OhioMeansJobs -- Crawford County Does, Too

Q: “What do you think is the greatest challenge Crawford County currently faces?”
A: “Jobs!”

This question and answer set is a direct snippet from Crawford: 20/20 Vision’s Facebook wall. The group was created a mere week ago and has already gained over 100 members – and counting.

The concise answer shown above was contributed by group member Gary Hess, and it seems to be a shared sentiment. In a Facebook wall post asking college students and young professionals if they plan on returning to Crawford County to live and work, another group member named Ashley Cook replied, “No way. There are no good jobs in Crawford County.”

At the past seven Crawford: 20/20 Vision community meetings, employment has been a recurring theme and a major point of concern for many. On May 17, over 70 percent of people in attendance said business success and job availability is the most important issue the county is facing.

This concern is not unwarranted. The facts provided by Crawford: 20/20 Vision show that employment is declining: overall private sector jobs were down 9.1 % from 2001 to 2006, pre-recession, and manufacturing employment is down 26% in the last decade, which is more job loss than surrounding counties are experiencing.

There is no quick solution, but there is hope. In response to Cook’s aforementioned comment about why she would not return to Crawford County, fellow member Scott M. Sanders said, “There are some. You need talent and diligence to get them.”

Jobs do exist in Crawford County and surrounding areas.

OhioMeansJobs.com is a resource provided by Ohio.gov which allows job seekers and employers alike to communicate about employment opportunities. When the geographical area within 25 miles of Bucyrus (Crawford’s county seat) is searched on OhioMeansJobs, nearly 1,800 job openings are listed. Salaries for the openings span between $20,000 and $100,000 or higher and more detailed information is available to anyone who accesses the site.

A multitude of industries are represented in the hundreds of listings of job availability including health care, landscaping, engineering, hospitality, management, retail, sales, advertising and construction – to name a few. The job titles and salaries may vary, but undoubtedly, opportunities such as these can contribute to a significant change in Crawford County’s economy and overall quality of life.

As community members discussed at the Crawford: 20/20 Vision meetings, there is a wealth of skills and resources in Crawford County. Of course, attracting new industry and talent is a primary focus for the betterment of the county, but retaining the current industry and fostering the talent that dwells within the limits of Crawford’s county lines is equally important.

For current college students and young professionals who may be unsure about whether they plan on returning to Crawford County or not, seeming inadequacies may also be unchartered opportunities. What Crawford County lacks in terms of business for some is success waiting to happen for others. More on that next time…

The Current Vision of Crawford County

The challenges Crawford County faces are significant: unemployment, lack of educational attainment beyond high school, workforce skill needs, decreasing population, a remaining aging population, duplication of services causing inefficiencies in government and social services agencies and a rising use and demand of public assistance.

Crawford: 20/20 Vision has been established to determine specific challenges within the realms of the aforementioned topics, to form strategic solutions based on community input and to ultimately implement an unprecedented plan to take action to improve Crawford County.

So, to target where we must go from here, we must look at where we are ... right?

Here are the facts:
· According to the Ohio Department of Development, Crawford County is a distressed county
· Population is down six percent since 2000 – young people are leaving, and population is aging
· Manufacturing employment is down 26 percent in the last decade – it’s 36 percent of local economy and 44 percent of all county payroll
· Only 10 percent of people in Crawford County have attained a bachelor’s degree or higher, while 66 percent have attained a high school diploma or below
· Seventeen percent of Crawford County’s population is on food stamps
· Nearly 20 percent of people under 18 are at the poverty level in Crawford County

The facts may be daunting, but the future doesn't have to be. You can help shape Crawford County into a place with more business opportunities, more public safety, more government efficiency, higher educational attainment and a better quality of life by participating in the Crawford: 20/20 Vision initiative. As Mohandas Gandhi said, “be the change you want to see in the world.”

Crawford: 20/20 Vision Sharpens Focus with Help of Community Members

NEWS RELEASE

If you could rebuild Crawford County from ground-up, what would you want it to look like?

This burning question was raised by Janet Pry, director of the Bucyrus Area Community Foundation and member of the Crawford: 20/20 Vision Visioning Committee at the May 17 and 18 community meetings held at the Crawford County Fairgrounds and the William Crawford Intermediate School, respectively.

Crawford: 20/20 Vision’s objectives:
· Explore “where we are now”
· Identify challenges and determine “where we want to be” in the next two, five and 10 years
· Map “how we get there” and collaborate as a unit to build effective solutions
· Establish “who must do what” and take action through implementation
· Improve Crawford County as a whole

Before any action is taken or any improvements become tangible, the Visioning Committee and hired consultants Christopher Spence and Barbara Endel, Ph.D. are reaching out to community members and leaders for input, challenge identification and solution building through community meetings – seven have been held to date.

During the most recent May 17 and 18 meetings, facts were presented about the state of Crawford County’s economic climate, discussions were held and community members were able to provide input to a series of questions with instant results via Turning Point clicker technology. Spence and Endel said results have been relatively consistent among community members throughout the course of the meetings.

After the information, discussion and polling, community members were invited to participate in breakout sessions facilitated by Visioning Committee members and the consultants. The sessions focused on issues such as employment and business development, public safety, quality of life, leadership collaboration and more.

Breakout session groups were asked to identify challenges within the aforementioned topics, as well as potential solutions to the problems. Following these discussions, facilitators presented each group’s list of challenges and solutions to the rest of those in attendance. Discussion followed.

Only one community meeting remains before the initiative moves forward to the next stage of development. The final community meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on June 16 at Wynford Schools.

For more information on the initiative, contact the Crawford County Economic Development Partnership at 419-563-1809 or the Crawford Regional Planning Commission at 419-562-8566. Visit the Web site: http://www.crawford2020.com/.

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The Crawford: 20/20 Vision initiative is an unprecedented effort to bring together the people of Crawford County to take charge of challenges and turn them around. The initiative will develop and implement a Crawford Vision that will guide the county for the next decade