OEDA recognizes Tiffin, Seneca CARES programs
Submitted by Tiffin-Seneca
Economic Partnership
DUBLIN – The Ohio Economic Development Association presented its Annual Excellence Awards at its 2021 Annual Summit, held at The Exchange at Bridge Park Oct. 26-27 in Dublin. During the meeting, Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership was the recipient of the Excellence in Innovation Award on behalf of the City of Tiffin and Seneca County for the Tiffin CARES Small Business Relief Program and Seneca County CARES Small Business Relief Program.
The Ohio Economic Development Association’s Annual Excellence Awards program recognizes the achievements of individuals and organizations throughout Ohio in the areas of economic and workforce development.
“The Annual Excellence Awards showcase the best of the best in economic development and gives members of the profession the opportunity to come together and collectively celebrate the success of the economic development profession,” Jennifer Price, OEDA executive director, said.
The Excellence in Innovation award recognizes unique approaches to any aspect of economic development and recognizes a person or organization that has developed innovative practices and programs. The 2021 Excellence in Innovation award further focused on new ideas, partnerships, strategies, and tactics that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic the past 18 months.
In September 2020, The City of Tiffin announced and opened applications for the Tiffin CARES Small Business Relief Program, and Seneca County started its program, Seneca County CARES Small Business Relief Program, in late October. The programs made up to $10,000 in grant funding available to for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations in Tiffin and rural Seneca County and had the goal of providing financial relief from loss of revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Altogether, The City of Tiffin; Seneca County; the villages of Bettsville and Green Springs; and Bloom, Clinton, Eden, Hopewell and Pleasant and townships contributed $1.2 million in CARES Act funding to 186 businesses by the end of 2020. Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership administered the programs on behalf of the City of Tiffin and Seneca County Board of Commissioners. The Fostoria Economic Development Corporation also had an additional program for Fostoria businesses funded by Seneca County.
TSEP President and CEO David Zak was excited by the news of the recognition.
“It was amazing to see the collaboration among the many local jurisdictions and their commitment to help small businesses in their hour of greatest need,” he said. “TSEP was honored to develop and implement the grant program modeling the best practices of many other programs around the state. Altogether, we were able to aid almost 200 small businesses that provide jobs for 700 people in Seneca County. Thank you to OEDA for this recognition of the program, and I thank the City of Tiffin, Seneca County, and the other units of local government for their trust in us to make this program a reality.”
“When I saw that the City of Tiffin was going to be receiving funds through the CARES Act, I knew that we needed to take some of that funding and help those small businesses that give so much to our community. I’m excited to see OEDA recognize our part in supporting the small business owners of the City of Tiffin,” said Tiffin Mayor Aaron Montz.
“I’m proud that the Seneca County Commissioners were able to make money available to our small businesses and nonprofits throughout the county,” said Seneca County Commissioner Mike Kerschner. “Thank you to OEDA for this award recognizing that support.”
Additionally, OEDA recognized TSEP Economic Development Manager Nick Dutro as one of 16 professionals from around the state for achieving the Ohio “Best in Class” Economic Developer credential (OhioCED) in 2021.
The Ohio Economic Development Association is the professional association for economic developers. The association’s mission is to increase economic prosperity in the State of Ohio by working together, on a non-partisan basis, with state, regional, and local development partners to advance Ohio’s economy through professional development, advocacy, and networking. For more information about OEDA, please visit www.ohioeda.com.
