Economic Development 411

November 24, 2014

What information do you need as a civic or business leader to appropriately advocate for and participate in your community? What challenges does our region face now that it did not five years ago? What opportunities do we have to grow our economy, and how do we continue to compete globally?

Next week, the Mid-Ohio Development Exchange (MODE), Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) and One Columbus host the third annual Economic Development 411, a half-day summit to help leaders throughout the Columbus Region gain a greater understanding of economic development. Each year new topics are covered, but the overall focus remains on how we ensure that the Columbus Region remains competitive in a global market.

This year, Bill Fruth will provide the morning keynote address. Bill’s experience in helping communities throughout the nation, and his skill at making the complexity of economic development simple to understand will help to set the stage for the day. We’ll then hold breakout sessions led by great local presenters on a host of topics. We’ll also be joined by Dr. David Kolzow who will travel in from Tennessee, where he helps inform newly elected leaders about the basics of economic development. Dr. Kolzow brings decades of experience that have proved to be invaluable to hundreds of communities across the world.

During lunch, One Columbus investors will join ED411 attendees for the final One Columbus Investor Update of 2014. We’ll hear from Dr. Jeffrey Wadsworth, President and CEO of Battelle, one of the Columbus Region’s finest institutions. Battelle is the world’s largest nonprofit R&D organization, and one of the Columbus Region’s leaders in manufacturing and innovation. Dr. Wadsworth will present about challenges and opportunities in the global marketplace, and his unique insight into our nation’s laboratories and worldwide technology trends is sure to inspire and challenge the audience.

We hope you can attend this important annual forum on the state of economic development in the Columbus Region. We believe that the agenda will educate and the dialogue will invigorate. Together, we will continue to move Columbus Region forward.

Kenny McDonald

One Columbus Update

  • The One Columbus team wishes you a very happy Thanksgiving. Good luck to the Ohio State Buckeyes – let’s beat that team up north!
  • Congratulations to the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, The Ohio State University and all who were involved in bringing the NCAA 2018 Women’s Final Four to Columbus.
  • Our thoughts are with the family of Southgate Corp. founder Jack O’Neill, who passed away at age 91 last Sunday. Jack began developing housing in Licking County for WWII veterans in the 1950s, and later focused on retail and industrial park development. He also helped establish NAIOP, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. We honor Jack for his legacy of leadership and his dedication to the Columbus Region.