U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS
2022 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy
Overview of the CEDS
What is the CEDS?
The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) is a strategy-driven plan for regional economic development that is the result of a regionally owned planning process. The CEDS is a cornerstone of programs administered by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) including the Public Works, Economic Adjustment Assistance, Local Technical Assistance Program, and the Short-Term Planning Program. To qualify for EDA investments through these programs, regions must develop and update their CEDS every 5-years.
Why is the CEDS Important?
- Builds on strengths of region and identify gaps in resources, expertise, programs.
- Facilitate regional collaboration, expand supply chains, and grow and support new industry clusters.
- Regions with CEDS in place are more likely to attract federal funds and technical assistance by demonstrating resources are used efficiently and effectively.
- Increase resiliency and better position the region to plan for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters and economic shocks.
- CEDS can serve as a call to action and an engagement platform for regional economic development initiatives [1] .
[1] NADO CEDS Central: https://www.cedscentral.com/ceds-101.html
What are the Components of the CEDS?
Regional Assets:
- The U.S. 30 Corridor is home to an abundance of natural, physical, human, and informational assets that have shaped the history of the region and its people.
- This section highlights a sample of the region’s natural and physical assets that provide areas of comparative advantage for the region.
Demographic and Economic Data:
- A key component of the CEDS process is to analyze and document the economic, demographic, and social state of the region.
- CRD developed a series of in-depth data products for the Strategy Committee and Community Advisory Committee to consider during the development of the SWOT analysis and the Action Plan.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis:
- A SWOT analysis helps the region answer the question: “Where are we now?” by assessing the region’s unique assets and areas of competitive advantage.
- The SWOT analysis also identifies the internal or external factors that can keep a region from realizing its potential.
Action Plan:
- The action plan, comprised of a vision statement, goals, and strategies, is the “heart and soul of the CEDS” that flows from the SWOT analysis.
- The action plan answers the question, “Where do we want to go and how are we going to get there?”
Evaluation Framework:
- The evaluation framework contains a series of traditional (job creation and private investment) and non-traditional (GDP per capita, per capita income, household income, etc.) economic metrics.
- The evaluation framework answers the question, “How are we doing and what can we do better?”
- Measures selected should be based upon what is important to the region and what conditions need to be reserved or created.
Economic Resilience:
- The CEDS should also contain strategies to enhance economic resilience and build capacity to recover quickly, withstand, or avoid economic or natural shocks.
- Economic resilience strategies should include steady-state initiatives. Measures selected should be based upon what is important to the region and what conditions needs to reverse or create and establish responsive and durable information networks to encourage communication and collaboration among regional stakeholders on existing and potential future challenges.
CEDS Strategy Committee
A key component of the CEDS process is the development of the CEDS Strategy Committee. The Strategy Committee is the principal facilitator of the CEDS process and is responsible for developing and updating the CEDS. According to the EDA, the Strategy Committee should “broadly represent the main economic interests of the region”. The Strategy Committee met every two weeks to advance key components of the CEDS such as the SWOT analysis. The U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS was facilitated and managed by the Center for Regional Development (CRD) at Bowling Green State University (BGSU).
The U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS Strategy Committee is comprised of:
- Gary Frankhouse, Economic Development Director, Crawford Partnership
- Gregory Moon, Executive Director, Wyandot County Office of Economic Development
- Aaron Pauly, Economic Development Coordinator, Grow Ashland
- Erin Stine, Community Development Director, Crawford Partnership
- Barrett Thomas, Director of Economic Development, Richland Area Chamber & Economic Development
CEDS Community Advisory Committee
During an early meeting of the Strategy Committee, the group decided to create a larger Community Advisory Committee to provide input from a wider range of perspectives on key components of the CEDS including the SWOT Analysis and the U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS Action Plan. The Community Advisory Committee is comprised of about 50 community members from throughout the four-county region.
Introduction to the U.S. 30 Corridor
This CEDS has been developed by four counties in north central Ohio: Ashland County, Crawford County, Richland County, and Wyandot County (known collectively as the U.S. 30 Corridor). Located between the large populations centers of Columbus, Cleveland, and Toledo, the U.S. 30 Corridor encompasses the Mansfield Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as well as several cities, townships, and rural areas. The U.S. 30 Corridor is bisected by U.S. 30, which runs west to east through the region, a major north-south interstate highway, I-71, and U.S. 23, which connects Toledo to the Columbus metro area.
According to the 2020 Census, the U.S. 30 Corridor is home to over 241,000 people with a median age of 41.4. In 2019, the region saw a net inward migration of 168 people. Consistent with its history as a region of makers and builders, the U.S. 30 Corridor’s largest industry remains manufacturing with over 18,000 employees and a gross regional product (GRP) of over $2.1 billion. Over the past five years, the transportation and warehousing industry has seen the fastest employment growth of 11.7% and a growth in GRP of 12.1%.
The U.S. 30 Corridor also has significant rail assets including mainlines for Norfolk Southern and CSX, which intersect in the Village of Crestline in Crawford County. Additionally, the region is home to the Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport (MFD), which houses the 179th Airlift Wing and was recently selected to stand up the Air National; Guard’s first Cyberspace Wing. In addition to MFD, the region is home to several general aviation airports including Galion Municipal Airport, Shelby Community Airport, Port Bucyrus-Crawford County Airport, Wyandot County Airport, and Ashland County Airport.
The region is home is several natural areas and tourist attractions including Malabar Farm and Mohican State Parks, the Ohio Bird Sanctuary, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and the Ohio State Reformatory, the primary filming location for The Shawshank Redemption. Finally, the region is home to several colleges and universities including Ashland University, North Central State College, and The Ohio State University at Mansfield.
Public Engagement
The U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS was developed with robust input from a wide range of community stakeholders across Wyandot, Crawford, Richland, and Ashland counties.
One-on-One Interviews: CRD conducted one-on-one virtual interviews with 36 of the 47 members of the Community Advisory Committee, ranging from 45 to 60 minutes, to gain insights into their perceptions of the region’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
SWOT Public Survey: Using the themes from the interviews, CRD developed a public survey to assess agreement with the initial strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that emerged from the interviews. 374 people opened the survey and 340 respondents answered at least one question of the survey.
Action Plan Public Survey: CRD developed and distributed a public survey to assess agreement with the draft goals and strategies developed by the Strategy and Community Advisory Committees. 367 people opened the survey and 353 respondents answered at least one question of the survey.
Public Comment Period: The final draft of the U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS was circulated for 30 days for public comment.
Public Engagement Timeline
March 9, 2021
First Meeting of the U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS Strategy Committee
April 6, 2021
Demographic and Economic Data Presentation to Strategy Committee
April 23, 2021
First Meeting of the U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS Community Advisory Committee and Demographic and Economic Data Presentation
May-June 2021
Interviews with U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS Community Advisory Committee Members
July-August 2021
Public Survey to Assess Draft SWOT Analysis
September 2021
Final SWOT Analysis Developed
October-November 2021
Vision, Goal, and Strategy Development Sessions with Strategy and Community Advisory Committees
December 2021
Public Survey to Assess Draft U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS Action Plan
January 2022
Finalization of U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS Action Plan and Performance Metrics
March 2022
Final Draft U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS Distributed for Public Comment
Regional Assets
The U.S. 30 Corridor is home to an abundance of natural, physical, human, and informational assets that have shaped the history of the region and its people.
Interstates and U.S. Highways
The U.S. 30 Corridor is bisected by U.S. 30, which runs west to east through the region, a major north-south interstate highway, I-71, and U.S. 23, which connects Toledo to the Columbus metro area. These highway and roadway assets provide easy logistics for the shipping of goods to and from the region as well as facilitate tourism.
Click the map to expand it
Geographic data courtesy of ODOT TIMS
Rail Lines
The U.S. 30 Corridor also has significant rail assets including mainlines for Norfolk Southern and CSX, which intersect in the Village of Crestline in Crawford County. The Village of Crestline was recently announced as a stop on new Amtrak service connecting Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati. The region’s rail assets provide vital support for the region’s manufacturing companies as well as facilitating the movement of cargo and goods across the region.
Geographic data courtesy of ODOT TIMS
Airports
The region is home to several general aviation airports including Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport, Galion Municipal Airport, Shelby Community Airport, Port Bucyrus-Crawford County Airport, Wyandot County Airport, and Ashland County Airport. These airports provide vital business and general aviation connectivity to the region, support military and government employment, and support cargo and logistics operations in the region.
Geographic data courtesy of ODOT TIMS
Parks and Natural Areas
The region is home to over 90 parks that provide open and natural space to residents and facilitate a high-quality of place. The region is home to Malabar Farm State Park, Mohican State Park, and the Ohio Bird Sanctuary.
Educational Institutions
School Districts and Higher Education Institutions
The region is home to a variety of high-quality school districts that prepare students for careers in the skilled trades as well as higher education. The region is home to multiple colleges and universities including Ashland University, North Central State College, and The Ohio State University at Mansfield.
Workforce Development Service Providers
The U.S. 30 Corridor has a variety of social service and workforce development assets to assist residents looking for work and companies looking for a skilled-workforce.
Demographic & Economic Data
To inform the development of the SWOT analysis and the Action Plan, CRD used its expertise and capacity in data analytics and visualization to develop several presentations and infographics that present key demographic and economic data for the Wyandot, Crawford, Richland, and Ashland counties. Specifically, CRD provided data on industry clusters and projected industry growth, regional commuting patterns, population change and projected change over the next 5-10 years, and population migration data.
In addition, the infographics CRD developed for each county and the U.S. 30 Corridor contain detailed information on population demographics, educational attainment, housing, industrial composition, poverty, labor force participation, income, and major employers. Key insights derived from the analysis of the demographic and economic data are listed below.
Population Loss
One of the most significant challenges facing the U.S. 30 Corridor is the region’s declining population and associated outward migration. Between 2010 and 2020, the U.S. 30 Corridor lost over 2,700 people, or 1.11% of its population according to the 2020 Census. Wyandot (-715), Crawford (-1,759), and Ashland (-692) counites saw population decreases between 2010 and 2020 while Richland County (461) saw a very modest population increase [2]. According to EMSI, the region is projected to lose another 2,000 people (~1%) over the next 10-years [3].
[2] 2020 U.S. Census. [3] EMSI Burning Glass Developer. 2021.
Historical Strength of Manufacturing and Need to Diversify Industries
The U.S. 30 Corridor has a long and proud history of a strong manufacturing and agricultural base that has driven the region’s economy. However, recent closures of anchor employers including General Motors coupled with a 4% decline in manufacturing jobs in the region have highlighted the need to diversify the industrial base. The region’s strategic location and transportation assets have led to an 11.68% increase in transportation and warehousing jobs in the region over the past five years as well as the announcement of the Air National Guard’s first Cyberspace wing at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport.
Low Wages and Low Cost of Living
While the U.S. 30 Corridor benefits from a low cost of living and affordable housing prices, the region also suffers median household incomes that are well below the average for the State of Ohio. Specifically, the U.S. 30 Corridor’s median household income of $49,986 is $6,500 per year below the median income for the State of Ohio ($56,602) and over $12,000 per year below the U.S. median household income of $62,843 [4]. The gap in the region’s wages is most stark in the manufacturing sector, where the region’s average annual wage of $53,347 is over $10,000 per year less than the Ohio average of $64,985 and over $20,000 per year less than the U.S. average annual wages for manufacturing jobs of $73,776 [5]. The region has lower median house value $111,664) than the state of Ohio ($145,700) and the U.S. ($217,500).
[4] CRD Analysis of Chmura JobsEQ Data. [5] CRD Analysis of Chmura JobsEQ Data.
Significant Net Outward Flow of Workers
Because of the region’s low cost of living, high quality of life, and proximity to major metro areas including Cleveland, Columbus, Akron/Canton, and Toledo, the region sees a significant daily outward flow of workers to other locations. Specifically, around 10,000 people leave the four-county region daily for work [6]. Crawford County over 6,300 net commuters each day while Ashland has over 3,500 and Richland has over 2,300 net outward commuters per day. This suggests an opportunity to attract high-wage employment options for current residents of the region to increase local tax bases and raise the overall quality of life in the region.
[6] CRD Analysis of EMSI-Burning Glass Data (2020)
SWOT Analysis
The Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis helps the region answer the question: “Where are we now?” by assessing the region’s unique assets and areas of competitive advantage.
The SWOT analysis also identifies the internal or external factors that can keep a region from realizing its potential.
Action Plan
The action plan, comprised of a vision statement, goals, and strategies, is the “heart and soul of the CEDS” that flows from the SWOT analysis. The action plan answers the question, “Where do we want to go and how are we going to get there?”
Vision Statement:
The U.S. 30 Corridor is a well-connected resource hub with a forward-thinking and collaborative culture that is home to a growing well-skilled workforce, diversified and competitive-wage employment base, and high quality of place that drives job creation, talent attraction, and revenue generation.
Goal One: Take advantage of the region’s economic development assets to diversify and grow the employment base, particularly in high-wage occupations, of the U.S. 30 Corridor.
Goal Two: Continue to develop the region’s infrastructure to connect the region’s people, goods, and services to the state, nation, and world.
Goal Three: Foster a forward thinking and collaborative culture that embraces change and is willing to take risks to develop new sites, buildings, and initiatives to improve the economic future of the region.
Goal Four: Build a resilient, dynamic workforce ecosystem that attracts and retains workers in the region, provides a diversity of cutting-edge training opportunities for residents, and aligns training and educational programs with the current and future needs of employers.
Goal Five: Develop a coordinated regional approach to expanding a diverse stock of housing options to allow more residents the opportunity to take advantage of employment opportunities and the region’s high quality of life.
Goal Six: Continue to pursue new recreational, tourism, placemaking, and retail opportunities that increase the quality of life for all residents of the region.
Evaluation Framework
The U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS Strategy Committee selected a range of high-level performance metrics to determine the success of the region in achieving the goals outlined in the CEDS. The Strategy Committee committed to continue meeting quarterly to discuss progress made on the implementing the strategies outlined in the CEDS. CRD committed to convening these meetings and developing a U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS dashboard or scorecard to track progress as part of its EDA University Center scope of work.
Building Economic Resilience
As the final component of the U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS, the Strategy Committee integrated several initiatives to increase steady-state and responsive resiliency in the region. According to the EDA, “steady-state initiatives tend to be long-term efforts that seek to bolster the community or region’s ability to withstand or avoid a shock”. Responsive initiatives “establish capabilities for the economic development organization to be responsive to the region’s recovery needs following an incident”. This holistic definition of economic resiliency allows regions such as the U.S. 30 Corridor to build systems, structures, and strategies to mitigate and respond to the effects of economic downturns and natural disasters. Steady-state goals and strategies in the U.S. 30 Corridor Action Plan include:
- Goal #1 of the U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS includes the steady-state initiative of diversifying the region’s economic base. Strategies under this goal include efforts to diversify the region’s economy by becoming an advanced manufacturing jobs center while also attracting and growing jobs in emerging high-tech industries including cyber-security, new vehicle technologies, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), precision agriculture, and bio-tech.
- Goal #2 of the strategy outlines a plan to boost the region’s infrastructure including the development of a robust high-speed broadband network that would enable to region to respond to disasters and economic downturns more effectively.
- Goal #4 of the CEDS outlines an ambitious plan to develop a more resilient workforce ecosystem in the U.S. 30 Corridor through a series of strategies that enhance training and linkages between businesses, economic developers, and educational and training assets.
Responsive goals and strategies in the U.S. 30 Corridor Action Plan include:
- Goal #3 of the CEDS is focused on building collaborative structures in the four-county region that would allow for more effective and nimble communication during times of economic disruption or natural disasters. Specifically, the strategies of Goal #3 call for the creation of an economic development district (EDD), a regional transportation planning organization, and a regional port authority to allow for more coordinated planning and responses to economic transitions in the region. Additionally, Goal #3 includes a strategy that is focused on building professional capacity in the region to enhance response efforts to economic challenges.
- The U.S. 30 Corridor CEDS Strategy Committee has committed to continue meeting on a quarterly basis to review the latest economic trends and performance on the metrics outlined in the evaluation framework to assess and, if necessary, pivot aspects of the CEDS. Additionally, the Center for Regional Development (CRD) at BGSU has committed to developing a dashboard and scorecard using the metrics established in the CEDS to provide real-time information on the performance of the region in achieving the goals outlined in the CEDS.
