By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
The Crawford Partnership for Education and Economic Development is working hard to engage the future of the county and part of that plan was unveiled at Tuesday’s Bucyrus City Council meeting.
Erin Stine, community development director for The Partnership, gave a presentation to the council members on the upcoming Community Opportunity, a website that will connect students, businesses, and job seekers.
“Our best and brightest are leaving the county and not coming back,” explained Stine. “A lot of things contribute to that. One of the main reasons, I believe, is because they don’t know what’s here. They don’t know what opportunities are here in our community.”
Stine hoped Community Opportunity, which is based off a similar website in Mercer County called Hometown Opportunity, would bridge that gap. The site would be hyper-local and would connect businesses and job seekers. Stine pointed out that it would also team up with the county high schools to help students realize a path and the potential local opportunities available to them when they graduate from high school or college.
Stine said they have met with all the superintendents in the county and have three of the six schools on board so far.
“This will weave itself into the fabric of our county schools so that we can address some of the internship opportunities that have been lacking in our community. This is a way to highlight just our local businesses,” Stine added. “Not only can we connect with job seekers to the businesses in our communities, but we can highlight the businesses that are already here.”
Stine noted that Mercer County has been able to build four new housing developments thanks in part to the innovative way of putting itself on the map with the website and connecting to former and future students.
“It’s more than just a website – it’s a tool for our community,” Stine said. “It could bring people back. It could maybe change that notion that if you come back or you stay that you’ve somehow settled. That’s not true at all. There’s so many opportunities here.”
Mayor Jeff Reser congratulated Stine and The Partnership on the project.
“The communities that innovate like this and invest in innovation like your organization . . . those are the ones that are going to win,” Reser said.
Stine expected the website to be rolled out by the fall and would return to a city council meeting to give the members an update.
Council passed five pieces of legislation during the meeting, including a resolution opposing the state’s operating budget bill that would see a 1 percent service fee tacked on to municipalities for municipal net profit tax filings. Reser, who presented the resolution to council, said the bill would force cities to lose control over their own tax collection. Council passed the resolution unanimously. It will be sent to State Representative Wesley Goodman and Senator Dave Burke to show the city’s opposition to House Bill 49.
The other pieces of legislation included directing the Service/Safety Director to go out for bids for the fire station repairs, Traffic Control Map changes, and various appropriations. Council also approved transferring 317 S. East St. and 321 W. Warren St. to the county Land Bank. The Land Bank currently possesses an adjacent lot and was looking to combine the properties for a possible development plan.
To avoid the Fourth of July holiday, the council scheduled a special meeting for 6 p.m. on July 6. The joint regular committee meeting will directly follow the council meeting that day.