GREENFIELD — Thousands of people commute into Hancock County and Greenfield each weekday to work. But once 5 o’clock strikes, many hurry back home to nearby communities.
Some Greenfield leaders say the city has an image problem among out-of-county residents, especially young adults. They hope a re-branding campaign might persuade daily commuters and young families to move to Greenfield. The city council will soon decide whether to pay an Indianapolis-based marketing agency nearly $90,000 over two years to maintain a new city website and multiple social media pages.
Both the Greenfield City Council and Board of Public Works and Safety last week tabled pending contracts with the advertising agency, Matchbook Creative, until both boards learn more specifics about the costs. The city plans to pay for the branding campaign with city economic development income tax dollars. The contract states the city could suspend the agreement at any time with a 30-day notice.
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Matchbook Creative, an Indianapolis firm, is asking for $28,533 in website maintenance costs over two years and between $76,266 and $81,066 for two years of social media management, according a contract given to the board of works on Feb. 12. The city council ordinance states Greenfield would pay $44,800 for each year of a two-year contract, while the remaining costs — about $18,000 — would be split among Hancock Health, NineStar Connect and Greenfield-Central Schools — community partners with the re-branding effort.
Matchbook Creative would manage city Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram accounts.
Steve Long, CEO of Hancock Health, said the hospital, NineStar and G-C schools haven’t decided how they’ll be involved in the ongoing website and social media maintenance or how much each would contribute toward the recent contracts.
Dan Riley, president of the city council, said the city has been working on a re-branding campaign since 2016, and it entered into a $100,000 contract — also using CEDIT funds and contributions from Hancock Health, NineStar and Greenfield-Central Schools — with Matchbook Creative in late 2017. The agency used that money to work on a city website, create a logo and marketing package, meet with city stakeholders and reach out to the target audience of young people.
Riley said Greenfield leaders want commuters and young adults to become aware of the city’s amenities. According to data collected by STATS Indiana, 7,236 people commuted into Hancock County in 2016 — about 20 percent of the county’s workforce. Most came from Marion and Henry counties.
“We feel like we have good schools, good medical care. We’ve got good city government. We’re 20 minutes away from anything you’d want to do in Indianapolis via the interstate, which is the shortest commute to Indianapolis you can have,” Riley said. “And we don’t believe that a lot of people know that.”
Some 5,700 young adults between the ages of 25 and 44 live in Greenfield, according to census estimates for 2017. That age group of mostly millennials makes up about 26 percent of the city’s population.
Riley said the city’s parks, schools and trail system might seem attractive to a younger crowd. The city also draws in people regionally for the annual Riley Festival as well as events put on by Greenfield Main Street. Hancock Health’s Hancock Flat 50 also brought in hundreds of bicyclists in its third year in 2018.
“We have a unique brand and a unique set of offerings,” Riley said. “It’s important for us to build our community to have the leadership that’s working here now to live here.”
The Greenfield Parks and Recreation Department also works to attract young families to the city. Ellen Kuker, parks superintendent, said the department added a splash pad last summer as an amenity for young families, and Riley Park Pool is being upgraded this year. The parks department also offers preschool classes for kids as well as art classes geared toward young families, Kuker said.
The parks department also will update its logo to complement the re-branding efforts done at city hall, she said.
City Councilwoman Keely Butrum, who represents District 3 in Greenfield, is the youngest member of the council. Butrum, 34, said as the city anticipates future growth, creating an online presence is a great way for Greenfield to reach young adults who would rather live in a small town and commute to a larger city.
Butrum, a native of Greenfield, left the city as an 18-year-old but moved back in her 20s. Greenfield was much smaller when she grew up during the 1980s and 1990s. The city had just over 12,000 residents in 1990. Greenfield is now approaching 23,000 people as the 2020 census nears.
“After having lived in Indianapolis in a number of locations, I was able to appreciate Greenfield more, and I really missed the more small-town aspect versus being in the big city,” she said.
Thomas Lopez, 27, is running for a city council seat in the spring primary. He attended last week’s council meeting during which Matchbook Creative revealed the design of the new city website. Lopez said he likes the “sleek, modern” look of the site and favors it highlighting local businesses and events.
“For people maybe not sure of what Greenfield has to offer,” Lopez said, “the website is a good start to showing the different places we have, and hopefully they can expand on that as the years come.”
Lopez, who was born in Greenfield but moved away at a young age, decided to come back to the city during high school for family reasons and later chose to settle down in Greenfield with his family. Many young adults Lopez knows in town are Greenfield natives and have stayed because of the lower tax rates and basic amenities. They also enjoy how officials have been striving to improve the city’s quality of life.
He hopes the re-branding will allow city officials to build stronger relationships with local small businesses.
“Greenfield is that 30-, 45-minute drive to Indianapolis to maybe your job, but we don’t have the same issues that you would if you live five minutes from work,” Lopez said. “So there’s a give and take with living where we live, but there are still benefits.”
