Richland Source has launched a year-long project titled Rising from Rust, detailing the community's turn from its manufacturing past to its job market of the future.
How We Got Here
The abandoned, multi-story eyesores in Mansfield were once bustling factories that provided thousands of jobs and the area’s now dwindling population was instead on the rise.
Building a Brand
As Mansfield leaders begin their planning process to create a downtown brand, Richland Source highlighted what other communities have done, the problems they encountered and the success they've found.
Creating Beauty
A campaign for more public art in Mansfield, led by Luke Beekman of Mankind Murals, is gaining traction thanks to evidence that public art can improve walkability and deter vandalism, which in turn can help boost the local economy and put Mansfield on the path to revitalization.
For nearly four decades, Doug Versaw has worked to make Mansfield beautiful, but last spring, he decided to “take things up a notch.” Versaw and others from the Richland Community Development Group’s beautification sector signed Mansfield up for the America in Bloom program, which has helped places like Logan and Gallipolis, Ohio to brighten up their downtowns and neighborhoods.
Battling Blight
This three-part series within the "Rising from Rust" project looks at how the Richland County Land Bank and other Ohio-based land banks are addressing blight and beautifying their communities.
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Mount Vernon’s Ariel-Foundation Park is a source of great pride for the city because of its strong sense of place, which is rooted in the site’s industrial past. Perhaps equally remarkable is the way the part came to be, through a partnership between the city, a land conservancy group and private donors.
Building Civic Infrastructure & Making Opportunities
Richland County will hold its first-ever Tech Stars Start Up Weekend Friday, Sept. 28 through Sunday, Sept. 30 at Idea Works, 40 W. Fourth St.
Responding to a labor shortage
Richland Manufacturing Coalition reports there is a gap between the type of jobs available and the workers equipped to fill them, hence the community needs to be preparing high school students to fill local jobs to give the existing local workforce pathways to become the skilled employees that local employers need.
Case Study: How Mansfield compares to Hamilton, Ohio
CityLab Detroit: How Detroit & other cities approach revitalization
Listening to Students
About 40 Richland area high school students and similarly-aged students from across the country met and engaged in conversations about their communities Wednesday at the Richland Source’s headquarters, Idea Works for a half-day program called Student Intersections, presented by the Richland Source and Interlocal.
Mansfield Rising Plan: Idea by Idea
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