Ever since his move to La Porte County, Craig Phillips has shown an amazing dedication to the area – the same dedication and devotion he showed to his previous hometown of Valparaiso. Two years ago, Phillips was recruited by the mayor of Michigan City to be the new Planning Director and Executive Director in Michigan City, Indiana.
In his role as a city planner for Michigan City, Phillips fulfills two important roles for the city. As the Planning Director, he is in charge of current planning, zoning, code enforcement, building inspection, and community development. As the Executive Director, he is in charge of development and redevelopment of certain districts where the city captures the taxes in the area and then reinvests the money into the area to create a better quality of life for the residents. Currently, Phillips is helping lead the city to the passage of the Lake Michigan Gateway Implementation Strategy.
"I'm really proud to be a part of this team," Phillips said. "It's a plan for focused investment on the city's north end, near Lake Michigan, which would include the Uptown Arts District, Washington Park, and the lakefront area. It's going to be a blueprint and plan for the city's priorities in terms of capital improvement projects and quality of life improvements for the area."
Through his work, Phillips has the opportunity to work with various non-profit organizations including Rebuilding Together, a non-profit housing rehab that is focused on improving housing in order to keep low-income and the elderly in their homes. When he was working with the City of Valpo, before his move to Michigan City, Phillips served as President of the Valpo affiliate of Rebuilding Together doing home improvement projects, working with other volunteers to coordinate roofing projects, heating projects, minor repair projects, and anything else that was needed of him. Now, in his position as City Planner of Michigan City, Phillips is helping to spearhead the start of a Rebuilding Together chapter in La Porte County.
"Every year in April, every chapter across the country takes part in a Rebuilding Together Workday," Phillips explained, "A handful of projects are done across the county. Being able to help the people of my community stay in their homes and help improve their quality of life is something that I am truly grateful to be a part of."
Phillips also enjoys setting up the Michigan City Easter Egg Hunt, being a member of the city's leadership team, and helping to implement a Homeless Day Center in Michigan City. Through his job, he has the opportunity to assist various organizations in more of a background position, helping them to further their goals – something that is very important to him.
In what remains of his free time, he enjoys spending time with his kids, which involved a number of different things as far as various outdoor activities, camping, hiking, and traveling. He also enjoys learning about different people, places, and cultures from around the world. His more recent interest is in learning more about microbrews, and is currently involved in with the Shelf Ice Brew Fest, which will be taking place in early February in downtown Michigan City, where over twenty breweries will bring hundreds of different brews to the festival for people to taste and enjoy.