Rushville Mayor Michael P. Pavey Bio
Following his election in November 2011, Mike Pavey brought a variety of community service and leadership experience with him when he took office as Rushville Mayor in January 2012. Under Pavey’s direction, four major infrastructure projects are under construction in Rushville, the largest number in the community’s history. The Pavey administration has been involved in assisting with the expansion of three of the City’s four largest employers. In 2013, Pavey created a youth liaison position to the Rushville City Council and initiated various youth programs.
Mayor Pavey serves on the Indiana Land Resources Council, has served as president of the East Central Indiana Mayor’s Roundtable and is serving as a member of the Legislative, Economic Development and Transportation Committees for the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns.
In 2014, the City of Rushville received one of four Primacy of Place Community Awards in Indiana for its Riverside Park Amphitheater and free summer concert series from Building Better Communities (BBC), an outreach and engagement division at Ball State University. Each summer since 2005, Rushville has featured a diverse lineup of local, regional, national and international performers, with the Amphitheater hosting more than 65,000 concert attendees, with up to 40 percent being visitors to Rushville. Launched by the BBC and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, the program recognizes Hoosier communities taking innovative steps in improving the quality of life for residents, visitors and businesses.
Prior to being elected mayor, improving the quality of life for his fellow residents in his hometown led Pavey to assume numerous leadership roles on various boards including resurrecting the Heart of Rushville, an Indiana Main Street Program. He worked to form the Riverside Park Organizing Committee who provided an average of six free regional class concerts per year, with the initiative lauded statewide as a Best Practice Program.
Recognized for his civic leadership achievements, in 1995, Pavey received the Mayor’s Community Service Award and Key to the City. In 2006, he was selected as the Rushville Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year and in 2007 was presented the Distinguished Hoosier Award by then Governor Mitch Daniels.
Pavey spent several years in other civic leadership roles, including on the Rushville Board of Works from 1994-1996 and as a city councilor from 1996-2008, during which he served as council president for eight of those years. During his service on the council, he took a special interest in the City’s economic development efforts. His focus led to being voted president of the local economic development board in 2005 and representing Rushville on an Indiana trade mission to Japan in 2006.
Pursuing his interest in economic development, Pavey graduated from Ball State University’s Center for Economic and Community Development in 2005 and from the nationally acclaimed University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute in 2010.
An honors graduate of Purdue University with an Applied Science Associate degree in Architectural Technology and Bachelors of Science degree from the School of Engineering and Technology, Pavey worked as a project engineer for McComas Engineering for 18 years, handling projects in excess of $30 million.