Community leaders have known for some time that Champaign County needs more available housing options to attract new businesses – and their workforce – and to support growth of existing business.
 
Recommendations to help Champaign County provide the full range of current and future housing needs will be unveiled at a public meeting, 8:30 to 11 a.m., February 14, in the Champaign County Community Center Auditorium.
 
The recommendations are part of the Comprehensive Housing Market Analysis for Champaign County, developed by the Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) and commissioned by the Champaign Economic Partnership (CEP).
 
CEP Director Marcia Bailey said that the housing market analysis will be shared first with local county, city, village and township officials before the public meeting.
 
“The February 14 public meeting is open to all citizens and will provide information of special interest to business leaders, developers, real estate professionals, builders, property owners, financial institutions and others interested in helping Champaign County thrive,” Bailey said.
 
She added that an evening session will be scheduled for late February or early March and additional public meetings will be announced to provide residents multiple opportunities to learn more about the study findings.
 
The GOPC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on helping improve Ohio communities through smart growth strategies and research. The GOPC regularly provides expert analyses to public, private and nonprofit leaders at the local, state and national level.
 
Bailey said that the study is designed to serve local leaders as a guide for making decisions that support a broad range of housing options for all segments of the population. And to attract new residents, including young families drawn by jobs and people looking for a quieter lifestyle within commuting distance of their jobs in metropolitan areas.
 
The study covers the county as a whole, as well as the four primary population centers, Urbana, Mechanicsburg, St. Paris and North Lewisburg.
 
The GOPC conducted the study with the guidance of steering and advisory committees composed of local government officials and representatives of financial institutions, developers, builders, property owners, real estate agents and business owners.
 
Examples of recommendations made in the study include:

• Create a standing consortium of local representatives like those on the study advisory committee to continually focus on housing initiatives.
• Prioritize historic downtowns and main street, as “vibrant downtowns become economic and civic centers whose success often attracts new housing investments and increased commercial traffic throughout a municipality.”
• Use economic development tools, such as community reinvestment areas, to promote housing development.
• Protect existing housing stock from decline and return abandoned and neglected properties to productive use.
• Use creative financing and funding strategies to help support development.
• Maintain affordability of housing.

Urbana University's Blue Knight Faculty Lecture Series continues on Tuesday, Feb. 18th from 11am-12pm with a presentation from C. Shaun Owens, the Lead Faculty in Business Administration. Owens' presentation topic on Feb. 18th will be "Communication: A Key Ingredient to Competitive Advantage."

The free lecture series is designed to be a bring your own "brown bag lunch" event open to the public. There will be an opportunity to interact with the presenters, with the goal of advancing community goals. The lectures take place in The Swedenborg Memorial Library on the campus of Urbana University.

You're invited to the Career Preparation Workshop Series that UU is hosting leading up to the March 24 Career Fair.
 
These workshops are open to all community members including high school students! For more information, please contact careerconnections@urbana.edu.

The hike will begin at the trail head near the kiosk, 3975 Kiser Lake Road, St. Paris. For more information, contact Michelle Comer, the West District regional manager for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, at michelle.comer@dnr.state.oh.us or 937-537-6173.
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You're invited to a special free community screening of SILO, the first ever feature film about a grain entrapment. SILO isn’t available online, or on DVD, and this event is one-of-a-kind. Join us on Thursday, February 6th at 6pm.

Inspired by true events, SILO follows a harrowing day in an American farm town. Disaster strikes when teenager Cody Rose is entrapped in a 50-foot-tall grain bin. When the corn turns to quicksand, family, neighbors, and first responders must put aside their differences to rescue Cody from drowning in the crop that has sustained their community for generations.

Please RSVP by Feb. 3rd on Eventbrite or by calling Andrea at (937) 497-4347.