FAIRMONT– In an effort to promote the positives of Fairmont, a group of people are working on a project to highlight everything that’s offered here.

Fairmont’s Economic Development Coordinator, Ned Koppen, said that at a Chamber meeting last spring, a few business people were talking about how they can better get the word out about what a great community Fairmont is.

“We wanted to talk about all things positive. There’s plenty of negative things, but how do we push the positive things out,” Koppen said.

Following that meeting, a number of people formed a committee to further talk about the goal. The core members are the city of Fairmont, FEDA, the Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce, Fairmont Community Education and Recreation (CER), Visit Fairmont and a community member, Hayley Luther.

In brainstorming ideas, the group decided it wanted to remake the Fairmont Area Life website. The website was first launched more than a decade ago with the goal of attracting young people who are looking for a community like Fairmont to settle down in.

“We’re in the process of having it redesigned and we’re going to repurpose the (Fairmont Area Life) Facebook page to promote positive things in our community,” Koppen said.

He went on to say that that’s not necessarily posting a list of events, as other entities do, but that it could look like sharing candid photos or stories about positive things in Fairmont. He added that another goal is to post content more consistently than what has previously been done.

The website will also include a comprehensive list of things to do in Fairmont. It includes photos of all the restaurants in town as well as stores. The site will have links that will bring visitors directly to each businesses’ website.

The group applied for and received a grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) so that it has a budget to work with. Luther has been working on remaking the website and content will be funneled through the Chamber.

A kick-off event, where the new website will debut, will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Jan. 12 at the Southern Minnesota Educational Campus (SMEC). There people will receive information on how to submit positive content and they’ll also get a sneak peek of the new website before it’s officially launched.

“This is all an effort to put out more positive things in our community and splash all of the good reasons to come to Fairmont and live in Fairmont,” Koppen said.