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Webinar: Using Statistics to Show Your Economic Impact

Wednesday, April 24th – 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Monthly reporting and gathering statistics are two of the least exciting parts of any downtown managers’ job, but what if you could use those numbers to show the value of your work, and the economic impact your local program is generating for your community?

Lorna Swisher and Matt Wiederhold, two former Ohio Main Street directors, will walk you through the process of completing monthly reports, and then share a reinvestment template as a tool to support funding requests, illustrate the local and regional impact your program is generating, and help you document in black and white how your downtown development initiatives are a vibrant economic development machine for your community. 

About Our Presenters

Photo of Lorna SwisherLorna Swisher joined Heritage Ohio’s staff in October 2023, having previously served as the Director of Mainstreet Piqua for 26 years. With a background in broadcasting and public relations, she describes herself as a nonprofit ‘wonk’, emphasizing the importance of organizational infrastructure for effective operation. Lorna served on the Hotel/Library Legacy Alliance, which successfully restored the Fort Piqua Plaza in downtown Piqua. This $22 million project revitalized a deteriorating hotel into a vibrant community asset housing the Piqua Public Library, a banquet facility, and restaurants. Under her leadership, the Main Street program in Piqua received national accreditation from Main Street America/National Trust for Historic Preservation each year. In her current role as Assistant Director of Revitalization, Lorna supports Heritage Ohio’s Main Street programs.

Photo of Matt Wiederhold

Matt Wiederhold joined Heritage Ohio in May 2022 as its executive director. Matt began his career in historic preservation and community development in 2001, with an Urban Main Street Program in Uptown, Toledo, Ohio, as part of a pilot project with LISC and the National Main Street Center. In 2003, he accepted a position on the west side of Cleveland with the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, and guided the rehabilitation of numerous historic storefronts, recruited small businesses to fill the storefronts, and eventually became the project manager for the initial development of the Gordon Square Arts District, including the renovation of the Capitol Theatre. In 2008, Matt became the first executive director of Main Street Medina, and have spent most of the past 15 years working in that community, guiding the development of their historic district, and working to make Medina a notable, historic destination. Matt is a graduate of the University of Toledo with a degree in art history, having focused on American art and architecture, 1860-1940.

Transform Your Downtown with Local Entrepreneurs & Local Ordinances Workshop

Downtown Development, Tradition, and Change!

Photo of building owners Matt Long & Chad Boreman.

Matt Long and Chad Boreman, owners of the Quinby Building (1897), new home to Ace Hardware in downtown Wooster.

Downtown Wooster has been reinvesting and revitalizing its downtown for 34 years. A true public/private partnership, more than $215 million of reinvestment and revitalization has occurred since the inception of the Main Street program, beginning in 1987.

In 2015, two former Main Street Wooster board members and subsequent chairs, Matt Long, a local attorney, and Chad Boreman, a local financial planner, formed CBML, Ltd., to acquire and add other community properties.

2018 brought a change for the Quinby Building (1897), a four-story, 26,000 sq. ft. building located on Wooster’s Public Square. Originally occupied as the William Annat Co. Department Store until the 1990’s, the building was most recently the company outlet store for the Newell/Everything Rubbermaid Store.

When the property was listed for sale in 2018, Boreman and Long, generational members of the community (Chad, five and four generations, Matt, three and seven) decided to purchase the building to preserve the “status quo” of the building, keeping the Everything Rubbermaid Store in place, and maintaining Wooster ownership. Long stated, “it was too important of a building to leave to chance”.

Due to the pandemic and revitalization of the 1993 streetscape construction on the Public Square, Newell/Rubbermaid decided to close the large facility in August, 2021 leaving a potential and significant vacancy for downtown Wooster. Long and Boreman made plans to lease “pop-up” stores in the first­floor retail space (7,500 sq. ft.) while seeking to recruit a long-term tenet; however, early in the planning process, they were approached by Wooster-based E&H Hardware Group, LLC regarding a long-term lease of the entire Quinby Building (1897).

Enter Christopher Buehler and Rich Fishburn, fourth generation, great-grandsons, of Ed and Helen Buehler, who began the Buehler’s grocery chain in 1929 in New Philadelphia, then moving to Wooster where they opened a store in downtown Wooster. Adding stores throughout Ohio, the business is now 92 years young! A hardware company was added, not as a separate company, in 1959, as part of the Orrville, Ohio store.

E&H Hardware group was formed in 2011 as a separate entity from the Buehler’s Fresh Foods grocery chain, opening 25 Ace Hardware stores throughout Ohio. Both Buehler and Fishburn wanted to have a store in their Wooster hometown for years but could not find a space that filled their needs. With Newell announcing the closing of the Everything Rubbermaid Store, Rich went to Christopher and said, “This is it! A perfect building for what we want to do!” The partners envisioned the building as their “flagship store”, a destination for local, regional and tourism customers.

Photo of Christopher Buehler & Rich Fishburn looking at Quinby Building

Christopher Buehler & Rich Fishburn looking at uncovered column in the Quinby Building

The E&H partners contacted Long and Boreman and, within a month, executed a lease and created a new partnership to bring a large, new business to the existing downtown retail businesses. (The current hardware store, Tignor’s Hometown Hardware, was purchased by the E&H group: the employees will be a part of the Ace Hardware store when it opens in March, 2022.)

Long and Boreman will have the exterior of the building painted and the Ace Hardware interior will house three floors of hardware, with additional lifestyle- living merchandise including outdoor living, home goods, a dedicated contractor area, The Nook, “a store within a store”, and a plumbing and handyman business. The fourth floor will be the corporate offices of the E&H Hardware Group.

“We want this store to be an anchor for downtown Wooster, we want it to evolve all the time, we want it to complement the downtown and participate in activities with all of the downtown businesses. We will be a “test store” for new and upscale branding of products, introducing new hardware and living products to the customer, yet continuing to offer the products that are “tried and true”, stated Buehler and Fishburn. Boreman and Long said, “This is a “perfect storm”; a traditional business in a traditional downtown, with community development supporting the “sense of place” that is downtown Wooster, Ohio!”

By Sandra C. Hull

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2021 issue of Revitalize Ohio. All rights reserved.

Growing your Local Economy to Last, Even When Nothing Stays the Same Webinar

Wednesday, April 28th – 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

The world around our communities is changing fast and deep, so it’s no wonder many of our longtime programs don’t seem to help anymore. Let’s talk about what the future looks like, and how we can best position the places we care about to thrive in this sea change. Get ready to think big and connect those big thoughts to the issues you care about most.

Speaker

Della Rucker has been working on practical systems to build healthy local economies in the emerging era for more than 20 years. Della has designed systems for accelerating economic revitalization, growing healthy small businesses, fostering intelligent land use and creating inclusive public engagement.  Della is one of fewer than 10 persons in the US to hold the industry-standard professional certifications in both planning (AICP) and economic development (CEcD).


In addition to the Wise Economy Workshop platform, Della is the co-founder of Econogy, a groundbreaking company that accelerates innovation in businesses, organizations and communities.  She also serves as an advisor to Trep.House, a virtual superhub for Black and underrepresented business founders, and as a content development partner to the American Independent Business Alliance.  

Prior to Wise Economy, Della served as Managing Editor of Engaging Cities (an online magazine and digest focused on civic technology), and as National Lead for Economic Development for Jacobs Engineering Group.  Della also operated a historic preservation consulting firm and listed several buildings and sites on the National Register of Historic Places.

Della is the author of several books, including The Local Economy Revolution Has Arrived: What’s Changed and How You Can Help, Everybody Innovates Here, and Crowdsourcing Wisdom, as well as over a hundred shorter pieces.    

An energetic speaker known for hands-on sessions that get attendees moving, laughing and thinking, Della has given more than 150 keynotes, workshops and trainings on topics ranging from public engagement to emerging economic trends.  

Della lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, David. Their sons, James and Jonathan, are pursuing college studies in industrial design and biologic systems engineering.

JobsOhio’s Vibrant Community Program Webinar

Tuesday, October 6 – 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Join Kristi Tanner from JobsOhio as she introduces their new Vibrant Communities Program!

Kristi Tanner leads automotive business development efforts in Ohio and holds various roles within JobsOhio, including leadership in marketing, revitalization and organizational operations.

Kristi is certified as an economic development finance professional through the National Development Council and served several years as a member of Ohio’s Development Finance Advisory Council. Prior to JobsOhio, Kristi was an assistant director and chief operating officer for the Ohio Department of Development. She graduated from Morehead State University in Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in communication and marketing.

Kristi has led economic development efforts at the local, regional and state levels, including establishing the governor’s first regional economic development office in Southern Ohio. In fact, she was instrumental in the transition and startup of JobsOhio.

Federal Qualified Opportunity Zones Webinar

Wednesday, February 6th – 1:00 pm-2:00 pm

As part of 2017 federal tax reform, Congress created new tax benefits for certain investments in low-income communities designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones.  During 2018 Ohio designated 320 Opportunity Zones, the maximum allowed.

This webinar will provide an overview of the technical aspects of the program. Suggested strategies will be offered for using the QOZ program in mid-western cities and how you can combine QOZ investments with other economic incentives.

 

Speakers:

Kelly Bissinger

Kelly is a partner in the Vorys Washington, D.C. office and a member of the finance, energy and real estate group. Her practice is focused on real estate and tax matters. Kelly represents clients from all perspectives of the acquisition, financing, ownership, development and sale of office buildings, apartment projects, mixed-use and other commercial properties. In particular, she has experience representing both institutional and developer clients in connection with structuring and negotiating real estate joint ventures with an emphasis on the tax planning aspects of such transactions.

In addition, Kelly has extensive experience advising developers, syndicators and investors on low-income housing, historic, new market and energy tax credits matters, including legislative and regulatory developments, originations, secondary market acquisitions and dispositions, end of compliance period planning and workouts.In 2013, Kelly was named one of Real Estate Bisnow’s (D.C.) 35 Under 35: Rising Stars in Commercial Real Estate. Kelly received her LL.M. with distinction in taxation and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She received her B.A. cum laude from Tulane University. Prior to joining Vorys, Kelly was an attorney with Goulston & Storrs P.C. and Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP.

Avram Fecher

Before co-founding EquityPlus, Mr. Fechter worked for the District Government underwriting and closing over $400 million in LIHTC and NMTC financed projects while deploying $3 million of 9% LIHTC Allocation and $80 million of District Government loans. Mr. Fechter has closed over $800 million in NMTC/HTC/LIHTC financing and has served as an NMTC Allocation Application reader for the CDFI Fund. Mr. Fechter has a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Rutgers University. He lives in Aldie, Virginia with his wife, Linnea, and two children, Alana and Evan.

Joseph Mann

Joseph is a partner in the Vorys Columbus office, a member of the tax group and the head of the federal tax subgroup. He practices generally in the area of federal taxation, including public and private mergers, tax-free and taxable acquisitions and divestitures, partnerships, limited liability companies, S corporations, joint ventures, venture capital, real estate, restructurings, financing and equity transactions. Joseph advises in transactions involving federal New Markets Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits. Joseph’s federal practice also includes tax aspects of the oil and gas industry, including divestitures and joint ventures relating to interests in the Utica Shale formation in eastern Ohio.

This webinar is a benefit of Heritage Ohio membership, to become a member click HERE 

Heritage Ohio Members, register for the webinar click HERE 

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Using Utility Project Funding to Improve More Than the Just the Pipes Webinar

Wednesday, January 9th –  1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

How the City of Newark leveraged a sewer separation project to revitalize their downtown. Faced with US EPA mandates to separate its combined sewer system and wanting to improve the look and feel of the historic Downtown square, the City of Newark was able to put together financing to not only improve failing infrastructure but revitalize the square as well.

Speaker: Roger Loomis

Water Administrator City of Newark, Division of Water and Wastewater
Total of 41 years of experience at various water and wastewater facilities working in all facets of the water and wastewater utility business. B.S. Business Administration, Human Resources from The Ohio State University, A.A.S. Turfgrass Management from Agricultural Technical Institute of Wooster, Class III Water Supply Certification, and Class IV Wastewater Treatment Certification.

This webinar is a benefit of Heritage Ohio membership, to become a member click HERE 

Heritage Ohio Members, register for the webinar click HERE 

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Revitalize Ohio Summer 2018

Revitalizing America’s Smaller Legacy Cities: Tools for Local Leaders Webinar

Wednesday, June 20th –  1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Smaller legacy cities – older industrial communities with about 30,000 to 200,000 residents – are undergoing significant transformations as they adapt to twenty-first-century economic realities.  Revitalizing America’s Smaller Legacy Cities, a report from Greater Ohio Policy Center and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, documents the unique challenges and opportunities facing these communities as they seek to revitalize and thrive. Eight strategies for small city urban revitalization emerged from that report, and this toolkit is meant to provide additional resources to practitioners working on the ground to implement them.
This webinar will prove useful for individuals in community organizations, local government, community lending, philanthropy or anyone else who is interested in urban revitalization in small legacy cities.

SpeakerJohn Collier

Manager of Research, Greater Ohio Policy Center
As Manager of Research for the Greater Ohio Policy Center, John provides support on research projects, contributes to policy development, and works with partners statewide. Since joining GOPC in 2016, John has provided data-driven research on a variety of GOPC’s core issues areas including brownfields, housing, and urban revitalization in small legacy cities. John is an Ohio native, born and raised in Toledo and a graduate of The Ohio State University where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in City and Regional Planning.

This webinar is a benefit of Heritage Ohio membership, to become a member click HERE 

Heritage Ohio Members, register for the webinar click HERE 

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