In Indiana we have a lot of these partnerships and they already have the infrastructure in place to make it easy to begin energy efficiency p rojects. The Department of Commerce partnered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation s Main Street Program on a statewide basis and it seemed natural to target the existing Main Street partnerships. This neighborhood revitalization program developed a master plan and projects are underway. As a Rebuild America partnership, NGNV hopes to incorporate energy-efficiency into the business revitalization projects needed to attract and expand businesses that offer significant employment opportunities, and that offer goods and services for daily living. City of Portage hopes to significantly improve the competitive business attractiveness of its commercial corridor.
Portage is the largest city in Porter County, and it is also one of the youngest.
The Rebuild America Program will enable Portage to leverage both public and private resources to make energy-efficient retrofits to both public and private facilities along the Central Avenue corridor. Through participation in the Rebuild America Program, DNA hopes to significantly improve the position of downtown New Albany as a competitive business location by working to improve energy-efficiency of historical business structures. DNA also hopes to improve the economic stability of lower income residents of New Albany's public housing sector by educating them on the cost-effective use of electricity. We hope to learn from our involvement in the Rebuild America program about the best ways to provide technical and financial services to meet the energy efficiency needs of local communities. As a result, we hope to have many successes and further expand our services to include other new and innovative programs.