On May 27, in Jackson, Ohio, my staff and I ventured to picturesque Jackson, Ohio, located in the Appalachian foothills, to celebrate the economic development success of another fruitful partnership—Ohio Basic Minerals.

Patrick McDonald, Ohio Basic Minerals CEO, and Jeff Schrader, founder of the original Schrader and Sons Sand and Gravel, spoke to the crowd of local and state dignitaries, Ohio Basic Minerals employees and business partners. Mr. Schrader cut the ribbon to symbolize the grand opening of the newly revitalized and renovated facility, funded by more than $2.45 million from our Finance Fund Capital Corporation (FCAP) and New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC). The event made a splash in the media—read more about Ohio Basic Minerals’ success and exciting new developments

Columbus Dispatch
May 24, 2010
Minerals plant expansion to lead to 30 new jobs

Jackson County Times-Journal
May 25, 2010
Ohio Basic Minerals celebrates expansion

Columbus Business First
May 28, 2010
Finance Fund helps sand, gravel maker expand in southeast Ohio

Jackson County Times-Journal
May 28, 2010
OBM celebrates plant expansion

Finance Fund was able to provide more than $2.45 million from our Finance Fund Capital Corporation (FCAP) and the New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) resources for expansion and new equipment for the sand and gravel facility. This will not only help OBM compete in new markets and increase revenue, but will enable the company to hire new employees and stimulate Jackson’s economy.

This Thursday we’ll proudly join OBM in celebrating the new facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, tours of the facility and special before and after displays. Several local and state dignitaries will be in attendance, in addition to company CEO, president, employees and business partners.

Here’s to Ohio Basic Minerals—another Ohio economic development success story!

On Wed., April 21, we proudly hosted several state legislators, community leaders and Finance Fund project partners at the Capital Club in downtown Columbus. It was an excellent opportunity to share how Finance Fund has positively impacted some of the state’s most distressed communities.

We highlighted four partnership “success stories,” including Ohio Basic Minerals in Jackson; Save-a-Lot grocery store in Columbus; Noble Learning Center in Caldwell; and Miami Valley Child Development Centers (MVCDC) in Dayton. Each project touted key Finance Fund goals – job creation, safe childcare access and neighborhood revitalization.

We shared important information about the New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) program. Last October, we were awarded $50 million in NMTC funding, with $30 million designated specifically for non-metropolitan, rural areas in Ohio. Funding is still available for qualifying projects – we strongly urge those interested to contact us for more information on a possible partnership with us.

We thank our distinguished guests for their presence, and look forward to new partnerships that will lead to more jobs, revitalized communities and safer access to care.

The NMTC program is an important community revitalization tool that has generated significant support from the Obama Administration, which recently proposed authorizing NMTC at $5 billion in 2010 and 2011 (see my recent post for more). Through this program, emerging markets receive the benefit of access to more capital investment, lowered interest rates, lowered risk to lenders, and investment in the community. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Are you part of a distressed community that is in need of development funding? We are now accepting proposals from developers, community lenders and businesses interested in applying for part of $30 million in NMTC loans for rural and non-metropolitan areas. We’d love to hear from you and how we might partner together. Learn more about a few of our NMTC success stories – Save-a-Lot grocery store in Columbus, and Ohio Basic Minerals in Jackson, Ohio. Both utilized NMTC funding to create jobs, expand offerings and revitalize distressed parts of their respective communities. We look forward to seeing how we can assist you in these ways with New Markets Tax Credit funding.

Jennifer Deuber (Director of Communication) and Valerie Heiby (Director of Development) were with me on the trip and in spite (or because) of their best efforts I was re-elected to the Coalition’s board of directors. In addition the board, through some slip-up in procedure, ended up electing me as Treasurer of the board. Though I ran a covertly non-existent campaign that backfired, I am honored to accept this role.

It is an exciting time for CDFIs. They are being identified and recognized as a part of the nation’s financial services industry that has long been a stable and credible provider of community lending. That recognition is resulting in additional resources and confidence as a player in economic recovery of the country. We heard at the Institute that the Obama administration believes that CDFIs have a key role in recovery and ongoing community stability. It is our hope that Congress will come to the same conclusion.

Finance Fund is honored to be part of this group as a trusted state leader and visionary in the realm of early childhood care centers and schools and financial assistance. In addition to myself, the group includes professionals from Miami Valley Child Development Centers, Inc., Ohio Department of Job & Family Services, Federal Reserve Bank, Ohio Office of Budget & Management, the Ohio Department of Education and others.

The workgroup will provide insights and recommendations to Gov. Strickland by the end of this April – in time for consideration in the development of the next biennial budget.

After 23 years serving Ohio’s under-privileged and low-income neighborhoods and communities, we’ve set ourselves apart as a trusted financial intermediary that is considered a state leader and visionary. Since 1987, Finance Fund has invested more than $96 million in housing, economic development, childcare and Head Start projects throughout Ohio, leveraging more than $759.9 million. This investment was accomplished through more than 2,457 awards to community-based organizations throughout the state as part of Finance Fund’s core programs. Partnerships have enabled low-income people access to more than 15,312 units of affordable housing, 8,991 full-time jobs, and 3,033 early care and education spaces (classrooms) for 69,377 children benefiting the lives of more than 116,000 Ohioans.

Recently, we helped fund two child care centers by providing grants and loans for re-construction and overhaul.

Noble Learning Center – Caldwell, Ohio
Availability, cost, safety, quality, and accessibility all added to the frustration of finding the right place – the comforting place to care for Noble County children. Finance Fund provided a grant for planning and for facilities improvement for Noble County’s newest (and only) child care center. The overhaul supported 20 construction jobs and the resulting child care center services 135 children and employs 15. Read more here.

MVCDC Kings Highway Head Start – Kings Highway
The Miami Valley Childhood Development Centers (MVCDC), encompassing Clark, Madison and Montgomery Counties, was in great need to purchase, update and improve their Kings Highway Head Start facility. Finance Fund stepped in with $1.05 million in New Markets Tax Credits funding toward the renovation, and an additional $429,000 federal grant. Today, more than 225 children are enrolled at the MVCDC Kings Highway Head Start, with a capacity of 240 students. Read more here.

Check back here for my updates on Early Childhood Financing Workgroup meetings. I look forward to sharing our progress.

This round of New Markets Tax Credit funding enables us to continue to invest in projects that support Ohio’s distressed communities. These projects help stimulate local economies through capital investment, job creation, and community development. You can read more about some of those projects here and here.

Join me in congratulating our team that has spent endless days and nights working on our NMTC application. Kudos to all of them in this successful effort that will benefit all Ohioans.

The vacant and abandoned properties issue is twofold, including both homes and commercial buildings that have been left unoccupied. Both issues are intertwined and understanding their relationship is vital to the redevelopment of these neighborhoods. People need places to work, but they also need places to live with their families. It’s just as simple as that.

The road to redevelopment of these neighborhoods will be long and challenging, not something Ohio will finish overnight. Some of the first steps simply involve taking care of the security and financial risks associated with abandoned properties, such as crime, garbage waste and lack of tax base. Many cities have wrestled with the challenge of maintaining the upkeep of vacant properties, some cities shifting responsibility to mortgage holders entirely.

Ohio’s cities have launched programs to help aid businesses and homeowners. For example, the city of Cleveland started its Vacant Properties Initiative Fund with loans specifically for commercial property ownership. Some cities have requested outside assistance to improve their vacant properties situation, such as Youngstown, Ohio. The National Vacant Properties Campaign provided a report to Youngstown and Mahoning County regarding ways to improve property ownership. Their findings included involving community-based groups, better enforcement of regulations, developing a regional approach to property banking and cultivating community development. The goal of these initiatives is to encourage businesses to remain in communities, keeping jobs available and the economic infrastructure stable.

At Finance Fund, we have been working in these types of situations for more than twenty years. Although many of our programs help reclaim vacant properties, like the Ironton Close to Home III project, we recently developed a program specifically to help nonprofit, community-based organizations gain site control of vacant and abandoned properties. This program, LandLOC, works by providing a flexible line-of-credit to qualifying organizations enabling site control of vacant or abandoned properties. Activities eligible for financing include legal and acquisition costs as well as expenses associated with the safety, security and stabilization of the property. Interested nonprofits should contact me at 614.221.1114 for more information.

The next time you drive past a vacant property in your community, try to look past the eyesore and envision how it could be transformed into new, productive use. This is one important step in how Ohio’s communities will achieve redevelopment and thriving neighborhoods, by envisioning the future together. 

3hfreig2ta

This is exactly what I thought when I read Mark Ferenchik’s piece in the Columbus Dispatch last Sunday, entitled “Retrofit city’s ‘inner-ring’ areas, planner says.” It points to Columbus’ struggle to redevelop inner ring neighborhoods or newer neighborhoods that are in decline. The article cites June Williamson who is scheduled to speak at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission’s Summit on Sustainability and the Environment at COSI Columbus. As Ferenchik mentions, “Williamson is co-author of the book Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs, which discusses how some communities are redeveloping office parks, malls and housing subdivisions into vital centers for housing, stores, offices and mass transit.” It is an interesting article that provides a glimmer of hope for the renewal of urban communities.

Columbus, along with many other major American cities, has a tremendous opportunity to be a leader moving back to the concepts that made some of our declining neighborhoods vital and vibrant decades ago. The idea of a community made up of villages with access to services, shops, and entertainment is a model that went out of vogue in favor of commercial centers surrounded by high density housing. The idea of moving back to urban design that facilitates real neighborhoods is exciting. Ms. Williamson cites Lakewood, a Denver suburb, which demolished a distressed shopping mall replacing it with a village center, homes, shops and restaurants. In the winter the plaza is turned into a skating rink.

Architects have adapted this design for upscale suburban develops with recreation and community meeting space. The village design is well suited to the renewal of inner city neighborhoods creating opportunity for people to actually meet and know their neighbors. This type of interaction creates social constructs that play on the basic concept that some things are just the way they should be and others need help. Knowing your neighbor is different than just knowing who lives next door. It is my opinion that his is our next great urban challenge. “It is the proper thing to do.”