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Toledo’s Point Place Business Association Establishes Business Retention & Expansion Initiativ | Ohio Sea Grant

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Toledo’s Point Place Business Association Establishes Business Retention & Expansion Initiativ

12:00 pm, Wed September 25, 2013 –

Toledo, OH The Point Place Business Association, in cooperation with Ohio Sea Grant and the Ohio State University Extension Business Retention & Expansion Program, has announced the establishment of a business retention and expansion initiative in the Toledo neighborhood of Point Place. The group completed a survey of 112 existing businesses about their perceptions, plans, and concerns regarding their operation in the community, to better understand how to keep businesses in the area and help them expand.

“Attraction of new businesses is a highly visible aspect of most economic development programs, but businesses that already exist in a community can account for up to 80% of all new jobs in local employment”? explains Joe Lucente, Ohio Sea Grant Extension Educator and a Program Consultant for OSU Extension’s Business Retention & Expansion Program. “Through this initiative, the business association will be able to improve services, grow existing businesses, and retain and improve quality of life in Point Place.”?

Of the 112 businesses contacted, 41 completed the survey for a response rate of 37%. Retaining these businesses helps to keep 240.5 full-time-equivalent positions in the community. Respondents also expect to create 35-44 new jobs in the near future, meaning the potential addition of up to $29,997 in income tax revenue for the city and up to $1,333,200 in personal income to the metro Toledo economy.

A presentation of the survey results and announcement of the new Business Retention Program in Point Place was attended by more than 50 guests, including Toledo Mayor Mike Bell and Deputy Mayor Paul Syring. The event was held during the Point Place Business Association’s meeting at the Toledo Yacht Club.

 

The Point Place Business Association’s new Business Retention Initiative will focus on developing an economic development plan and vision for the future of Point Place, taking into account some of the excellent qualities the community has to offer businesses, especially the distinctive location on the Maumee River, the easy access to customers, and overall quality of life in the area. Ohio Sea Grant will continue to be involved in the economic development process.

“What we want to do now is keep working with the community to nurture those lines of communication, to help form an economic development plan based on what they found out from the business surveys”? says Lucente.

The Ohio Business Retention & Expansion (BR&E) Program provides the resources, training, and tools to develop the capacity of the community to better understand its economy. In addition to enhanced community capacity to address critical community issues, other outcomes of such community engagement include a streamlined BR&E process that enables local leaders to focus on planning, action and results; a database of local information; and a more robust local economy.

Ohio State University’s Ohio Sea Grant Program is part of NOAA Sea Grant, a network of 33 Sea Grant programs dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources. For more information, visit ohioseagrant.osu.edu.

Contact

Joe Lucente, Assistant Professor and Extension Educator, Ohio Sea Grant & OSU Extension, lucente.6@osu.edu

ARTICLE TITLE: Toledo’s Point Place Business Association Establishes Business Retention & Expansion Initiativ PUBLISHED: 12:00 pm, Wed September 25, 2013 | MODIFIED: 1:12 pm, Tue April 28, 2015
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Christina Dierkes
Outreach Specialist, Ohio Sea Grant College Program

As Ohio Sea Grant’s science writer, Christina covers research, education and outreach projects in the Great Lakes for a wide range of audiences. She also produces online events like the Freshwater Science webinar series and other outreach events, and manages social media for Ohio Sea Grant.