Mayor Kruzan appears on Fox Business Network; City recognized for livability, fiscal responsibility

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 17, 2009

For more information, please contact:
Danny Lopez, Communications Director, City of Bloomington, 349-CITY, lopezd@bloomington.in.gov

Bloomington, IN - On Monday, Mayor Mark Kruzan appeared as a guest on the Mayor Monday segment of Fox Business Network's Fox Business with Liz Claman and David Asman, fielding questions about Bloomington's local economy and speaking about the City's approach to economic development.

Although the nationally-syndicated program typically features mayors from large metropolitan areas, the hosts pointed to Bloomington as an example of how cities can balance their budgets while preserving important municipal programs and services. Much of the discussion during the segment, which can be seen at https://bloomington.in.gov, centered around the various ways in which the City has fostered a diverse economy and invested in local businesses as strategies to offset challenges during the current recession. Kruzan referred to the flourishing technology and arts sectors and touted Bloomington's high quality of life as an important tool for generating economic stability.

"The first strategy is to not spend more than you're taking in," said Kruzan when asked about the City's approach to maintain fiscal discipline. "We've also had a very dedicated effort to investing in ourselves and looking at traditional and non-traditional forms of economic vitality to make sure that we're not back on our heels just because the economy is so weak."

While introducing Kruzan, Asman referred to Bloomington as a "wonderful place" and a "family-oriented city" and noted that the City has "invested heavily in that image" as a way to spur sustainable economic development. Kruzan spoke about the significance of Indiana University and the limestone quarries as important pieces of Bloomington's tradition and heritage, and he said that strategies like economic diversification and, in particular, the enhancement of the city's already vibrant technology sector have generated new opportunities for local talent.

"Our focus has been on livability, on quality of life as economic development," Kruzan said. "The goal has been to make sure that we're looking especially at developing a technology culture here, and just the fact that we have such a culture of learning really has attracted an awful lot of people to the community."

For more information, please contact Danny Lopez, the City's Communications Director, at 349-CITY or via email at lopezd@bloomington.in.gov.

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