County 2: Miami

On this 92-county adventure, I planned to see a lot of the countryside in rural Indiana. The programs and dollars the state sends out reach everywhere, well beyond city limits and into the fields and farms on country roads.

That said, sometimes I see more of the countryside than I intend to. On my visit to Miami County – the second stop on the Hoosier Crossroads Tour – a wrong turn was to blame.

The day started out great with a local government discussion at the county courthouse in Peru. We happened to visit during the Circus City Festival, meaning many of the downtown streets were closed off for fair rides and fried foods.

After the meeting and lunch at the new Tollhouse Café, I met board members from the Nickel Plate Trail and the contractors who are constructing the trail’s bridge over the Wabash River. INDOT and DNR are helping to fund construction of the Nickel Plate, which will run more than 40 miles from Howard County to Rochester.



Mike Kuepper, president of the Nickel Plate Trail, shows Lt. Governor

Skillman a new trail bridge in Peru. INDOT and DNR are helping to fund

the bridge's construction. The Nickel Plate trail is a 40-mile railtrail

corridor running from Cassville in Howard County to Rochester in

Fulton County.



They gave me an official pair of Nickel Plate Trail socks, which I’ll be sure to wear while walking the trail in the future. I delivered a pair of socks to Governor Mitch as well.

After that, we took the unintentional tour of Miami County cornfields before finally reaching our destination west of Mexico (that’s Mexico, Indiana, to out-of-towners). For the record, I don’t tend to operate on “legislative time”. Sometimes I think the motto of my friends in the General Assembly is: “If you’re not 15 minutes late, you’re 15 minutes early.” But I always pride myself on being punctual, so my apologies to those who were left waiting for us.

At the site, we visited a project involving the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority and the Miami County YMCA. The Y is one of our home energy conservation partners, using grant money every year to weatherize low-income Hoosiers’ homes. This year, however, they also received an additional IHCDA grant to install solar panels on about 20 homes in Miami and Cass counties.

The homeowner we met, whose husband was disabled, will certainly benefit from the lower bills the solar panels will bring. It’s another great example of a state government that reaches everyone.

Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman’s Hoosier Crossroads Schedule for the Week of July 24

Lt. Governor Skillman will meet with Montgomery and Wayne Counties’ local government officials in the mornings of July 26 and 28, and then will make the following public visits:

Tuesday, July 26, 2011 – Montgomery County

1:30 p.m. – Linden, IN: Lt. Governor Becky Skillman will visit Valero Renewables. The bio-refinery annually produces 120 million gallons of denatured ethanol from and 370,000 tons of distillers’ grains co-products.

Valero Renewables, 203 West CR 1100 N., Linden

3:15 p.m. – Ladoga, IN: Lt. Governor Becky Skillman will view progress on Ladoga’s new fire station, which received a $500,000 Community Focus Fund grant from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs.

Ladoga Fire Station, 121 East Main Street, Ladoga

Thursday, July 28, 2011 – Wayne County

1:00 p.m. – Richmond, IN: Lt. Governor Becky Skillman will join officials from INDOT to celebrate the reconstruction of U.S. 40, a Major Moves project. Upgrades to U.S. 40 include a new center turn lane, a new bridge and new features for pedestrians.

Earlham College’s front lawn, 801 National Road West, Richmond

2:15 p.m. – Cambridge, IN: Lt. Governor Becky Skillman will tour the new Cambridge City Library, which received a $500,000 Community Focus Fund grant from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs. 

Cambridge City Library, 600 West Main Street, Cambridge

County 1: Jackson

Visiting Jackson County is always like a homecoming for me. Even though I always lived in neighboring Lawrence County, I represented Jackson for 12 years in the Indiana Senate. I’ve walked countless parades and held plenty of Third House meetings in its towns.



Maplewood Farm's Tim Burton shows Lt. Governor

Skillman his process for making syrup.



The local officials I met with in Jackson County are like most leaders throughout the state: passionate about the communities they serve. They were full of good ideas of their own and willing to hear new ones. For example, the city of Seymour’s “robo-trash” trucks require fewer sanitation employees and have cut work comp claims by nearly 95 percent.

After the meeting in Brownstown, we had lunch at Stahl’s Café in Ewing, then headed to Medora to cut the ribbon on the country’s longest covered bridge. Finally, we stopped at Maplewood Farms, where Tim Burton is becoming one of our most successful Indiana Artisans.

A Hoosier from Fortville, Ind., who has been

to every covered bridge in the country, talks to

Lt. Governor Skillman at the Medora Covered Bridge.

Indiana Artisan is a program I started as lieutenant governor to provide marketing support for producers of food or art products. It was so successful; we took it out of government’s hands and made Indiana Artisan a non-profit organization. We had a chance to talk to Tim and meet youth helping out on the farm from Bradford Woods’ leadership camp.





Tim is becoming a local celebrity of sorts. Folks my age will be impressed his syrup was served in Chicago at Oprah’s farewell brunch. The camp kids, however, were more impressed that he recently ate with Lady Gaga’s parents (Mr. and Mrs. Gaga?).

This is exactly the kind of success we planned with our Indiana Artisan program. Governor Mitch always speaks about raising the net disposable income of Hoosiers. When we can help a small business market itself, we make that happen for them and any employees they may choose to hire.

We have artisans all over the state, and I plan to visit many more of them. But I’m glad I got to start it off at Maplewood Farms.



Lt. Governor Skillman Plans for Remainder of Term

 “Hoosier Crossroads Tour” will focus on local government, state programs 

INDIANAPOLIS – Lt. Governor Becky Skillman today announced plans for her “Hoosier Crossroads Tour,” a 92-county tour over the next 18 months.  The statewide tour kicks off Tuesday in Jackson County and will include working sessions with local government leaders and visits to community projects that were funded by agencies she directs. 

“In the last seven years, I have been dedicated to visiting every county and being a voice for all of Indiana. I have seen the needs and helped with initiatives to meet the challenges. This 92-county tour will help formulate the best way to make an even greater economic impact on our communities,” Skillman said.

Beginning tomorrow in Jackson County, Lt. Governor Skillman will meet with local elected officials in a structured discussion.  The primary question will be, “How can we work together to better serve Hoosiers?”

The discussion will include possible ways the state can help local units of government deliver services more effectively and efficiently, in addition to ways to boost the local economy. These meetings will occur in approximately 30 counties between now and the end of the calendar year. Lt. Governor Skillman plans to make recommendations to Governor Daniels prior to the 2012 legislative session.

While traveling, Skillman also plans to check on local projects that have received funding from state agencies.  Skillman oversees the Office of Community and Rural Affairs, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, the Office of Energy Development, the Office of Tourism Development, and the State Department of Agriculture. These agencies primarily aid communities through financial investments and other programs. 

These agencies have administered more than 1 billion in funding assistance for local projects, such as housing developments, local governments’ capital projects, and energy initiatives.

“We have invested time, effort, and money in communities across the state, and it’s important for me to see firsthand what type of return we are getting on our investment,” Skillman said.

In Jackson County, she will also cut the ribbon on the Medora Covered Bridge, the longest historic covered bridge in the country.  This was a partnership between the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Jackson County Commissioners.  She will also visit the Tim Burton family of Maplewood Farms.  Burton is one of the entrepreneurs named as an Indiana Artisan and growing his business through the program support and branding launched by Skillman. 

The complete schedule of counties has not been finalized, but stops in July will include Miami County on July 21, Montgomery County on July 26, and Wayne County on July 28.

Hoosiers can track where the lieutenant governor will be and follow a blog about the tour by visiting www.lg.in.gov.

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Lt. Governor Becky Skillman oversees the Office of Community and Rural Affairs, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, the Office of Energy Development, the Office of Tourism Development, and the State Department of Agriculture.

To receive e-mail updates from Lt. Governor Skillman, sign up at http://www.in.gov/lg/subscribe.htm