Connect shares mission for city

Cohesiveness. Collaboration. Unity.

Residents repeatedly used those three words to describe what they want to see out of the downtown area at Portland Main Street Connect’s first public meeting Tuesday.

Portland Redevelopment Commission awarded $58,000 to the newly formed organization for various downtown beautification projects at its meeting Friday.

Portland Main Street Connect used Tuesday’s meeting to explain what it is planning to do with that money as well as provide a forum to discuss what could be done in the future. It also invited representatives from Jay Small Businesses and Jay County Chamber of Commerce, who were there to provide resources for business owners and managers looking to get more involved with community development.

The event produced discussion that went well past the hour-long meeting, which was held in part to qualify to become a recognized main street organization by the state.

Mike Medler of Jay Small Businesses and Reda Theurer-Miller of Portland Main Street Connect both hosted tables discussing their organizations’ plans for the future and the resources available for the public and their members.

Medler, who runs Medler’s Furniture alongside his wife, Sue, works with 11 other small businesses with a goal to create a cohesive and profitable culture for Jay County businesses.

“We all rely on one another,” said Medler, who preached that small businesses can benefit from putting collaboration over competitiveness.

One of things he wants to change for the group’s businesses, particularly in the downtown area, is to be open more, particularly in the evenings and on Saturdays.

“To have a thriving downtown, we have to be open,” Medler said. He added that having a universal time when most small businesses are open is possible in the future.

Bringing new customers to the city is a focus, but Medler and others agreed the community’s own attitude about itself can be improved, too.

Theurer-Miller, in a discussion with Doug Loy, president of Jay County Development Corporation, said that locals “take for granted” what is already here in the community.

Loy and Theurer-Miller, who both said they were provided a new perspective about the community after attending Indiana Bond Bank’s Flipping Finance Challenge in February, agreed that the community shouldn’t disqualify itself from setting goals to compete with businesses and communities in bigger markets.

“We have to create a sense of community,” Theurer-Miller said. One of the best ways to do that is by creating events and celebrations in the downtown area and promoting them, she said.

The next step for Portland Main Street Connect is to create a timeline for when the funded projects are to be done, something it will discuss at its next meeting, Theurer-Miller said.

Funded projects for the downtown area include installing sidewalk benches, giving the brick alley a makeover and refurbishing trash cans, among other things.