Making Way for People: The Future Is Now

When the MLK Interchange opened in 2017, the vision for Uptown Cincinnati as a district that will incubate talent and attract businesses officially began. Fast forward five years and the four quadrants at MLK and Reading Road in The Cincinnati Innovation District® (CID), a mixed-use development supporting Uptown’s medical, research and innovation industries, is quickly coming to life as construction finishes on the highly anticipated University of Cincinnati Digital Futures building, the centerpiece of the Digital Futures Complex. Over the next decade, there are plans for an additional two million square feet of mixed-use development with 7,500+ people working, visiting, and living there each day.

City of Medina Announces Small Business Assistance Grant Program

The City of Medina Economic Development Department is pleased to announce that the application is now available for the Small Business Assistance Grant. The City of Medina has set aside $200,000 of American Rescue Plan funds to assist City of Medina small businesses with workforce challenges due to COVID-19.  Of this money, $50,000 has been set aside to assist micro-businesses. The grant must be used by successful applicants to address issues with hiring, rehiring, and retaining employees. The Program will be administered by the City of Medina Economic Development Department and the Economic Development Committee.

Brook Park gets $10 million boost to clean up former Ford site

The state has awarded Brook Park $10 million to clean up and redevelop a 200-acre vacant former Ford Motor Company property that eventually will accommodate the Forward Innovation Center.

“There were cheers throughout City Hall Friday afternoon (June 17),” Mayor Ed Orcutt told cleveland.com. “I couldn’t be more excited for transitioning the property into the Forward Innovation Center. This grant was the result of excellent teamwork.”

Economic Development Incentives Encourage Placemaking Economic Development

The International Economic Development Council has defined placemaking as “the practice of enhancing a community’s assets to improve its overall attractiveness and livability.” Placemaking is defined as large-scale projects like the creation of new public or revitalized public spaces, alternative transportation infrastructure, pop-up retail, housing, or Downtown beautification projects.  Bike trails, public beer gardens, parks, and other public spaces often mix uses and are attractive to residents and visitors alike. However, successful placemaking strategies require the use of multiple tools as well as an overall improvement in the quality of life available to area residents and visitors.

Municipal Bridge Replacement Program Applications Open

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) administers Ohio’s Municipal Bridge Program. In April, the state announced a large increase in the annual funding for this program, meaning that the program should have significantly more funding available for the next five years. This program allocates up to $2 million of federal funding per project to certain eligible entities (including municipalities, metroparks and regional transit authorities) seeking to replace, repair or demolish eligible bridges.