Over the past few months, GOPC has highlighted the innovative and strategic ways communities throughout Ohio are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. These strategies have largely focused on protecting residents and business, utilizing these tools for crisis management efforts. While this crisis management is far from over, it is crucial that policymakers begin to think about how recovery will look. Ohio’s Main Streets, neighborhoods, businesses, employees, and residents will be foundational blocks to revitalizing Ohio’s communities and economies.

To lead Ohio into this recovery, a statewide coalition of Ohio’s economic and community development nonprofits have joined together to form the Rebuilding Ohio Coalition. GOPC is proud to join this coalition alongside other statewide organizations that, collectively, represent 325 community and economic development nonprofits, and serve hundreds of small businesses and thousands of families.

Rebuilding Ohio has established a platform that provides policymakers with a blueprint for sensible policy solutions that can be adopted to ensure Ohio’s families, small businesses, and neighborhoods thrive in the post-pandemic world.

The Rebuilding Ohio platform offers a series of policy recommendations for state policymakers, which focus on three policy areas:

• FORTIFY OHIO’S SMALL BUSINESSES AND MAIN STREETS.  Ohio’s cities and towns are all unique, thanks to their local businesses and merchants, as well as their beautiful downtowns and commercial corridors in.  The Coalition’s four recommendations help local leaders retain and support local businesses and the heart of their communities.

• EMPOWER OHIO’S FAMILIES THROUGH HOUSING, FINANCIAL STABILITY, AND FOOD SECURITY.  Working families are especially hard hit by the pandemic; the Coalition’s six recommendations provide a comprehensive approach that stabilizes families and improves the quality of life in marginalized communities.

• STEWARD RESOURCES EFFECTIVELY AND BUILD LOCAL CAPACITY. With so few resources available and need so great, it is imperative that every dollar is stretched to the maximum.  The Coalition offers three commonsense recommendations to ensure communities use state and federal investments strategically and building expertise at the same time. 

To read the full platform, and to learn more about the Rebuilding Ohio Coalition, follow the coalition on Twitter @RebuildOhio and visit: www.rebuildingohio.org.