Troy is more than blessed by those who make contributions daily across the community, Mayor Mike Beamish said Monday, March 21, during the annual State of the City program.

“We are a community, we are moving forward and we are doing it together,” Beamish said at the program held at The Concord Room.

He circulated through the room while talking, pointing to people at various tables and mentioning their contributions from city staff to representatives of the schools to community and social service agencies to arts/cultural organizations.

The community, Beamish said, has embarked on a journey with a Connected Community Committee that grew out of its efforts associated with the America’s Best Communities project. The city was named a quarter finalist in the program before being eliminated from the competition earlier this year.

“We are looking at four different goals … for our future,” the mayor said.

Those goals, as outlined by the mayor:

- Improve communication “so that we are transparent. As a community we show that we work together as a community moving forward.”

- Improve our leadership

- Upgrade our infrastructure, our technology. “That is so changing are lucky to have Time Warner, Frontier, in our community,” he said.

- Take an effective vibrant downtown and mix it with a beautiful Great Miami River “and put that right next to the recreational facilities we have in our recreational corridor along the Great Miami River.”

The goals are very important to the city’s future, Beamish said.

In his 13th year as mayor, Beamish said he is looking to the community to continue to work together and move forward.

Other key players include the business community offering jobs and other opportunities, Beamish said.

“It is not one person, it is all of us,” he said. “What a blessing to have so many people involved and engaged.”

That cooperation extends beyond the city’s boundaries to the county government, Beamish said, mentioning the county commissioners and Miami County Park District leaders.

“Yesterday gave experience to all of us. Tomorrow … gives us the hope for a bright future. But, today, it is getting together, doing one thing at a time, expecting the best for what we can do for one day,” he said.