The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Main Street Live! event hands out awards

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Downtown development organization Main Street Van Wert celebrated its successes and honored several people with awards during its annual Main Street Live! dinner event held Tuesday evening at Wassenberg Art Center.

Pianist Charlie Grel entertained attendees during dinner, which was provided by several downtown restaurants, including 133 Bistro, Black Angus on Main, Collins Fine Foods, Truly D’Vine Company, Brewed Expressions, Peking Chinese Restaurant, and Wild Willy’s.

During Tuesday’s Main Street Live! event, Van Wert Municipal Court Judge Jill Leatherman (above) thanks her staff and all those who helped make the renovation of the former First Financial Bank building on East Main Street into a new court facility. Dave Mosier/Van Wert independent

The dinner followed opening remarks by MSVW Board President Mark Verville and an invocation by the Rev. Hal Shafer.

After dinner, the large crowd who attended heard keynote speaker Eric Doden, former president of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation under then-governor Mike Pence, and is currently CEO of Greater Fort Wayne Inc., that city’s economic development entity, but is resigning that position, effective December 31, to spend more time with his family and his private equity investment firm, Domo Development.

Doden talked about the projects he has overseen in Fort Wayne, including the Riverfront development, The Landing, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Park, and Energy Works project on the campus of the former General Electric complex.

He urged MSVW to find unique features in Van Wert to use as a brand to market the community to outside companies and investors.

Doden cited the “five pillars” of a community that need to come together for any development project: business, faith, non-profits, education, and government. He also noted that elected officials must provide leadership and make the tough decisions needed to see development opportunities to fruition, noting that officials must be leaders, not politicians.

Doden also said he believes that America needs the Midwest to rise again for the nation’s economic health.

Following Doden’s talk, MSVW Executive Director Dan Baisden talked about some of the successes of the local downtown development agency, including $500,000 in downtown reinvestment and several new businesses that created a number of new jobs downtown.

Baisden also noted the expansion of the downtown Community Reinvestment Area from Central Avenue to Crawford Street, which brings Wassenberg and several businesses, including Wild Willy’s, Taylor Auto Sales, and Purmort Brothers Insurance into the district, and its recognition as a Certified Local Government by the Ohio Department of Development, and its progress on listing the downtown area on the National Register of Historic Places. Both of the latter accomplishments will make it easier to obtain grant money for downtown development.

Baisden also talked about MSVW receiving an Edward Jones competitive grant, which required a $2,500 matching grant, noting that community members and businesses raised $6,000, all of which was used to renovate the alley across from the Van Wert County Courthouse into the Former Mayor Eugene Bagley Alley. A ribboncutting ceremony will be held on the project this Friday at 5:01 p.m.

To cap off the evening, MSVW presented some special awards to those who have contributed to downtown development.

The first award, the Mister Rogers Award for being a good neighbor to the downtown area, was given to Van Wert County Foundation Executive Secretary Seth Baker, who lives on the edge of the downtown area on South Washington Street.

The Leslie Knope Award, named for a character on the comedy series “Parks and Recreation,” was given to Chet Straley for his renovation and revitalization work of downtown buildings, while Emily Banks, who owns MOD Boutique, was given the Thomas Edison Award for the innovations she has included in her downtown business.

The Heritage Award, an award not given every year, but meant for extraordinary investment in the downtown area, was given to Van Wert Municipal Court Judge Jill Leatherman and Clerk of Courts Deb Lichtensteiger for the $1-million renovation and purchase of the former First Financial Bank building on East Main Street. The project was the biggest seen in the downtown area in a number of years.

POSTED: 05/09/18 at 8:00 am. FILED UNDER: News