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Crawford Partnership outlines JEDD, JobsOhio links and workforce programs to Galion council
Summary
Greg Timberlake, interim director of the Crawford Partnership, told Galion City Council about Joint Economic Development Districts (JEDDs), TechCred training grants, business retention visits and workforce partnerships and invited council members to an informational session on legal and development tools.
Greg Timberlake, interim director of the Crawford Partnership, briefed Galion City Council on local economic development efforts and invited elected officials to a June informational session on Joint Economic Development Districts (JEDDs).
"My name is Greg Timberlake. I'm the interim director of the partnership," Timberlake said in opening his presentation, adding that the group has begun hiring and screening candidates for a new director role. He described JEDDs as cooperative agreements between cities and townships that can allow shared tax revenue and make some development projects financially feasible where jurisdictional lines currently divide revenue.
Timberlake explained the partnership's relationship with JobsOhio and Regional Growth Partners (RGP), noting that JobsOhio typically steers out‑of‑state or larger prospect inquiries and that RGP helps translate project job projections into potential incentive packages. He described the partnership's business retention and expansion (BRE) visits, in which staff assess whether companies plan to grow and help connect them to state resources. "When one of us hears about that, when we go out and visit companies, we call them BREs, business retention expansion," Timberlake said.
He also described TechCred, a state program that can reimburse employers for staff training in new technologies, and said workforce initiatives—such as teacher‑employer boot camps and a leadership program called CU Lead—are priorities. Timberlake highlighted a Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) incentive that can reduce property taxes for qualifying projects and said Crawford County currently lists several CRA sites with the county auditor.
Timberlake closed by encouraging council members and township trustees to attend a June session with a Columbus attorney to learn the legal frameworks around JEDDs and other development tools. "I hope to get him up here in June for just an open session when people like you... can all come in," he said.
Next steps: Timberlake said the partnership will continue outreach, pursue priority site assessments tied to a Brownfield grant and begin onboarding the new director; council members requested follow‑up materials and the proposed June session date.
