A team of state officials will be in Pulaski County today to meet with local officials. The county is one of six finalists for the state’s new Hometown Collaboration Initiative. It seeks to help small communities expand their pipeline of local leaders, strengthen and expand jobs by building on existing economic assets and to improve attractiveness and quality of life of their hometowns. Pulaski County Economic Development Director Nathan P. Origer says he’s pulled together a group of 14 community members as part of the process.
“We’ve got people from every town. We’ve got business representatives and owners, young entrepreneurs, county employees and retirees,” Origer said. “We’ve got the state park involved because we are focusing on placemaking, at least right now. Even though the state park may not be a direct part of our endeavor into HCI, if we’re selected it’s a huge part of quality of life in our community.”
Origer hopes to have a clearer perspective on what the HCI leaders are expecting after meeting with them today. Other semi-finalist communities include Corydon, Lebanon, Rushville, Seymour and Perry County. The five inaugural HCI communities will be announced in early 2015.
