The Ohio State University’s (OSU) City and Regional Planning studio class, in collaboration with the Richland Community Development Group’s (RCDG) Long Range Planning Committee, hosted a luncheon at the OSU Mansfield Campus on Tuesday to present the findings of a joint effort, titled “Growth and Development Goals for Richland County”.
Attendees were given a disc copy of the report, as well as an executive summary.
Bridget McDaniel, Executive Director of RCDG, explained that the findings were the result of a year and a half endeavor, and the completion of the third step in a four step program, as outlined in a previous article.
The OSU City and Regional Planning class consisted of 19 students led by Roxyanne Burrus, Lecturer and Instructor.
John Brown, Chairman of RCDG, welcomed attendees and noted, “This is not an RCDG project. This is a community project.” He went on to say that RCDG hopes to be a catalyst for improvement, as well as the platform for those that wish to work to improve Richland County.
Students Tom Isabella, Kwabena “Koby” Agyekum, and Levi Koehl presented the results to the crowd, highlighting the class’ suggested improvements to the area, as well as the strong and weak points of Richland County.
Agyekum spotlighted the group’s SWOT analysis of the area. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
Strengths included Richland County’s proximity to Cleveland, Columbus, Interstate 71, and U.S. Route 30, as well as attractions such as Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Snow Trails.
“You also have the arts and entertainment district,” added Agyekum, “and rich agricultural land. That’s why you have the name Richland.”
Weaknesses listed included resistance to change and a poor attitude. Addressed later in the question and answer portion of the event, it was explained that the “poor attitude” referred to residents of the towns and villages lacking an overall unity within the county.
Opportunities for the area included positive press, the Downtown Mansfield area, the university district, and land availability, among others.
Threats once again listed the negative attitude and resistance to change, as well as the lack of young professionals and small businesses.
Small business and young professionals, were, in fact, mentioned as ways to bring positive change to the area. With a lack of major employers, small businesses must be encouraged and looked upon to fill the employment gap, as well as serve as community anchors.
Koehl reiterated the importance of the agricultural base for the area, and the need for local Food Hubs, which are a co-op venture allowing small farmers to pool resources and gain access to larger and more lucrative contracts.
Tourism was noted as an excellent opportunity for partnerships between city centers, local businesses, and large attractions such as Snow Trails and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
“If people can be enticed to the city center, obviously there’s the benefit of them spending more money so there’s more economic activity, but it also gives them a chance to see what Richland County, and what the given city, is all about, and hopefully give them the opportunity to move here themselves,” said Koehl.
The results of the study will be passed to students at OSU’s Fisher College of Business. Those students will return with prioritized action items which will then be passed along to existing community development action teams, with new teams to be created as needed.
Attendee Barrett Thomas, Microfinance Administrator for Braintree Business Development Center, said that he enjoyed the presentation and that he felt Richland County has something to offer young professionals. “Someone can be 28 years old and actually make a difference in their community in Mansfield, Lexington, and Shelby. I don’t think you get that opportunity in big cities,” he said.
Shelby Mayor and RCDG Long Range Planning Committee member Marilyn John said this was a much needed study for the county. “As a long range planning group, we looked at median household income, educational attainment, job growth, and population growth.” She noted that Richland County currently falls behind the state of Ohio in some of these categories, and that the goal of the committee is to find ways to turn this around and encourage growth and development.
McDaniel said over 125 people attended and she was very pleased with the turnout. “We had folks from all over the county and from all walks of life represented here. It was great,” she said. “I think it made us all anxious to dive into the report and get to the meat of it. That will be our next step, to study that and get ready for Phase 4, which will happen in the fall.”
