Media Center

Greater Ohio has established itself as Ohio’s smart growth organization and the leading resource for journalists covering Ohio’s journey to reinvent itself in the post-recession economy. Please contact any of the individuals listed below directly for the latest information and insights on Ohio’s smart growth strategies to restore prosperity.

Lavea BrachmanLavea Brachman, JD, MCP

614.224.0187, ext. 311
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As executive director of Greater Ohio and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Lavea Brachman is an expert resource on the following topics:

  • City planning
  • Vacant property redevelopment
  • Watershed and brownfield redevelopment strategies
  • Neighborhood revitalization efforts

Previously Brachman practiced environmental law in Washington, D.C.; was a partner with a Cambridge, Mass., firm advising Fortune 500 companies on brownfield redevelopment strategies; worked on redevelopment and community involvement strategies for decommissioned Department of Energy sites in the Clinton administration; and served as director of the Delta Institute in Chicago, where she worked with community leaders throughout the Midwest to promote local watershed and brownfield redevelopment projects.

Brachman manages the Restoring Prosperity to Ohio Initiative and ReBuild Ohio, a statewide vacant property redevelopment coalition, and also serves on the National Vacant Property Campaign Advisory Committee.

Gene KrebsGene Krebs

614.224.0187, ext. 310
email »

Gene Krebs has spent his professional career in the public sector. He served three years on the Eaton City School Board, eight years in the Ohio House of Representatives, and four years as Preble County Commissioner. While in the Ohio House, he chaired the Economic Development and Small Business Committee, and served on the Finance and Appropriation Committee and the Farmland Preservation Task Force. He saw ten of his bills and many amendments passed into law.

He is an expert on legislative and policy issues, including:

  • Economic development
  • Farmland preservation
  • Finance
  • Small business
  • Technology

Krebs currently serves on the board of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel and the Ohio Math and Science Coalition. Most recently, he was appointed by Gov. Ted Strickland to serve on Ohio’s 21st Century Transportation Task Force.