging trends and best practices around implementation of local business attraction and support activities; and
- aid in the design, marketing and launch of a business investment strategy to foster new business activity.
Once the pilot is complete, OCRA intends to extend the program to other Main Street organizations.
View the information presented at the seven communities by clicking the links below:
- Dillsboro
- Elwood
- Fairmount
- LaPorte
- Rockville
- Seymour
- Sullivan
- Tell City
- Tipton