Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs announced five Indiana Main Street organizations as finalists for the INspire Idea competition.

“I am excited to see what these five organizations present at the conference in the coming months,” Crouch said. “It is always inspiring to see the original ideas communities come up with to highlight the uniqueness of their area.”

The goal of the competition is to encourage the Indiana Main Street network of communities and professionals to design creative projects for the benefit of their communities. After a thorough review, the following Main Street communities have been chosen as finalists:

• Culver Main Street;
• Greenfield Main Street;
• Greater Lafayette Commerce;
• Heart of Sullivan; and
• LaPorte Economic Advancement Partnership.

"We are excited that our Indiana Main Streets were creative with this competition," said Jodi Golden, Executive Director of OCRA. "By requiring no local match, we hope this competition will produce a spark that could lead to improved commercial vitality in rural downtown districts."

Golden said each applicant had an imaginative downtown revitalization project in their community. These finalists are competing for one of two $5,000 grants, which will be awarded at the Great Lakes Main Street Conference. Each finalist will receive two free conference registrations where they will present their projects during one of the sessions.

Registrations are still being accepted for the conference. For more information, visitwww.in.gov/ocra/2956.htm.

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Under the leadership of Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch, who also serves as the Secretary of Rural Development, the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs’ (OCRA) mission is to work with local, state and national partners to provide resources and technical assistance to assist communities in shaping and achieving their vision for community and economic development. For more information, visit ocra.in.gov.