Churubusco named Stellar program finalist
Churubusco is among the towns and cities that were named finalists in Indiana’s Stellar Communities Designation Program.
Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch’s office announced the six finalists Thursday.
Churubusco is one of three Division 2 finalists, which includes communities of fewer than 5,999 residents. The other two are the town of Culver in Marshall County and the city of Union City in Randolph County.
In Division 1, communities of 6,000 to 50,000 residents, the finalists are the city of Greensburg in Decatur County, the city of Madison in Jefferson County and the city of Vincennes in Knox County.
Established in 2011, the Stellar Communities Designation Program began as a collaboration between the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, the Office of Community and Rural Affairs and the Indiana Department of Transportation to support community planning and development initiatives by streamlining access to available funding sources and capacity-building resources.
Through the annual designation, Stellar Communities provides resources for transformative quality-of-place community improvements by using previous planning efforts, leveraging existing assets, fostering regional investments and stimulating continued growth for long-term relevance, Crouch’s office said in news release.
“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,” Crouch said in a news release.
Communities that applied for the program submitted letters of interest.
As a finalist community, Churubusco will receive a $10,000 planning grant to either create or build upon existing local strategic investment plans, detailing projects, partnerships and proposed sources of funding.
Site visits to the finalist towns and cities will be conducted by the Stellar Team, which is composed of representatives from the partner agencies who follow a standard agenda and set of questions.
Later this summer, one community from each division will be named a 2017 Stellar Communities Designee.
Funding for the Stellar Communities Designation Program comes from multiple existing federal and state programs. For more information about the program, visit ocra.in.gov/stellar.
