On Thursday the City of Marysville will host its annual State of the City address.
This will be the second year of the city’s new format for the address. Under the new format, the city will show attendees a video highlighting the past year in the community, then a panel discussion with local officials answering questions.
The event will be at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company.
According to Marysville City Manager Terry Emery, the video-panel format replaced the previous, traditional address to provide something a bit more engaging.
According to Emery, the night will start at 6 p.m. with a networking session. At 6:30 p.m., a short presentation by Scotts representatives will transition into a 10-minute video highlighting the past year of city developments, as well as a few things to look forward to.
After the video, there will be a panel made up of Emery, City Public Service Director Mike Andrako, City IT Director Aaron Story and Union County Economic Development Director Eric Phillips.
Emery said one of the goals of any State of the City address is to “incorporate important aspects of our community.” Last year, it was hosted at the STEM school, while this year is highlighting a business that has been in Marysville for 150 years.
“Obviously, the State of the City will be talking about various areas of the city,” Emery said.
The panel discussion in particular will be focused on connected vehicles and Innovation Park.
Overall, this year’s address is streamlined, according to Emery. The video is shorter than last year’s. This year, the city is also emphasizing its online presence by live streaming the address on social media.
Emery said next year’s address will take place at Memorial Hospital’s new addition.
Another change is the addition of an RSVP requirement. Emery said the space at Scotts holds only about 80 people, so space is at a premium.
“We’re within that right now,” Emery said. “So it’s working well.”
Emery also said that if residents decide to come with an RSVP, they’ll be allowed in if there’s space available, though he encouraged citizens to let them know if they’re attending.