Erin Feipel, executive director for Greenfield Main Street, started her position in early June.
GREENFIELD — When Erin Feipel walked from her friends’ house to attend a concert at Depot Street Park last month, she quickly understood why her friends quickly became enamored with downtown Greenfield.
Feipel, who lives in nearby Fountaintown, took over as the new executive director for Greenfield Main Street in early June.
As such, she’s tasked with promoting and preserving the unique charm and architecture of the historic downtown community.
A small town girl herself — having grown up in Fairland in nearby Shelby County — Feipel understands the allure of a charming small town.
It hasn’t taken her long to fall in love with Greenfield.
She’s getting to know the local community quick and is embracing her new role as executive director.
“So far I absolutely love it. It’s right up my alley. This is what I pictured myself doing when I graduated from school,” said Feipel, 28, who studied hospitality and tourism and event management at Ball State University.
Prior to her new role, she worked as the food and beverage director and restaurant manager at an eastside Indianapolis country club.
“I’m very excited to be out of that and to be doing something I feel is a little bit more meaningful,” she said.
“Having a job where I can make an impact working for a nonprofit, in a community I love that’s close to home, was really the perfect recipe for exactly the job I was looking for. I feel very blessed to have found this position close to home in a place I love.”
Feipel and her husband Nick — who met her freshman year at Ball State — now spent a lot of their free time hanging out in Greenfield, attending summer concerts and visiting local shops and restaurants.
It helps that two of their best friends recently bought a house in downtown Greenfield.
“That’s been really awesome because we spend so much time with each other, so we’re able to walk from their house to experience all of downtown Greenfield,” said Feipel. “It’s been really cool to get to know the community and see all there is to offer.”
Later this month she’ll get the chance to make the neighborhood a bit brighter by hosting a community mural painting event July 15-16, where members of the public can help paint a large mural on the side of the Ford’s Flooring building on the southwest corner of Main and Pennsylvania streets.
The color-by-number mural will be traced by local artist Lisa Sears, an art teacher at Greenfield-Central High School.
“This is an event that was already planned out before I joined, but I’m really enjoying learning about it and helping out where I can,” said Feipel, who is also getting familiar with other Greenfield Main Street events like the Turkey Day 5K and Ho Ho Holiday breakfast with Santa.
“Those are our two main things I’ve been diving into,” she said.
“Our intent is to focus on high quality, bigger events that happen every year instead of multiple events a month, so really just honing in on special events that are something that bring the community out that people will return for year after year.”
Greenfield Main Street is focused on much more than just events.
According to its website, the organization “has played a crucial role in the overall image and livelihood of Downtown Greenfield, where social events, government, and commerce intersect. Our vision is to create a vibrant and prosperous Downtown Greenfield that attracts tourism while preserving Greenfield’s architectural heritage.”
Established in 2008, the organization is part of the national Main Street initiative which promotes prosperity through business recruitment, community events, marketing and promotions, architectural preservation and beautification of the downtown area.
The nonprofit has awarded over $142,000 in facade grants leveraging over $800,000 in improvements since 2010.
Feipel said she and her board of directors are currently working on a strategic plan to carry the organization and its mission into the future, with the help of a consultant hired through a planning grant.
Supporting the downtown merchants will always be a major emphasis for the organization, said Feipel.
“Keeping the merchants connected with the community and promoting their economic vitality is really at the heart of what Main Street is. Without merchants there is no main street,” she said.
She looks forward to spending a lot more time walking around downtown Greenfield with her husband Nick and their Australian sheep dog mix, Hank, as they continue to embrace the cozy downtown that has become their second home.
Monica Holden, who resigned as Greenfield Main Street’s executive director last year to return to teaching, thinks Feipel is the perfect person for the job.
“She is fabulous. She has so many great ideas and came ready to just jump right in,” said Holden, who now serves on Greenfield Main Street’s board of directors.
“I think we really hit the jackpot when we found Erin,” she said.
For more information about Greenfield Main Street or to sign up for the monthly newsletter, visit GreenfieldMainStreet.org or call (317) 649-0890.
