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Hermann wins DREAM award
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By Bob Watson
bwatson@newstribune.com
Hermann was the only Mid-Missouri winner of the state's first DREAM Initiative - the Economic Development Department's “Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri” program.
“It puts us working with a number of state agencies to carry out a series of projects,” said Jim Grebing, Hermann's Tourism director. “In the past, a lot of economic development was tied to getting one grant application at a time and working on a project.”
Gov. Matt Blunt announced the 10 winning communities during a luncheon at the Governor's Annual Conference on Economic Development, held this year in St. Louis.
The other nine winning communities are Cape Girardeau, Excelsior Springs, Hannibal, Kennett, Neosho, Sedalia, St. Joseph, Washington, and West Plains.
Blunt said the communities represent the “potential for all Missouri's diverse and historic towns and cities working to revitalize their downtowns and attract new private investment opportunities to the hearts of their communities.”
During the three years of their involvement in the initiative, the communities will have access to technical and financial assistance for infrastructure improvements, historic preservation, affordable housing, community services, business development and job creation.
Blunt said, all applicants - not just the 10 winners - will get technical assistance and be invited to revitalization training opportunities and seminars.
Jefferson City was one of the nearly 90 communities that applied unsuccessfully for one of the 10 grants.
Jim Crabtree, a Central Bank official who helped with the city's application, was disappointed with Tuesday's news.
“I think that we have quite a bit going on in this city and the intent was to provide a mechanism that would thread together some projects and proposals that are currently underway,” he explained, “such as the redevelopment of the prison properties, the federal courthouse and the vacancies in retail businesses in the downtown area.”
Crabtree noted the state's DREAM Initiative grants primarily funded “planning assistance in order to achieve certain stated goals. And the process made us reflect on those goals and state them.”
That should make it easier for Jefferson City to move forward with its planning, especially if there's another grant opportunity in the future.
“The process of putting together the grant brought about some much-needed conversations between the Chamber (of Commerce), the city and the county,” Crabtree said. “It made us really sit back and think, ‘What is that we need to be successful?' I think it allowed us to outline a methodology to bring about some of the needed changes.”
Crabtree said the grant application process produced “a good plan - a good, viable map - to follow to start putting some of those together. ... There was so much information got compiled for that grant that, the next time around will be easier.”
The Associated Press contributed information used in this story.
“It puts us working with a number of state agencies to carry out a series of projects,” said Jim Grebing, Hermann's Tourism director. “In the past, a lot of economic development was tied to getting one grant application at a time and working on a project.”
Gov. Matt Blunt announced the 10 winning communities during a luncheon at the Governor's Annual Conference on Economic Development, held this year in St. Louis.
The other nine winning communities are Cape Girardeau, Excelsior Springs, Hannibal, Kennett, Neosho, Sedalia, St. Joseph, Washington, and West Plains.
Blunt said the communities represent the “potential for all Missouri's diverse and historic towns and cities working to revitalize their downtowns and attract new private investment opportunities to the hearts of their communities.”
During the three years of their involvement in the initiative, the communities will have access to technical and financial assistance for infrastructure improvements, historic preservation, affordable housing, community services, business development and job creation.
Blunt said, all applicants - not just the 10 winners - will get technical assistance and be invited to revitalization training opportunities and seminars.
Jefferson City was one of the nearly 90 communities that applied unsuccessfully for one of the 10 grants.
Jim Crabtree, a Central Bank official who helped with the city's application, was disappointed with Tuesday's news.
“I think that we have quite a bit going on in this city and the intent was to provide a mechanism that would thread together some projects and proposals that are currently underway,” he explained, “such as the redevelopment of the prison properties, the federal courthouse and the vacancies in retail businesses in the downtown area.”
Crabtree noted the state's DREAM Initiative grants primarily funded “planning assistance in order to achieve certain stated goals. And the process made us reflect on those goals and state them.”
That should make it easier for Jefferson City to move forward with its planning, especially if there's another grant opportunity in the future.
“The process of putting together the grant brought about some much-needed conversations between the Chamber (of Commerce), the city and the county,” Crabtree said. “It made us really sit back and think, ‘What is that we need to be successful?' I think it allowed us to outline a methodology to bring about some of the needed changes.”
Crabtree said the grant application process produced “a good plan - a good, viable map - to follow to start putting some of those together. ... There was so much information got compiled for that grant that, the next time around will be easier.”
The Associated Press contributed information used in this story.
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