He was not part of Tuesday night’s Danville City Council Public Works Committee meeting, as new Danville Alderman Ethan Burt is on the Public Services Committee. But after being sworn in February 1st to fill Aaron Troglia’s old Ward 6 position, Burt says he is ready to look towards a positive future.
The owner of BurtCo Photo at 22 North Jackson says having moved to Danville from Hoopeston in 2013, he still feels new to the area. And rather than looking with regrets on what isn’t in Danville anymore, he wants to focus on what’s arrived lately, and what will be coming.
Location of Alderman Ethan Burt’s BurtCo Photo business at 22 North Jackson Street.
Burt says, with his current business, and some other ideas he has in mind, he figured he’d also get into the Danville political scene eventually. He just didn’t think it would happen this soon.
AUDIO: I wasn’t really planning on it for a bit longer. But Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr reached out to me and asked if I would consider the position. And technically I’ve been considering it for several years. Not necessarily alderman specifically, but just some sort of public service role.
Ethan Burt says, he’s really hoping for an even greater environment for entrepreneurship in Danville. But right now, he says he’s already noticing lots of new businesses looking forward; and residents need to focus on that.
AUDIO: I’ve heard the typical lament that ever since GM left Danville it’s just been dying ever since. I think that really forgets just how the economy has worked on a global scale. There was an economy before GM and there will be an economy after GM. We need entrepreneurs, we need businesses to know how to pivot whenever there is a change in the economic climate. And we also need to keep moral up.
At the same time, Burt says a single business shouldn’t be treated as the pillar of the city. It’s the people, he says, who should be the pillars.
