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Stephanie Wiechmann
Besides his first state of the city in 2020, the annual speech isn't the place where Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour announces big new projects. Instead, it's a greatest hits mixtape. The mayor pointed out how much improvement came to the city in 2021 through refreshes to city parks, progress on paving roads that had been stolen by the global pandemic, and new businesses and housing announcements.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
He also pointed out that Muncie gave $ 15 million out of its part of federal coronavirus relief funds to local businesses and organizations.

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Dan Ridenour
And I do think this is quality of place. The fact that we chose to put this in people's hands, not ours. I think that's a statement.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
In that spirit, the former banker says he was disappointed that Muncie's region didn't get more state dollars as part of the READI grant program, which hopes to fund a quality of life and worker attraction ventures throughout Indiana. The east central Indiana region's $ 15 million award was tied for second smallest, and that won't fund something right now. Are champions getting the state and federal government to turn U.S. route 35 into a four lane highway from Wayne County's Richmond to Chicago.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
He links that to endless opportunities.

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Dan Ridenour
You'll see manufacturing, you will see warehouses. You will see logistics that will all be growing, and it won't be growing in the belt around Indianapolis. It will be growing in East central Indiana and then north central Indiana as it gets to Kokomo and Logansport.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
To preview what the rest of this year will look like, the mayor says more than $ 6 million will be spent on parks improvements in 2022. 63 streets will be paved, and necessary engineering work will be started to bring two of the city's main drags closer to being repaved. In Muncie, Stephanie Wiechmann, IPR news.