GREENSBURG — Joshua Marsh, mayor-elect of Greensburg, is 26. When sworn-in, he will be the youngest person to hold the position. He hopes young people see what he plans to do as mayor and move back to his hometown.
"My job with the State of Indiana was to travel around, so I got to see communities like ours that were being successful and innovative, being successful with the times," Marsh said. "When I would come home, I would see we were not doing that, so I started asking why."
That question led Marsh to run for mayor on a platform he said is going to grow the city and build on the community's already rich history.
"We do have a strong economy from a manufacturing stand point," Marsh said. "We have a strong housing economy. We have a strong retail division, but we are not developing and growing like I think we should be."
Marsh, along with Christian Rust, the Washington Township Trustee, and Nate Harter, the Decatur County Prosecutor, are working together to help move Greensburg forward on several fronts. Employment is one of them.
"Between Hitachi, STI, Honda...I'm probably forgetting some big ones, but there are a bunch," Rust said. "Delta Faucet is hiring. There are a bunch of jobs."
While trying to get those jobs filled, they're also focusing on bringing in more businesses and adding incentives for first-time home buyers.
"It's a wonderful place to grow up in," Marsh said.
But the three know that's not true for everyone, so they're also working on quality of life issues.
"Ninety percent of the people I see who come for township assistance come from the City of Greensburg. That's part of what I'm wanting to do is partner with the mayor and take on this generational poverty we see occur," Rust said.
Flipping through their high school yearbooks, Rust and Harter said around half of the people in their graduating class no longer call Greensburg home. They hope their plans for the future bring some of them back.
"Realize what we had here growing up and what we're hoping to build for the future,” Harter said.
"Go out, see the world, get your education, do something fun, but keep us in mind and be willing to come home and help us build a better community," Marsh said.
