The early part of 2013 proved to be a marked time of focus and engagement in an effort to stimulate interest in the economic viability of Richland County. Richland Community Development Group and State Representative Mark Romanchuk were key players in a collaborated effort to foster growth and development throughout the Richland County business communities.
Reaching out across the county, RCDG’s attention included the communities of Shelby, Mansfield, Ontario and Lexington.
Ohio’s Energy Sector was explored through two calculated events, one held with the intent to gather information on how to best position the county in order to extract the greatest degree of advantages of a largely booming business arena. JobsOhio met with selected business leaders in order to develop a plan to attract business in the area. Educating people in shale play was the focus of the second event that brought 125 local companies to the table.
Two key elements spearheading the growth and development movement were Retention and Expansion and Attraction of New Businesses. The results of these efforts were,assistance with major expansion projects provided to seven promising companies, the pairing of Team NEO and JobsOhio to leverage state incentive packages with the potential of incentives reaching in excess of $1.2 million dollars.
Thirteen projects dedicated to the attraction of new business has sparked interest and in one case enough to prompt an on site visit.
With the projected growth of jobs, an estimated 345 in a three year time frame and capital investment of approximately $65,500,000 the future viability of Richland County is well protected. The partnership of RCDG and concerned members of its communities are looking to cement the future economy into a place of competitive and sustainable growth.