Five to Thrive: Keys to Bucyrus' success

Bucyrus is improving and is beloved by many in the community, but there still are critical issues that must be faced to ensure it can be successful into the future.

Through interviews with community leaders, forums and general knowledge of the area, the Telegraph-Forum identified the five most important challenges facing Bucyrus. The five topics are outlined below and will be individually explained in greater detail throughout 2015.

The point of the project is not to expose what is wrong or bad with Bucyrus, but to identify how the community can meet its challenges to become a more prosperous place. Similar efforts are being done at the Telegraph-Forum's nine sister publications, which hopefully will present the opportunity for each of them to learn solutions from the other.

The list, however, is only a starting point. Feedback from readers is critical to ensure the project focuses on those issues most important to the community. And engagement with the community to discuss the issues is the only way they will improve.

Below are the five topics selected for focus in 2015. They are not listed in order of importance.

• Closing the skills gap

Well-paying jobs require technical skills that people in this community lack. That means hard working individuals are forced to take positions that won't feed a family and local businesses are left struggling to find qualified candidates.

Across Ohio, the state is projected to gain 1.7 million jobs by 2018 through new positions and retirements. Of those jobs, 57 percent will require postsecondary training but just 20.5 percent of Crawford County residents have an associate's degree or higher. In Crawford County, 1,000 people are unemployed and actively seeking work even though there are about 4,000 unfilled positions within a 30-mile drive. Many of them, about 1,300, require a degree.

Helping those people seeking work to be qualified for available jobs is critical to the economic vitality of the area.

• Creating drug-free workplaces

Employers are having a difficult time finding and retaining employees who pass drug tests. Nationally, there was a 5.7 percent increase in positive workplace drug tests in 2013, the first increase Quicken Diagnostics had reported since 2003.

That same year, Crawford County physicians prescribed opiates at a rate of 70.3 doses per resident, higher than the state average of 64.9. In 2013, Crawford-Marion ADAMH provided publicly funded drug treatment to 1,267 people. Most drug abusers work — 70 percent according to the National council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence — and, nationally, cost employers $81 billion each year for a variety of issues from increased medical costs to decreased productivity.

Helping employees get clean not only will benefit their lives, but also help local businesses be more productive and hopefully grow.

• Ensuring Bucyrus is primed for success

Bucyrus bills itself as "the small town in the middle of everywhere." It's only a slogan, even though it's apt for several reasons. The challenge local officials face is getting the word out about the area's strengths. Quick and easy access to U.S. 30, a major east-west thoroughfare across the state, as well as well-maintained state routes that make both central Ohio and the Lake Erie shoreline accessible, assure that area businesses, as well as any prospective companies, can reach their customers quickly.

Bucyrus also has a water supply that's more than ample, averaging a billion gallons at any one time. The city's Crossroads Industrial Center, on the north side of town and adjacent to U.S. 30, is home to several manufacturers and other companies, and has room to grow. However, local manufacturing entities are struggling to match high-skilled, well-paying jobs with local workers who have those skills. Despite this area's strong manufacturing heritage, along with a commitment by local educators to teach those skills that are needed, there is a marked disconnect between the jobs that are available and the local pool of workers.

• Develop the next generation of leaders

In a few years the number of people age 45 and older in Crawford County will surpass those 44 years old and younger, if population trends continue. Community leaders are working to see that doesn't happen, from bringing more recreational amenities here to making the downtowns of Bucyrus and Galion walkable, with shops and restaurants filling the storefronts. Many people who grew up here and remain in the area may know Crawford County as a good place to live and work, but getting the younger generations to stay put, as well as attracting new residents, presents a challenge.

With the unemployment rate here now at just 5.0 percent, major employers may have to cast a net wider than the county line to find workers. Movers and shakers in the community may appreciate the challenges facing the area, but getting the entire community involved and motivated to step up and lead continues to be the ultimate goal. Just as a teacher's success can be measured by when that student no longer needs the teacher's help, local officials are hoping the general public will step up to the plate with ideas of their own.

• Increase education as a priority

Getting families to prioritize education shows up early at Bucyrus City schools, where 28 percent of third graders scored in the two lowest bands on the third-grade reading test last year. This is compared to 19 percent scoring there statewide. This slow start can have a long-lasting effect, as less than 12 percent of Crawford County residents have a bachelor's degree or more compared to 25 percent in Ohio and 29 percent nationally. In fact, among Ohio's 88 counties Crawford County is 10th from the bottom in higher-education attainment, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

One reason for that is the fact that the county has a relatively old population that's getting older, but it doesn't help that the county doesn't have an institution of higher education within its borders. That's due to change in 2016 when the Crawford County Success Center, a satellite of North Central State College in Shelby, opens its doors. "The more you learn, the more you have the opportunity to earn," Dave Williamson, director of the Crawford County Partnership for Education and Economic Development and Crawford: 20/20 Vision, said.

Gannett Ohio reporters Jessie Balmert and Jona Ison contributed to this report.