20/20 Vision forms blueprint for the future

It may be an exaggeration to term Crawford County’s demographic situation a death spiral, but our aging population is certainly a concern to economic planners.

“We did a chart back in 2010 and it showed people ages 44 and younger declining, 45 and older increasing. And in 2018 the paths crossed,” said Dave Williamson, director of Crawford County Partnership for Education and Economic Development.

“We’re already in it,” he said of the so-called death spiral, “but it really picks up velocity then.”

Crawford County is hardly alone in contending with a population that isn’t getting any younger. Every one of its neighboring counties is in the same boat. Nor is it the only county worried what this phenomenon means for the local workforce that’s doing something to address it.

But judging from the variety of initiatives Crawford: 20/20 Vision, the CCEEDP’s blueprint for the future, has underway, and the number of inquiries local economic development officials are fielding from other places about that blueprint, the county just may be ahead of the curve.

“We had meetings in 2010, and from those determined the priorities. Each of those areas — public safety and drug abuse, education and workforce preparation, business success and job availability, and quality of life — has an action team leader. Our fifth challenge now is leadership,” Williamson said.

“It’s the closest thing to democracy in a republic you can get, where people have a say about what they want and where people get to participate and make it happen. I’m encouraged. With people that committed, that involved, giving of themselves, almost exclusively as volunteers, we can accomplish anything, we really can.”

Before the formation of the CCEEDP, businesses looking to locate or expand had to make a few calls to find a point person for economic development in Crawford County, and that person might vary depending on the needs of the business.

“I remember a company coming in here and I got up to meet them at the door and said, ‘Can I help you?” And they said, ‘I doubt it. This is a county of quite a bit less than 50,000. Who is your go-to person for economic development?’” said Deb Pinion, executive director of the Bucyrus Area Chamber of Commerce.

“That was before we had Dave, and that smacked me right between the eyes. That’s when we went about setting up the partnership.”

Although the CCEEDP receives some government funding, it’s essentially a private organization, and intends to make its first million dollars last through its first four years.

“Really what we’ve done is stop the downhill in a lot of the areas, and it’s been a lot of work to slow that down and stop it,” Williamson said.

“Food stamp usage has now flattened out and it’s starting to come the other way. It’s a 10-year plan, to 2020, and it’s going to take a whole lot more energy, but there’s going to be a greater sense of reward.”

20/20 Vision has a lot of irons in the fire, from a Supervisor Boot Camp that’s caught on with the local business community in a short amount of time; to working to bring the Crawford Success Center, a satellite of Shelby’s North Central State College, to fruition by the fall, much earlier than initially expected; to a feasibility study on bringing a sport, entertainment and tourism complex to the county; and lots more.

“Something that we’re doing differently than a lot of communities is 20/20 itself, the Vision Plan, convening the whole community together and trying to address all these issues,” said Michelle Failor, CCEEDP communications and administrative coordinator.

“We’ve got teams in place, we’ve got projects in place, and we’re constantly working on reversing those trends of declining population, aging population, high poverty and all that.”

And, it’s worth emphasizing that most of this work is being accomplished through the efforts of volunteers.

“Everybody says, ‘How can I help?’ And we’re supposed to know how they can help, and that’s tough,” Williamson said. “It’s been a lot of hard work trying to get everybody to see the issues, but it is all about the people. That to me is a tremendous asset.”

ill3@nncogannett.com

419-563-9225

Twitter: @ToddHillMNJ