County “Stellarbration” marks the beginning of major improvements

MARSHALL COUNTY, Ind.- A ribbon cutting event in Marshall County on Thursday celebrated receiving the Stellar Designation Award and marked the beginning of multiple improvement projects for the county.

The Stellar Communities Program is a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment initiative led by the Office of Community and Rural Affairs and works with communities to create regional development plans, promote local and regional partnerships, and implement comprehensive solutions to regional challenges.

Select towns in Marshall County received the $14 million award which will go towards funding 35 projects in the towns of Argos, Bourbon, Bremen, Culver, La Paz, and Plymouth.

The improvements and additions initiated by this award will take place over four to five years.

These plans aim to improve the quality of life in communities by adding parks, trails, streets, housing, and more.

Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch, who oversees the Stellar program, said, “For rural Indiana to be able to thrive they have to have vibrant downtowns, vibrant communities where their residents and citizens can have a sense of pride but also be able to attract more people and more population to the area.”

Leaders hope that the projects will increase Marshall County’s population by 2.5%, create and fill roughly 400 job openings, and build diverse and affordable housing.

The improvements also hope to attract more visitors to the towns.