MERRILL - The city of Merrill is looking to its citizens to help expand.

The Why Merrill? marketing plan takes positive hometown stories and prints an impression for others to see.

Tony Chladek celebrates his fourth year in the "City of Parks" this April, he says, "I'm the First City Administrator of Merrill, they created the position, and I'm enjoying every minute of it."

Chladek isn't the only Merrill resident with a good story about the city.

"We love Merrill. We fell in love with it the minute we drove through the town," says Debbe Kinsey, the Executive Director for the Merrill Area Chamber of Commerce. She says the chamber's taking these positive stories and using them to the city's advantage, "Profiling people and their stories of why they love Merrill."

"There are roughly 10,000 residents here in Merrill and if we get 10,000 of those folks talking about the positive aspects of Merrill, we've got 10,000 people marketing Merrill," says Chladek.

It's called "Merrill Impressions": like a living billboard to get people interested in checking out the town.

"We're trying to grow and grow our economic base. There's a lot in Merrill that people, if you're not from this area, just don't realize," says Kinsey.

The campaign is meant to help get the word out about Merrill's hidden treasures, like the historic Cosmo theatre.

"More historic districts in this community than a lot of large communities," says Kinsey.

She adds, besides history, the city has a lot in to offer in the present, "Location, nature, people."

It's all this in one place that's made Chladek a permanent Merrillite, he says, "I'll be here as long as the council has me and the community wants me."

Chladek says he hopes the pr gets families and businesses thinking about making a future in the home of the Bluejays. Like he did. »

Kinsey says the chamber is taking many of these "Merill Impressions" and putting them in the local paper.

If you live in the area and would like to share something positive you can send you responses to the Merrill Chamber of Commerce, "Why Merrill" Project, 705 North Center Avenue, Merrill WI or by email to info@merillchamber.org. Be sure to include your name and contact info.