Corbin hires new Main Street Manager

Andrew Salmons

The Corbin City Commission approved a motion Monday night to hire Andrew Salmons as the new Main Street Program Manager.

Salmons, 26,is a Corbin native, graduating from Corbin High School in 2003. He has recently returned to the area after living in Brazil where he co-founded Aion Innovations, a web and graphic design company.

"City planning and urban development has always interested me," he said when asked what led him to apply for the position.

City Commissioner Joe Shelton, one of the members of the committee that interviewed the six applicants for the position and recommended Salmons to the city commission, said he set himself apart from the others with a wonderful interview.

"I was very interested in his ideas," Shelton said of Salmons, noting that he presented a startup plan during his interview.

"We need a more inviting business atmosphere," Salmons said when asked what needs to be done to overcome patrons’ "Walmart mentality" and make downtown Corbin a shopping destination again.

He added that there are other cities that have been successful in doing that and he is willing to take their ideas, modify and apply them to suit Corbin’s needs. He pointed to a development guide released by New York City officials in 2009.

"It is written in such a way that it can be scaled down to fit a city like Corbin," he noted.

Salmons will replace Sharae Meyers, who resigned as Main Street Manager in April when the city commission made the position part-time and reduced the program’s budget from $158,601 to $29,877.

She laid a good foundation for the city," he said of Meyers.

He has no timetable for how long he would like to stay on as Main Street Manager, but said he has a vision to build a plan for the city and see it brought to fruition.