Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight delivered his first State of the City address Monday night, and called on local residents to work together and create partnerships, to move Kokomo to the "next level of greatness."

To make this happen, the mayor said, people must put the community first, and must overcome outdated notions of what kind of community Kokomo is.

Goodnight particularly focused on workforce development and continuing education. He said the city must overcome the physical barriers that keep people from continuing their education, but must also overcome the mental barriers, and the belief that education is unimportant for certain sectors of the economy.

"Many of us grew up in an economy where a sharp line divided those who work with their hands, and those who work with their minds," Goodnight said. "But that barrier is crumbling. These days, we are all expected to work with our minds."

The mayor stressed that manufacturing "should and will continue to be a strong part of our economy." But he also challenged residents to stop thinking of Kokomo as "a city where we build things," and start thinking of Kokomo as "a city where we create."

Goodnight envisioned Kokomo as a place where innovation is grown from the ground up: a progressive, sustainable community, with a diverse economy replete with a strong manufacturing base, research and development firms, life science initiatives and clean energy companies.

"We have all the resources in place to reach the next level of greatness," Goodnight said. "We have a strong infrastructure. We have a beautiful downtown. We have a thriving park system. We have colleges that are truly dedicated to community and economic development. We have community assets like the Pipeline Skate Park and Kokomo Beach."

"But most of all, we have you," he continued. "We have friends and neighbors and coworkers who are intelligent and innovative, compassionate and caring and dedicated to change."