Historic Marion Revitalization Association, alongside the Marion Chamber of Commerce and the City of Marion is pleased to announce the procurement of Ron Drake, downtown revitalization expert, for Marion’s Historic District. Hailing from Siloam Springs, Arkansas, Ron travels the country specializing in the revitalization of historic towns and cities to improve the quality of life. Not only a consultant, Ron has written a book about his work entitled, Flip This Town, and hosts a Flip This Town podcast with co-host Kristi Trevarrow of Rochester Downtown Development Authority. “The work of Ron Drake has been an inspiration of mine for several years now, as his focus is directly in line with the goals HMRA aims to achieve for Marion. Bringing Ron in  is our next logical step as we look to expand our reach and really level up our town. We have great buildings, amazing people, and now with this upcoming development plan, we hope to see even deeper strides towards the continual improvement of our Historic District” says Stephanie Rizzo, HMRA executive director. HMRA has been featured as a guest on the Flip This Town podcast in February, and out of that grew the idea and opportunity to bring Ron to Marion for a formal consultation. Ron Drake will be in town September 15 - 17, spending his time meeting with community members, business and building owners, leaders, and more to create a viable course of action to build a vibrant downtown area. Want more information? Check out https://flipthistown.libsyn.com/ or email Stephanie Rizzo at hmra@theswampfox.org .