Earlier this week, GOPC hosted the Reinvention Cities Network Roundtable in Zanesville to bring together community leaders from small legacy cities from across the state. Hosted quarterly, these roundtables are aimed to provide peer learning opportunities for community leaders, hosted in one of Ohio’s sixteen small legacy cities. The roundtables provide communities with peer learning and networking opportunities, and allow for community leaders to experience revitalization efforts underway in a peer city “hands on.” Each roundtable also offers a new theme aimed at providing legacy cities with tools and resources necessary to complete revitalization in their communities. The theme of this roundtable was JobsOhio, with Diana Rife, Senior Project Manager, joining for an open dialogue as an opportunity for JobsOhio to learn more about legacy cities and the Reinvention Cities Network. Community leaders provided insight into the work underway in their communities.

A presentation by Dana Matz, President of the Zanesville-Muskingum County Chamber of Commerce, and Matt Abbott, Executive Director of the Zanesville Muskingum County Port Authority, provided participants with an in-depth overview of the successful collaborative work underway in the county. Alignment of public and private sector stakeholders has led to significant revitalization efforts in Zanesville’s downtown, arts districts, and housing.

Bringing together small legacy cities for themed peer learning is pillar of the Reinvention Cities Network. As the final quarterly roundtable of 2019, GOPC looks forward to hosting the small legacy cities in 2020 – providing new opportunities for learning and networking.

(Cover photo by Thesteeleisreal)