A North Judson native continues pushing for more business development in town. Starke County Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Lisa Dan recently told the town council that Kirt Verhagen wants to bring a co-working space or maybe a popup store to North Judson.
“It’s a way to help revitalize downtown,” Dan said. “Part of the goal of the Ball State students was to find ways to make this a place where people want to be.”
A co-working space would give people a place to work if they don’t have good internet access at home, while a popup store would provide a space for an entrepreneur to set up a physical business.
Dan said Verhagen also wants to bring back the North Judson Business Pitch Competition for a second year, but this time, he wants someone else to pay for it. “Kirt would like to see this happen every year,” Dan explained. “However, he funded it last year, and he has kind of charged us with trying to find funding for it this year.”
The Business Pitch gives startup businesses a chance to compete for up to $10,000 to get up and running or expand their operations. Dan noted that Verhagen has also expressed interest in about four separate housing projects for North Judson.
