Hometown Greencastle seeks partners

Members of the Hometown Greencastle Initiative were excited to learn about the Indiana HomeTown Competitiveness (HTC) Program and that an application has been submitted to develop community partnerships with 11 other Indiana communities under the guidance and support of the HTC program.

The HTC program presents a unique opportunity to achieve many of the goals outlined in the "Hometown Greencastle Marketing and Development Model" and to begin a specific conversation about the future of rural Indiana in the rapidly expanding global marketplace.

The HTC program will enable Hometown Greencastle to partner with six statewide core organizations as part of the Indiana Resource Team. These organizations include:

• Ball State University's "Building Better Communities"

• Indiana Grantmakers Alliance

• Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs

• Indiana Rural Development Council

• Purdue University's Center for Regional Development

• USDA-Rural Development

"The HomeTown Competitiveness Program is a nationally recognized community development program successful in developing civic engagement and economic opportunities for rural communities." observed Ken Eitel, Hometown Greencastle community facilitator. "Having the opportunity to collaborate with a statewide resource team will allow Greencastle to move ahead with the implementation of key strategies developed over the past two years and found in the Hometown Greencastle Model."

The members of the Hometown Greencastle Steering Committee, community businesses and organizations, and the City of Greencastle have submitted letters of support for Hometown Greencastle's application.

Several of these letters of support stated, "It is time for Greencastle to go to the next level, to be able to enrich economic development opportunities, to enhance our community capacity and services, and to cultivate the assets already available within our community."

The Indiana-HTC program has grown from the statewide Rural Indiana Strategy for Excellence (RISE2020) initiated by Lt. Governor Becky Skillman in July 2005.

The effort has involved over 150 Hoosiers, representing diverse institutions, organizations, governments and constituencies to create a vision and strategic framework for rural Indiana.

This dynamic process mirrored and corresponded with the efforts of the Hometown Greencastle Initiative.

Many of the goals and challenges are consistent with the strategies for development of community capacity in Greencastle and in all of rural Indiana.

"It is the effort of the citizens and leaders of our community over the past two years in the development of the Hometown Greencastle Marketing and Development Model that has our community positioned to take a leadership role in the advancement of the Indiana-Hometown Competitiveness Program, at the same time taking the next step outlined in the Hometown Model." Eitel said.

To learn more about the Hometown Greencastle Model visit www.hometowngreencastle.com.