Last month, more than 30 community and economic development leaders from across Ohio gathered in Bellefontaine for the Greater Ohio Policy Center’s quarterly Reinvention Cities Network (RCN) Roundtable. GOPC hosted the August 19 gathering, with Small Nation serving as the local host and welcoming Network members to the Syndicate in downtown Bellefontaine.
Quarterly Roundtables provide leaders from Ohio’s smaller legacy cities with an opportunity to learn, network, and engage with peers from across the state. Just as importantly, meeting in different RCN communities gives participants an opportunity to see revitalization efforts firsthand and take ideas back to their own communities.
The morning began with one of the most valuable components of each RCN Roundtable: community updates. Participants shared projects, challenges, and successes from their communities, with conversations touching on housing, downtown revitalization, infrastructure, placemaking, economic development, and the resources needed to move projects forward. GOPC also provided an brief overview about state and federal policy updates that impact the work in Ohio’s legacy cities.
The second half of the Roundtable provided an opportunity to hear from local leaders in Bellefontaine. Bellefontaine Mayor David Crissman, Service Safety Director Wes Dodds, Logan County Chamber of Commerce President Ben Vollrath, and Small Nation Founder and CEO Jason Duff shared an overview of the growth underway in Bellefontaine and the partnerships helping make that growth possible. Participants also heard about investments in parks, infrastructure, downtown redevelopment, and other quality-of-life amenities supporting the community’s continued growth.
The Roundtable concluded with one of GOPC’s favorite parts of an in-person RCN gathering: getting out into the community.
The Small Nation team led participants on a walking tour of downtown Bellefontaine, highlighting local businesses, redevelopment projects, placemaking efforts, and active construction in the Historic Opera Block. The tour offered participants a firsthand look at how individual investments in buildings, businesses, and public spaces can build on one another to generate broader downtown momentum.
GOPC thanks Small Nation for serving as our local host, as well as American Structurepoint for providing lunch for the Roundtable.
The Reinvention Cities Network is built around the idea that Ohio’s smaller legacy cities have much to learn from one another. By bringing local leaders together to share ideas, troubleshoot challenges, and see projects in action, RCN Roundtables help communities build relationships and bring new ideas home. That peer learning remains at the heart of the Network and GOPC looks forward to bringing RCN members together again for our next Roundtable.