Economic Recovery in Southwest Ohio’s Clinton County

Clinton County RPC wins the APA Award

Guest post by Christian Schock, Executive Director of Clinton County Regional Planning Commission

Like much of Ohio and the nation, an economic recovery has been ongoing in Clinton County and Wilmington in southwest Ohio. This is especially poignant locally, following the dramatic economic disaster of DHL’s departure from the Wilmington Air Park in 2008. While there have been many successes locally in job creation, corporate attraction and expansion of businesses at the Air Park, another key story has also been the re-appreciation of local businesses and revaluing of local assets following the disaster, and has led to new community and economic development policies and programs in Clinton County.

Last year, the Clinton County Regional Planning Commission and our non-profit arm Energize Clinton County won a National Planning Achievement Award from the American Planning Association for these policies and programs rooted in a five-part strategy focused on: local business, local food, energy, young professionals, and community visioning. Each of these areas were highlighted as observed local leakages in the economic system at the time of disaster, and by developing pragmatic programs focused on these issues, we were able to address both short-term and long-term development needs of the community.

Last month we presented on our award-winning strategy and programs at the Arizona Rural Development Council’s annual meeting—also a statewide organization—whose mission is to advocate for economic development and issues in rural areas in that state. The conference highlighted the importance of understanding and supporting broad localism within community and economic development strategies—whether in locally made products or locally-owned businesses or through locally engaged community plans and programs. The theme of the conference tied closely to our story, which has been one of resiliency and recovery, and also highlighted our cautionary tale of the need for economic diversity and for communities to better understand and identify trending economic vulnerability, and the need for a greater focus on the value of local assets.

In an article in the International Economic Development Council’s journal earlier this year, we highlighted that a strong localism strategy—proactively addressing key leaks within the economic system as we have attempted to do in Clinton County—could be a key component to economic disaster preparedness planning. In the field of natural disaster response, there are many steps toward understanding vulnerability and there are well-accepted best practices for delineating risk such as the 100 year flood line. But within economic development there is dangerously little consensus about what constitutes vulnerability to an economic disaster and what factors should be risk benchmarked.

Greater Ohio has led on this topic, especially in legacy cities, and it is perhaps especially true in rural areas where the economy may be more reliant on only a few key areas of industry. Resilient communities must be ones that plan for potential disasters, understand and define risk vulnerability, and those that develop diverse, multifaceted programs to address that vulnerability from both a top-down and bottom-up approach.

In addition to the existing programs, the pipeline of program and idea innovation is important if we believe that economic risk is an evolving and changing vulnerability that brings new threats and opportunities regularly, so it is critical that communities continually look for new innovative and collaborative ways to tackle the observed leaks or highlighted risks. Just recently, with the current programs established, we unveiled a series of new programs including a young professional homesteading we call Wilmington Succeeds. A unique partnership with the Wilmington City Schools, Southern State Community College, Wilmington College and the City of Wilmington, focused on offering incentives for young people to go to school and stay in the community after graduation. We also recently collaborated with Treehouse, a nationally-recognized code training platform company, on an initiative called Reach Clinton County, which focuses on coding training for local residents. These programs have opened yet another front to address the strategy and attack challenges like brain drain and workforce development in ways our community had yet to attempt.

But there is always more to be done. The lesson from the Arizona Rural Development Council and from organizations leading the way like Greater Ohio is that continued collaboration is needed. Whether it is small towns and rural areas, or legacy cities and metropolitan issues, resiliency is rightfully a hot topic of discussion. For economic development to be meaningful and effective there must be a better understanding of vulnerability to economic disaster and a greater appreciation of the value of localism and local strategies.

About The Clinton County Regional Planning Commission:

The Clinton County Regional Planning Commission was created in 1970 and represents Clinton County, City of Wilmington and the Villages of Blanchester, Clarksville, Port William, Midland, Martinsville, New Vienna and Sabina. More information is at www.clintoncountyrpc.org and our Energize Clinton County nonprofit at www.energizecc.com.

YNDC’s New Small Business Loans

By Octavious Singleton, GOPC Intern

The Youngstown Neighborhood and Development Corporation (YNDC) is promoting growth in Youngstown, Ohio by supporting local businesses. The non-profit will grant equipment loans ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to companies whose applications are approved. While any type of business can apply, the criteria they must meet include: 1) the company must be located in the city, 2) the owner must be a resident, and 3) the company must have five or fewer employees. To further narrow the selection of businesses, YNDC will consider whether the owners are low-income individuals, if they are hiring, and the likelihood that the business will prosper in the future.

The loan allows the companies the opportunity to obtain needed equipment for business expansion, which should ultimately generate economic benefits in the city. YNDC is only attaching a 2% interest rate to the loans. The YNDC will also be flexible on the amount of years repayment will take. This approach is set up to ensure small companies benefit from the aid.

Selected companies will be awarded loans in November. The loans will be a pilot program to determine whether YNDC expands its mission into micro-business support. Loan applications are available in YNDC office, at 820 Canfield Road, and by emailing Liberty Merrill at lmerrill@yndc.org.

For more information on this program, visit YNDC’s website.

See also: “YNDC Taking Applications for Small Business Loans” by Josh Medore for The Business Journal

Lessons of a GOPC Intern

A farewell blog post by Raquel Jones, a fantastic GOPC Intern

As a lifetime resident of the capital of Ohio, I have come to learn and appreciate the unique experiences and amenities offered through Ohio’s cities. Over the years, I have witnessed the many transformations that Columbus and many other cities in the state have gone through as they have fought to create new identities while retaining their historic presence.

Although I was young when it first hit, the Great Recession had a severe impact on my neighborhood and the community that I lived in, as it did in many parts of the state. I remember noticing a rise in foreclosures in the houses surrounding mine. Looking around the core of central Ohio’s metropolitan area, I could see the harsher effects of the downturn in the economy in the high number of boarded-up homes. I found this to be extremely disheartening, as I knew that many of these homes had the potential to be beautiful and once again serve a useful purpose, if only they were given the chance.

When I enrolled in the John Glenn High School Internship program through OSU, I knew that I wanted to work with a nonprofit that was working hard in the community to make a difference. When I was given the chance to intern at the Greater Ohio Policy Center, I knew little about land banks and government-sponsored programs, such as Moving Ohio Forward and the Neighborhood Initiative Program. I am now happy to report that I am knowledgeable in both programs, as well as others. Working at the GOPC has not only taught me about the daily functions of an office, but has also informed me on the process of policy formation, and the role that nonprofits play in engaging and interacting with local, regional, and statewide governments in producing outcomes that are favorable to both parties, as well as the constituents to which these policies affect. I have also become educated in a number of nationwide movements including the call for a multi-modal city, a more sustainably secure system of infrastructure, and public spaces that transcend the mundane.

As I noted earlier, I have learned a great deal about the issues surrounding blighted and vacant properties, and the role that city and county land banks perform in revitalizing distressed neighborhoods. Many localities have implemented programs that demolish or remodel affected properties, so that either the land or building may be given a second-life. This may mean that the land is transformed into a community garden or a side-lot for a neighboring property, or redeveloped for some other purpose. Overall, I have learned from my experiences at GOPC the necessities for creating an economically viable and environmentally tenable community for all those involved.

I believe that it is organizations such as Greater Ohio, with the support and leadership of governmental officials and community members that are responsible for the positive changes taking place in the state. I am confident in the work currently being done, and I am happy to have gotten the chance to work alongside GOPC’s staff in their ongoing push for a brighter future for Ohio.

Raquel Jones was a summer intern for GOPC and she has moved to D.C. to attend George Washington University.

The Rise of Concentrated Suburban Poverty in the 21st Century

By Raquel Jones, Intern At the turn of the century, the sum of urban poor greatly outnumbered the sum of suburban residents living beneath the federal poverty line[i]. However, much has changed in the physical location of poverty over the last decade, so much so that it may now be said that suburbs contain nearly as many high-poverty[ii] tracts as cities, and almost half of all of the metro area poor population living in high-poverty tracts live in suburbs. These neighborhoods have the potential to become areas of concentrated poverty in due time, which is why there is a need for them to be closely monitored. Suburbs face an uphill battle in combating this unforeseen problem, as they are ill-equipped and unprepared for this growing issue.

The most challenging aspect of this revision in demographic trends lies in the distribution of poverty, which has been marked by intermittent clusters of poor in the display of distressed neighborhoods[iii]. As documented in the American Community Survey, the concentrated poverty rate (the share of poor residents living in distressed tracts) had jumped from 9.1% in 2000 to 12.2% from 2008-2012.

Impoverished neighborhoods provide residents with fewer opportunities and more hardships, so that locals become entrapped in an endless cycle of poverty, making it near impossible to escape. This, of course, has serious implications on the larger regions encompassing these run-down communities, as it becomes more difficult to promote growth in metropolitan areas when poverty proves to be a consistent issue. In order to more effectively tackle this growing issue, there is a need for more integrated and cross-cutting approaches.

There have, however, been some positive demographic trends in the last decade or so, such as the increase in homeownership rates in higher-poverty tracts and the noticeable decrease in households receiving public assistance. Other demographic changes include a more diverse population living in lower-poverty neighborhoods, although white people continue to constitute a majority. On the other hand, higher-poverty neighborhoods have increasingly become integrated with white people.

According to data released through a recent report, the Toledo Metro Area appears to have the highest percentage of the poor population living in high-poverty and distressed neighborhoods in Ohio. It is ranked 3^rd out of the 100 largest metro areas in the nation for its share of poor living in distressed neighborhoods (poverty rates of 40% or higher).

To search for more statistics on other Ohio metro areas, visit this interactive feature in the Brookings report, "The Growth and Spread of Concentrated Poverty, 2000 to 2008-2012" by Elizabeth Kneebone. [i] In 2012, the federal poverty line was defined as an income of $23,492 for a family of four.

[ii] High-poverty neighborhoods: at least 20% of residents are poor

[iii] Distressed neighborhoods: at least 40% of residents live below the poverty line

The 2014 Candidate’s Forum

By Alison Goebel, Associate Director

On August 22, 2014, the Greater Ohio Policy Center co-hosted the 2014 Candidates’ Forum, sponsored by the Ohio Association of Regional Councils. Focused on transportation, economic development, infrastructure, and regionalism, the forum included remarks and a question-and-answer session with each Gubernatorial campaign and an excellent lunchtime conversation with national panelists.

Candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Sharen Nuehardt, spoke in the morning, emphasizing the commitment she and Candidate Fitzgerald have to support local communities' investments in transportation and infrastructure.

At lunch, the Forum brought together Simon Kennedy, associate partner at McKinsey & Company, the global management consulting firm; Teresa Lynch, principal of MassEconomics, a firm that assists communities in executing regional economic development strategies; Judge-Executive Gary Moore, president of the National Association of Regional Councils, the professional voice for regional planning organizations; and Beth Osborne, vice president at Transportation for America, a research and advocacy organization focused on advancing transportation reforms.

The panelists all emphasized the need to rethink community-making as a critical component for attracting and retaining jobs, businesses, and talent. Updated digital and physical infrastructure, connectivity among modes of transportation, and a strategic focus on what a region does best economically, were themes raised by the panelists. Some time was also spent on the role of congress in preventing strong economic development planning—without a multi-year transportation budget, local governments are unable and unwilling to make the resource-intensive investments that prepare a region for long term economic success and sustainability.

In the afternoon, Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor spoke. Her remarks focused on the transportation, economic development, and infrastructure accomplishments she and the Governor spearheaded in the past four years. She discussed how the approaches developed during their term in office provide templates for future action.

The Forum was well attended by mayors and elected officials, local government staff, regional planners, nonprofit representatives, consultants, Chambers of Commerce and advocates. As this was the first event of its kind this political season, GOPC was proud to co-host such a thoughtful and thought-provoking forum.

GOPC Co-Sponsors 2014 Candidate’s Forum

 

GOPC is co-sponsoring the Ohio Association of Regional Council’s 2014 Candidates' Forum next week on Friday, August 22 at the Hilton Columbus at Easton Town Center.

At the event, the 2014 Gubernatorial Candidates have been invited to share their platforms related to transportation, infrastructure, and economic development to the state’s top political, business, and civic leaders.

A panel of national experts will also be discussing the role of transportation, infrastructure, economic development, and regionalism in preparing Ohio for long-term success.

Click here for more information and to register to attend the Forum.

Leadership in the Queen City: Lessons from Cincinnati

By Alison D. Goebel, Associate Director As part of Leadership Ohio’s Class of 2014, I have been spending one weekend a month in a different Ohio city meeting local leaders and learning about the issues, challenges, and opportunities facing the state.  I have participated in a team-building retreat in Oberlin, learned about state government in Columbus, and explored Ohio’s role in early American history in Marietta (you can read my thoughts on our Marietta trip here).

This month’s Leadership Ohio Class was held in Cincinnati and focused on sustainability and economic development.

I have always had soft spot for the Queen City, but the leaders we met and the projects we saw underway bowled me over.   Some lessons I learned from the weekend:

• Sustainability Conserves Financial Resources: Cincinnati Zoo is the “greenest” zoo in the nation.  While environmental stewardship is a natural interest of the Zoo, their work is also motivated by economics.  The Zoo has experienced a net savings of over $2 million through infrastructure modernizations, such as using pervious pavement and roofs with plants.  Sitting on the top of one of Cincinnati’s many hills, the Zoo now annually diverts over 18 million gallons of water from the city’s wastewater sewers by reducing unnecessary consumption and capturing rain runoff for reuse on the grounds.
• Transportation Options Appeal to All Sorts of Unexpected People: My husband joined me for an extra night in Cincinnati and we stayed across the river in Covington, KY, because all the rooms in downtown Cincinnati had been booked by country western fans attending a large concert at the Great American Ballpark. (An aside: on principle, we always try to keep our sales tax and bed tax dollars in Ohio, but couldn’t this particular night.)  We took a $1 trolley from Covington to Fountain Square in the heart of downtown Cincinnati.  Joining us on the Trolley were several middle aged couples who were clearly tourists and cowboy booted concertgoers who were running late for their show.  Other riders included a few workers who were getting off their restaurant or hotel shifts and a teenager.  Yes, our late night return trip to Kentucky had its share of inebriated yuppies (perhaps the epitome of ‘choice riders’ of public transit), but the Trolley also had more cowboy booted concertgoers whose farming pickup trucks were parked at our hotel.  Given transportation options, people will take them; public transportation is not an either/or choice.
• Cross-Sector Collaboration Produces Quality Places that Attract Outside Investment: There is palpable excitement and energy around the major projects underway in the Queen City, namely the ongoing revitalization of the central business district around Fountain Square, and the rebirth of The Banks, Over the Rhine, and the Uptown neighborhoods.

I met one local leader who now runs a venture capital firm in Cincinnati—he was from Manhattan originally and had been smitten by the city 6 years ago.  Part of his current job is to attract other entrepreneurs and small business owners to locate and stay in Cincinnati.  It sounds like it’s working.

None of the projects underway in Cincinnati—physical or business development—could happen at the scale that they are without significant coordination and collaboration among the private, public, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors.  Cincinnati is still a recovering legacy city and continues to face significant challenges.  But the vision the City has for itself and the steadfast way it is executing this vision demonstrates the outsized gains a community can make when all major institutions are “rowing in the same direction.”

Like many legacy cities, Cincinnati has faced and continues to face serious challenges.  However, my trip to Cincinnati convinced me that the initiatives underway are strengthening the city’s role in restoring prosperity to the region and are significantly contributing to the state’s overall economic future.

Reinventing Mansfield

Concert

Guest post by Jennifer Kime

The revitalization challenges in downtown Mansfield are not unlike those of other mid-sized Legacy Cities where the struggle for right-sizing and redevelopment has been a harsh reality for decades.  While we have watched population, median income and property values plummet; we have only grown stronger in our resilience and commitment to a better future for our community. The process of reinventing our economic strategies here is unique in that it joins together commercial districts and neighborhoods where the programs and projects work together for the mutual benefit of the regional population, of which Mansfield is the urban center.

This community wide approach has allowed us greater flexibility and has enabled us to blossom in our revitalization years ahead of what we thought was possible. Because of our community’s size and lack of economic advantages available to larger cities, we began losing businesses and industry well before it was notable on the national scale. In fact, by the time the mortgage crisis hit, our business and retail environment had already been struggling for years, couple that with the manufacturing loss that we sustained with the closing of our GM plant and the loss of total income and resources to our community was nothing short of devastating. To many, it seemed impossible that we could come back from that loss and transition our economic fabric into a community with a downtown that is not only surviving, but is authentic, lively and thriving.

While the overall approach is multi-tiered, some of that success has been due to intense and relentless marketing and promotions, including entertainment programming aimed at showcasing the restoration of our built environment. The tipping point of community redevelopment is arguably the point at which the general public begins to believe that change is not only possible, but it is happening. The only way to change the stubborn, ingrained negative perceptions that flourish within the population of rust belt communities is to show them first hand. Through a combination of property tours (vacant, for rent, rented), shop hops, neighborhood block parties, car shows, farmers markets and free concerts, we bring thousands of people downtown each month. Those activities have spurred development interest from several new property developers, business owners, employees and mostly, the public, who are now coming to downtown for the first time to shop and dine.

While promotions and place-making are sometimes seen as the feel good neighbors of tax credits and fiscal incentives, their impact is real and tangible. When done correctly and sustainably, they create new businesses, new jobs and they retain the very community fabric that is at stake when the supply and demand of a region are not in our favor. It’s happening right now in Mansfield, Ohio.

For more information on the impact of the programs of Downtown Mansfield, Inc., see these recent news articles:

“Downtown after dark: nightlife thriving” by Chike Erokwu for the Mansfield News Journal on Aug. 3, 2014

“Final Friday Concert Series a raging success, spurs economic growth” by Emily Dech for the Richland Source on July 25, 2014

About the Author:

Jennifer Kime is the Executive Director of Downtown Mansfield, Inc. Currently, Jennifer's main focus areas are in long term planning, preservation based planning, new program and project development and community development for the downtown and near downtown neighborhoods of Mansfield, Ohio.

www.downtownmansfield.com

www.facebook.com/downtownmansfield

GOPC Travels to Youngstown

Yesterday, GOPC's Lavea Brachman and Marianne Eppig traveled to Youngstown to meet with some of the organizations and people working to revitalize the inner city. Since we were last there, things have been consistently improving. People are excited about the downtown. Businesses and institutions are opening their doors in gorgeous historic buildings. A renewed sense of energy and purpose abounds. Here are some of the photos we took along the way, showing a beautiful city:

We look forward to returning to Youngstown soon!

Ohio Attorney General DeWine files lawsuit as part of Operation Mis-Modification

By Alison Goebel, Associate Director On July 23, 2014, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine joined fourteen other state Attorneys general, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in filing lawsuits against “foreclosure relief scammers.” Ohio’s lawsuit, filed against a Chicago Company, is one of forty-one companion lawsuits against a total of nine individuals or companies. The lawsuits are being dubbed “Operation Mis-Modification.”

The Plaintiffs allege these companies misrepresented their services or failed to perform services for consumers who were facing foreclosure and seeking assistance, such as loan modifications. According to the Operation Mis-Modification lawsuits, many of the defendants allegedly took advance payments in excess of allowable limits and/or received payment for services never rendered.

If Ohio’s lawsuit is successful, impact consumers may see restitution and the state may receive penalty fees. For Operation Mis-Modification, Ohio is joined by Attorneys general from Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin.

The Operation Mis-Modification lawsuits are not like current “bank settlements” that are in the works, such as the settlement with Bank of America. The “bank settlements” are expected to include billion-dollar agreements with lending financial institutions. These settlements could benefit consumers, or go directly to states, as did the funding that supported the Moving Ohio Forward program. As more information is released on potential future bank settlements, GOPC will be sure to update its blog and social media channels.