Inside the Tiffin Story - 4 keys to our success

My comments given this morning at the annual Ohio planning conference in Cleveland as part of a panel on Ohio Small Cities with Craig Gossman of the Gossman Group, Tiffin Mayor Aaron Montz, and Regional Planning Director Charlene Watkins.

Good morning. My name is David Zak, and I run the Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership. We’re an organization that started in 1983 as a 501c3 nonprofit public-private partnership. Today, we have contracts with both the City of Tiffin and Seneca County to lead the City’s economic, downtown, and community development efforts and to lead economic development throughout rural Seneca County. I want to thank Craig Gossman for putting this together, and I thank the APA for allowing us to participate.

Tiffin - Ten Years Ago

So, I do think Tiffin has a great story to tell. It is a story that in particular has developed over the last ten years or so, and it’s a story that continues to evolve today. If you go back to the beginning of this decade, our unemployment rate had reached its highest peak in recent memory - 14%. Yes, it’s true that most communities were also suffering because of the Great Recession, but our unemployment rate was several points above both the state and national averages. In addition, our local companies were just not growing. If you compare us to other non-metro communities in Ohio like Ashland, Ashtabula, Bellefontaine, Cambridge, Celina, Greenville, Findlay, Norwalk, Wooster and Zanesville, you will find that during this same period, their companies were expanding, investing, and creating jobs, so I think it’s fair to say that we were not doing as well as some of our neighbors.

Our main shopping mall had just earned the dubious distinction of being listed on the website deadmalls.com due to the fact that most of our national retailers had closed up shop and because it seemed like the mall’s purpose was not to be a retail hub but only to be a safe and comfortable place for walkers in the winter. Our population, like in many areas of Ohio, was declining, and poverty was on the rise.

The downtown was mostly home to deteriorating buildings, vacant storefronts, low-income housing, and couple of college bars and family restaurants. The destruction of our historic 1884 county courthouse tore our community apart and earned us a reputation of being the best example of what not to do to revitalize your downtown. Even though there were some bright spots here and there, the overall mood was fairly grim.  

Tiffin - Today

Fast forward to today. Unemployment sits at 4%, which is lower than the state average and that of many of our neighbors. For the last seven years in a row, among more than 500 non-metro communities nationwide, we have ranked in the top ten percent for economic development, with more than $400 million in new announced investment and 1600 new jobs. In that time, we’ve also had more than 100 businesses locate or expand in our community. Just last month, American Plastics—the company that makes easy-to-assemble plastic shelving you can buy at Lowe’s—announced a $3.5 million investment and the creation of more than 130 jobs to become the exclusive producer of Craftsman-brand shelving nationally.

On the retail side, the once dead Tiffin Mall was purchased by new investors a couple of years ago, and is again attracting national retailers like Planet Fitness, Jimmy Johns, and Panda Express, and other national chains like Chipotle, Dunkin Donuts, Tim Hortons, and Buffalo Wild Wings have entered the market.

Tiffin also now has an award-winning, state and nationally accredited downtown Main Street Program. In the last six years, 50 new businesses have opened in the downtown; more than 80 building renovation projects have taken place in the downtown; and about $20 million has been invested into the downtown.

It is a community, as the Mayor says, that is on the rise. For one of the very few times in the last forty years, our population is increasing, and there is more new residential development on the way. When we had a national firm help lead us through a community branding process in 2018, they said we were the only community they worked with where everyone—without exception (and they talked to more than 500 people)—where everyone was positive about what was going on. We don’t always agree on what should happen next, and it isn’t perfect, but people love what they are seeing. And almost every day, the people on this stage and many, many others are having a whole lot of fun working on making this growing, progressive, dynamic community a better place. We are winning, and winning is a lot of fun.

4 Keys to Success

But how did we get here? How did we engineer that big of a turnaround? Being part of this panel has given me another chance to think about why and how all this good stuff has been able to take place. And I come again to the conclusion there is no one right answer, no silver bullet, no fortune cookie wisdom I can dispense to explain it. It’s like H.L. Mencken said, “for every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”

1. Planning - I am comfortable saying, though, that I am firmly convinced that the community’s belief in and commitment to formal planning has been essential. Since 2010, we have updated, completed or have underway—and are implementing— more than ten major planning efforts and studies, including plans for economic, community, downtown, workforce, and residential development and studies for transit, active transportation, and downtown parking. And hundreds and hundreds of people have been involved. One of those plans is the incredible two city-county-parks comprehensive plan effort that Charlene is leading right now. Craig has spearheaded the creation of both of our downtown plans. And Mayor Montz has been a major champion in dedicating the substantial funding needed to make these efforts happen.
2. Leadership - I am also comfortable saying that I am firmly convinced that a large number of leadership changes in key positions throughout the community has also been essential. Since 2010, more than half of the community’s key leadership positions have turned over, including me and my whole team – we’re new; the Mayor and most of his administration – they’re new; Charlene and her whole team; every single County Commissioner; six of the seven Tiffin City Council members and the Council President; the Tiffin City School board, superintendent and key administrators; the presidents of our three area universities and colleges; the President & CEO of the hospital; both of our state legislators; and the leaders of many of our largest companies and nonprofits. The list goes on and on. This new crop of leaders has the work ethic, vision, passion, and commitment to collaboration and partnership that can make some amazing things happen. Last year, our community dedicated the Seneca County Justice Center, the first joint municipal, common pleas, and juvenile/probate court facility in the state and one of the very few in the country.
3. Generosity & Engagement - I am also comfortable saying that I am firmly convinced that the generosity and engagement of people, companies, and private foundations in our community have also been essential. One beautiful example was the dedication in August of this year of phase two of a $2 million, all privately funded downtown park we call East Green, which now features a beautiful community amphitheater, splashpad and contemplative garden next to our community library, which is maintained by the City Parks Department. This year, for the second year in a row, it held a privately sponsored and free to the public summer concert series. And people are as generous with their time and talent as they are with their resources. Our Main Street Program alone has five main committees, with more than 50 volunteers, working on making the downtown a better place. The City and Regional Planning Commission and many, many other organizations have literally hundreds of engaged, generous and talented people working together on various boards and committees. 
4. Storytelling - Last, I am comfortable saying that I am firmly convinced that our community’s ability to tell its story, to believe it and share it with others has been essential as well. Social media and public relations are two examples of what I think we have been doing well to change people’s minds and mood. Mayor Montz is a great example of this. When he was elected at age 26 one of the ten youngest mayors in the US for a community this size, he had a stronger social media presence than half of the mayors of the ten largest US cities. Today, he has more than 11,000 followers on Facebook and 4,500 followers on Twitter, and he is constantly sharing positive content that reinforces the story of our success. Our own Facebook page has 6,200 followers and reaches more than a million people each year. We also post about 100 articles each year on our website, and so far this year, we have written 43 press releases, issuing them to 90 media outlets, resulting in 124 stories and 14 TV spots.

Testimonial - Weston Reinbolt & Suzie Reineke

I want to close with a two-minute clip of two of our newer community leaders and young professionals Weston Reinbolt and Suzie Reineke sharing with you their perspective on what is going on here and why they are a part of it. I think it’s important to add that Weston is currently chair of our downtown board, on the Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership Board and Executive Committee, and they both lead an annual St. Paddy’s Day 5K run in Tiffin which raises money for downtown revitalization. They effectively spread the good news about Tiffin wherever they go and as you will hear, have even recruited a new bourbon bar to our community. I think they embody the four essentials I mentioned today – planning, new leadership, generosity and telling the story. Enjoy and thank you.  

Video - Weston Reinbolt & Suzie Reineke on Tiffin and investing in the downtown