BLOOMINGTON – Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Eric Spoonmore spoke in favor of the Monroe County Commissioners’ historic vote to establish a Capital Improvement Board (CIB) to facilitate and manage the long-awaited Monroe Convention Center expansion project.
“The Chamber is 100% in support of forming the Capital Improvement Board,” Spoonmore said prior to the vote. “We thank the county commissioners for their leadership. This CIB is a momentous step toward achieving substantive progress on this important project in our community,” he continued.
The newly formed CIB will be composed of seven appointed members. Two appointments will be made by the mayor of Bloomington, two appointments will be made by the county commissioners, one appointment will be made by the county council, and one appointment will be made by the Bloomington city council. Those six appointees will vote to select the seventh member of the CIB.
The county will begin accepting applications for its three CIB appointments immediately. Residents interested in serving on the CIB as county appointees should apply for the position through the Monroe County Government website at www.co.monroe.in.us.
“We could not be any more excited for the future of our downtown and our convention and hospitality sectors,” Spoonmore said. “This transformative economic development project will reshape and revitalize a portion of our downtown that is badly in need of redevelopment, while also bringing more visitors to our community that will contribute to sustained economic growth.”
Since being named the Chamber’s leader in December 2022, achieving meaningful progress on the convention center expansion has been among Spoonmore’s top public policy priorities. Under Spoonmore’s leadership, the Chamber has been instrumental in the community’s advocacy efforts for the advancement of the expansion.
