![]() ![]() Through the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council, Jasper intentionally includes high school students in the fabric of the city, building a sense of belonging in the students growing up in their town. ![]() Including their history in the heart of their gathering spaces is a great way to honor where they’ve been and celebrate their future at the same time. Jasper celebrates its history in many ways, including maintaining their Spirit of Jasper Train and Depot, relocating a historic log barn to the riverfront park, and maintaining a historic schoolhouse visitors can tour. Creating people-orientated places is clearly a priority they’re working toward together. They know that these types of businesses increase foot traffic and have an exponential effect on each other. They financially incentivize businesses to go in those directions with grants awarded to those occupying the central downtown spaces if they fall into one of those four categories. They’ve defined the vision for their town square and focus the economic development there on food, art, entertainment, and retail. Jasper is clearly focused on being a desirable destination city. These three groups support each other and work together to support common goals for the City of Jasper. We were impressed with the collaboration between Jasper’s City administration, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Main Street Office. There are many similarities between our two communities and good ideas were shared and celebrated. Mayor Vonderheide, his assistant Lisa Bower, Councilwoman and President of the Jasper Chamber of Commerce Nancy Eckerle, Director of Heart of Jasper Kate Schwenk, and Mark Nowotarski met with us as we all eagerly shared what’s going on in our towns, what we’re proud of, excited about, and our challenges. In true Midwestern hospitality, the Jasper team didn’t miss a beat welcoming us, despite the disappointing change of Chuck’s plans. Houses and yards were well kept, curbs were painted, streets and sidewalks were in great shape.Īs the day progressed, it became clear that Chuck wouldn’t be able to make it, but that afternoon, the Jasper and Norwood teams met as planned at the Train Depot. We enjoyed the grand city signage, the artistically painted colorful crosswalks, and the clean and tidy feel of the town. Upon arrival, we spent our first moments stretching our legs meandering around the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center before lunch at the Mill House Restaurant. We weren’t expecting to be the main event, but, due to unforeseen issues and delayed flights, Chuck Marohn got stranded in the Atlanta airport while we were treated to the VIP tour of Jasper! When the time came, three of us from the Norwood team piled in the car on a road trip to celebrate with our colleagues. ![]() The winner: Jasper! Even after the results were in, we committed to maintaining our towns’ newfound connection to each other, and the Jasper team graciously invited the Norwoodians to join them in their celebration and for a tour of their town when Strong Towns Founder Chuck Marohn came to visit and present them their award. Before the results were in, a connection had already been formed in the interest of the two towns moving forward together, learning from each other, and celebrating the good things happening in both communities. Our advancement round after round had us elated to be able to come together and celebrate the resilience of our community, and it was clear that our co-finalist, Jasper, Indiana, was a worthy contender. Those of us in Norwood, Ohio, gathered on the steps of our historic middle school with music, our local coffee trailer, balloons, and face painting in April to celebrate the results of the Strongest Town competition, regardless of the outcome. Both towns are moving in a similar trajectory, revitalizing their downtown areas, creating events that bring residents together, building collaboration between city entities, and being mindful of their financial futures. The two finalists- Norwood, Ohio, and Jasper, Indiana-are both midwestern towns of similar population, the former an urban place surrounded by the metropolis of Cincinnati, and the latter a rural county seat in the farmlands of Indiana. Dozens of aspiring towns entered the competition to be named 2022’s Strongest Town. ![]()
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