Dennis McMickens, president &; CEO of the Safety Council of Northwest Ohio and facilitator for the Non-governmental Members Caucus, called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone present. Introductions were made by everyone present.
Caucus members in attendance included:
- Laurie Adams
– Managing Principal & Director of Traffic/Safety, DGL Ohio, Inc.
- Edgar Avila –
Executive Vice President, AAA Northwest Ohio Region/AAA Club Alliance
- Will Burns –
Administrator, NORED
- Frank Butwin
– President, Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor
- Scott
Cabauatan – Municipal Services Manager, Republic Services, Inc.
- Kerry Carte –
Planning & Development Coordinator, WSOS CAC, Inc.
- Jennifer
Carter-Cornell – Funding Practice Leader, Hull & Associates, Inc.
- Zane Daniels
– Manager, Local Government Affairs, Columbia Gas of Ohio
- Traci
Hernandez – Director of Marketing & Business Development, DGL
Consulting Engineers, LLC
- Richard
Hertzfeld – Engineer, CT Consultants, Inc.
- Dick Kudner –
Vice President, Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor
- Paulette
Mills – Client Relations Representative, Poggemeyer Design Group, Inc.
- Dennis
McMickens – President & CEO, Safety Council of Northwest Ohio
- Kristine
Patterson – Executive Director, Partners for Clean Streams, Inc.
- Hans
Rosebrock – Manager, Economic Development & External Affairs,
FirstEnergy/Toledo Edison
- Kathy Streng –
Business Development, DLZ Ohio, Inc.
- Yvonne
Thoma-Patton – Executive Director, Eastern Maumee Chamber of Commerce
- Keith Webb – Director,
We Are Traffic
Non-caucus members in attendance included:
- Chris Amato –
President, Historic South Initiatives
- Thomas
Galloway – Vice Chair, Northwest Ohio Passenger Rail Association (NOPRA)
- Marjorie
Mulcahy – LEF /ACLE
- Pat Wright –
LEF/ACLE
TMACOG support staff in attendance included:
- Roger
Streiffert – Transportation Planner
- Lisa
Householder – Transportation Planner/Database Analyst
Introduction of Discussion Topics – The caucus members
spent a majority of the meeting discussing topics including marketing in the
region for tourism, promotion of natural assets amid water quality issues, and
the importance of the Soo Locks to industries around the Great Lakes. Some
commentary included:
·
There
are many opportunities to promote natural assets positively in the Northwest
Ohio region. There are well known events, but there are also smaller
scale/relatively unknown events that are a great opportunity for PR and should
be promoted. Not everything is tied to the lake either. Some examples
mentioned:
o
The
Toledo Zoo is reintroducing sturgeon to the lake via the Maumee River (breeding
grounds).
o
Birding
is a huge draw in the spring in Ottawa County, draws a lot of tourist dollars.
The actual events have only been around for about eight years, but it is a much
bigger draw since more partnerships have been formed. People are coming here
from international locations, but there could stand to be more promotion to the
local population.
o
Walleye
run in the spring.
o
National
Train Day in May.
o
Bike
Month in May is a huge draw, and even brings people down from Michigan.
o
Metroparks
are expanding their trail system. TMACOG is trying to connect the Ohio and
Michigan bicycle network.
o
Jeep
Fest has a lot of room to grow and showcases the history of Jeep being built in
Toledo. It would be nice to have a permanent museum in place (year-round).
o
Toledo
bike share program will be starting soon.
o
Fallen
Timbers battleground, there is interest in marking this historic landmark a
part of the National Park system.
·
There
needs to be a push to retain college students in our region after they
graduate.
·
Economics
drivers can sometimes be overlooked with all of the attention to the
environment.
·
Once
the process of the algae problem is dealt with so it isn’t as much of a threat
every year, then this area can promote how the area has been improved (long way
off). It will be a good marketing campaign to say there was a problem and we
did something about it.
·
There
need to be more mobile apps to feature events and places of interest in our
region.
·
JobsOhio
has ad campaigns similar to “Pure Michigan” but it needs better promotion.
·
Tourism
has a major tie to economic development and needs to be used to attract more
businesses here.
·
People’s
viewing habits (related to television) have changed, so need to see more done
on social media and mobile apps.
·
Event
planners and organizations needs to plan fun events tied to a more specific
area, such as kayaking or bicycling, and reach out to markets further away
(such as surrounding states). People are willing to travel far if it is tied to
something specific they are interested in.
·
Kayaking
is one of the fastest growing recreational sports. Develop the Maumee River as
a destination river for kayaking and tie into restaurants, breweries, bike
trails, and other areas of interest near the river (again, a mobile app tying
all of this together would be great for promotion of the region).
·
Easy
access to the river is critical to get people here. ODNR has an access book. If
it is only a book, then there should be an app, too.
·
There
needs to be more cross marketing, it is currently too siloed. And need to reach
out to markets further away.
·
Economics
behind it all is what really drives legislators to be involved.
·
Another
group to consider is AARP. They have mini grants available to promote smaller
groups and events. They are also a great partner to bring to the table.
·
Maumee
Valley Heritage Corridor also has a user guide to help promote the area.
·
What
can we do as individuals and businesses to collaborate?
o
DGL
partners with local firms (their competitors) on many things, so we need that
mentality here.
o
It
is important to get private companies involved, not just the local governments.
o
Need
to decide what organization will “own” the promotion of these events.
·
Discussed
a little bit about the importance and vulnerability of the Soo Locks in
northern Michigan.
o
Most
of the steel products industry (automotive, machinery, etc.) on the Great Lakes
relies on these locks for shipping. The Locks are getting old, so if something
happens then industry will suffer.
o
Soo
Locks want to build a longer lock (in addition to other major upgrades) to
accommodate long ships. Who should pay? Steel products industry? Shipping
industry?
Generate Two Questions for the Panel Forum with State Lawmakers – Based on the
above discussion, the non-governmental caucus members generated questions in
preparation for the panel forum with state lawmakers:
1. What is the status
of House Resolution 16 (the $1 billion bond to fund clean water initiatives)?
2. What opportunities
are available towards tourism funding in Ohio? Are there any opportunities to
collaborate with Michigan to promote tourism and natural assets in the western
Lake Erie basin?
3. There are funds to
clean up abandoned gas station tanks, but this doesn’t cover gas tanks at
marinas (for the boats). Why is there no money in the budget for marina tanks?
Next Steps – There are groups
that want to do more advertising and promotion for tourism in the region, but
don’t have enough money. How can law makers facilitate money flowing to these
smaller groups (in the form of grants) for marketing and event promotion? With
TMACOG facilitation, look into how to encourage businesses to collaborate more
on such endeavors.
Announcements/Events
·
The
Northwest Ohio Passenger Rail Association will be hosting their annual Rail
Passenger Forum sometime in October. They are currently aiming for the 15th.
·
Partner
for Clean Streams is hosting their annual Water Quality Boat Cruise on August 5th
from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Registration information is on their website.
·
We
Are Traffic mentioned the 3-feet bicycle law in Ohio is now in effect. They
are also working with nursing homes to give seniors bike rides with their
Cycling Without Age program.
·
AAA
Northwest Ohio Region and The University of Toledo have teamed up for a speaker
series on autonomous vehicles, called Technology Takes the Wheel. The next
event in this series will take place on September 21st at UT’s main
campus from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and will look at transportation infrastructure needs.
Adjourn – There was no further business, the meeting
was adjourned at 10 a.m.
Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments | www.tmacog.org
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