Community Development
The Chamber of Commerce often partners with other local community and business-based organizations to work on initiatives that are important to the area. A few of these efforts are highlighted below.
College Access/GEAR-UP
Workforce Development is one avenue in which we focus our attention. Several years ago, the Chamber decided it was necessary to establish a College Access Program to assist our community in achieving and increasing post-secondary education and to address our businesses workforce development needs.
Since the program’s inception, the College Access/GEAR-UP program has offered assistance to 20,924 individuals through individual and group sessions, workshops, classroom presentations, and programs related to education beyond high school.
To date, there have been 124 Last Dollar Scholarship recipients to total $62,000. Additionally, each small school participating in the College Access/GEAR-UP program has seen a marked increase in the number of students taking the ACT and post-secondary enrollment.
Downtown Lima Corridor Project
The Chamber has invested $5,000 in supporting the Downtown Lima Corridor Project. The corridor project will encourage activities improving “first impressions” of the city, promoting selected land uses that enhance the visual appeal of sights and designations along the most heavily traveled routes into the city.
Common Threads - Allen 2020
The Chamber has partnered with the Common Threads Community Development Team to work toward building a focused community vision for Lima/ Allen County. Through this collaboration, 10 taskforce teams were organized and over the following five years, a community vision was created. This effort was citizen-driven and then present to local officials, business owners and community.
The following listed suggestions are currently being addresses/implemented:
- To practice collaboration, partnership and inclusion
- Increase communication among public, private and civic groups and citizens
- Enhance the use of technology among government groups and also among community sectors
- Eliminate duplicate agencies by establishing county consortiums
- Provide public education and awareness opportunities to engage citizens and foster informed decision-making
- ...an additional detailed community vision report has been develop and is being used as an outline to carry-out the vision of the Lima/Allen County community.
LCI Task Force:
The Lima Correctional Institute’s Task Force was developed through a partnership between the Chamber, the City of Lima, Allen County Commissioners, Allen Economic Development Group and other state elected offices, union representatives and local business leaders. The Task Force worked collaboratively with the State of Ohio, state legislators and the Department of Corrections to develop a feasibility study focused on the impact of re-using or re-opening LCI. The recommendation to the Governor was to recognize the economic impact the facility had on the community upon its closing. LCI will in turn become one of the first facilities to re-open when the need arises to expand upon existing dormitory style prison facilities within the region.
Community Branding:
The Chamber of Commerce worked side-by-side with several organizations, business leaders and City Officials, along with North Star Destinations to develop a cohesive, community brand. The branding effort will in turn help to unify our region and make Lima/Allen County a sought-after destination for work and play.
The theme of Real American Strength was developed after countless hours, meetings, surveys, and community polls. This theme notes that we are more than a city or county, we are a place that is more than the simple sum of all it’s people and places. It personifies our Midwestern work ethic and values as well as our productivity, culture and quality of life. The community brand is now visible throughout the county on billboards, buses and in local businesses as many have pledged to adopt the brand and incorporate it into their existing marketing materials.
Walter C. Potts Entrepreneur Center
The Chamber focuses on identifying and advancing opportunities to support economic development of small and minority business. As a part of this focus there became a need for collaboration with Rhodes State College Small Business Development Center, Diversified Management, the City of Lima, Allen County Commissioners, AEDG, educational institutions and business leaders, to develop the Walter C. Potts Entrepreneur Center.
The Center’s mission is to provide education necessary to support and sustain a small and/or minority business; enabling the community to create jobs, provide economic stability and enhance quality of life by encouraging small and minority business to stay, invest, and participate in the Lima/Allen County community.
As of May 2010 the Center has served approximately 60 individuals with some beginning to start up their businesses
Center for Business Services
One of the Chamber’s primary goals was to secure a facility, in collaboration with the Allen Economic Development Group, Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, Downtown Lima, Inc and Allen Lima Leadership which would fully meet the current and future needs of each organization. After seeking input of all partners, the Chamber Foundation purchased the historic Schnorf and Wagner buildings adjacent/connected to the Veterans’ Memorial Civic and Convention Center.
The collective agencies believed it best suited the various organizations to remain under one roof. This arrangement benefits all the organizations and will create a “one stop shop” Center for Business Services for the community.
Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)
The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process reviewed every military installation in the U.S. for potential closure or consolidation, with a goal of 25% fewer military installations. In order to address this issue, our community formed Task Force L.I.M.A. (Linked in Mutual Alliance) to act as the advocate for the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center’s (JSMC) long-term future. As the only manufacturer of heavy main battle systems, the JSMC was critical to the Department of Defense's mission for meeting current and future needs.
Our goal was not only to retain the current 700+ jobs currently at the plant, but also to generate the format for the creation of many more jobs. Vendor records showed that many suppliers to the “tank plant” were also located in our community. The taskforce felt that everyone needed to pull together as a region to ensure that these jobs and companies remain secure for NW Ohio.
The General Dynamics Land Systems Division, Joint Manufacturing Systems Center was approved to remain open and since that time has increased in productivity and employment for our community.
458 Regional Postal Task Force:
The Lima Mail Processing Center processed over 386 million pieces of mail in 2009, ranking #1 out of the 268 centers operated by the U.S. Post Office. In 2009 our community was faced with the possibility of this processing center being closed, eliminating over 100 jobs in our community, delaying mail service and making it more costly for local businesses utilizing postal services.
In an effort to preserve Lima’s processing center, the Chamber along with several other business leaders, government officials and private citizens formed a task force to conduct a study highlighting the detrimental effects closing this facility would have on our community as well as the surrounding 8 county area utilizing the processing center. Ultimately the U.S. Postal Service consolidated the Lima Mail Processing Center with the Toledo center and the Lima center will be closed in 2010/