Dearborn County ready to become ‘Stellar’
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Last month, the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs announced Dearborn County as one of four regional finalists for the 2024 Stellar Pathways program.
The program—formerly known as Stellar Communities—will select two regions to receive nearly $13 million to support community development projects.
One Dearborn County, the county’s economic development organization, is leading the charge with plans to focus on four target locations: the city of Greendale, the town of Dillsboro, and the unincorporated communities of Bright and Kelso Township.
“We built our Stellar proposal around the slogan, ‘Stellar Pathways for Indiana Gateways,'” Executive Director Mike Perleberg told Inside INdiana Business. “We feel like those four target areas for Stellar investment are essentially the gateway from the Greater Cincinnati metropolitan region, not just into Dearborn County but into southeast Indiana in general.”
Perleberg said the county’s Stellar vision statement builds on its original action plan created in 2018.
One Dearborn County identified three key areas of opportunity for the Stellar funding, the first of which being location with the county’s proximity to the growing Cincinnati metro area.
“From Greendale, there are places you can stand and see Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky all in the same view,” he said. “So that’s how close we are to Cincinnati and northern Kentucky, and we feel like that location is a huge benefit for Dearborn County.”
The second component, Perleberg said, is the county’s outdoor recreation assets. He noted the benefits of the Ohio River, as well as Perfect North Slopes, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, in addition to the area’s various trails and parks.
The third component is community charm. The county says it will continue to invest in placemaking and preservation within its downtowns to enhance its communities.
“We’re looking at transformational projects that identify advanced economic development with generational impacts to our region within the One Dearborn community in southeast Indiana,” said Greendale City Manager Guinevere Banschbach. “We’re looking at site redevelopment projects, road infrastructure for enhanced development of existing corporations and expansion opportunities. We’re looking at quality place initiatives.”
Officials look to continue development along the I-275 interchange at U.S. 50 and build on projects such as Kentucky-based St. Elizabeth Healthcare’s new cancer center, which was completed last year, as well as the planned $125 million St. Elizabeth Hospital expected to open in 2027 along the interstate corridor.
“We’re looking at working with our community partners. We have very strong leadership in place with fiscally strong, result-driven projects that have been in motion, that are in planning to be developed, that meet the criteria of the Stellar investments,” Banschbach said. “We want to make sure that, you know, we’re primed for success ready to go to continue this momentum.”
Perleberg said they are “extremely confident” that Dearborn County will be selected as one of the two Stellar winners, and they are excited for the possibilities that could come from receiving the funding.
“It’s already a big win in the fact that we’ve captured the $50,000 planning grant,” he said. “We’re going to get the opportunity to do this really robust planning, exercise, and engage the citizens of Dearborn County in this thing, maybe on a level that’s never been seen before here. It’s just an extremely exciting opportunity for us.”
The other finalists include Connect LaGrange County, Wabash County, and Warren County region. The two winners will be announced in January.