Southern Indiana Living MayJune 2017

daughter. “Her daughter’s 18 years old.
She has cancer, and it was her last chemo
treatment,” Miller said. “So they came in,
booked a room, and we actually upgraded
them to the suite.” The Cobblestone team
then put an Easter basket in the room, full
of “fun things” specifically for the daughter.
“And they left us the sweetest note out
there,” Miller said, pointing towards the
front desk. “We meet a lot of neat people.
We really do.”
Other members of Charlestown’s
business community also enjoy creating
comradery and companionship.
In 2007, Shawn Vest, a former employee
of Rich O’s Public House (also
known as Sportstime Pizza) in New Albany,
opened the Charlestown Pizza Company
with his wife, Tajana Johann. Vest,
an 18-year resident of Charlestown and
connoisseur of craft beers and high-quality
pizzas, said there has been a dramatically
positive change in the town within
the past seven of his 10 entrepreneurial
years. “We get more corporate customers.
We get people on their lunch breaks now.”
Vest also attributes the restaurant’s
success to lower operating costs than
those found in larger cities like Louisville.
But another key factor is his and
his team’s interactions with customers.
“It’s definitely more community-oriented
where we’ve known most of our customers,
seven, eight, nine, 10 years,” he said,
smiling. “It’s like Norm from ‘Cheers.’”
Vest added that Charlestown is “a really
nice place to live now, and I think it’s
getting better. When we first moved here,
there wasn’t a lot of excitement about this
part of Clark County at all. Whereas now,
it seems like most of the excitement in
Clark County is east of 265.” •
For historical information about Charlestown,
visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlestown,_Indiana.
The Charlestown Pizza Company, 850 Main Street
Information on the INAAP can be found at
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Army_Ammunition_Plant.
Additional information on the INAAP is at
charlestown-in.com/history
For more on River Ridge Commerce Center’s
top employers, visit riverridgecc.com/siteselection/major-employers
May/June 2017 • 15