Greater Sandusky Partnership tells commission it leveraged city funds, highlights housing, theater and corridor plans

The Greater Sandusky Partnership reported to the Sandusky City Commission on Jan. 26 that its destination-marketing and economic-development programs produced measurable results in 2025 and outlined priorities for 2026.

Mackenzie Spriggs, who oversees the Destination Sandusky component, told the commission that the organization leveraged the city’s $150,000 commitment into $265,000 of direct event spending and either produced or supported 107 downtown events in 2025. She said Party at the Pier drew about 16,000 attendees and that 57% of that audience was local — defined as within 10 miles — while about 20% traveled more than 50 miles.

“Produced means that we did it, and supported means that we served on a committee, contributed financially, or assisted in a substantial way,” Spriggs said, summarizing how the partnership counts events and impact.

Spriggs also described improvements at the farmers market after the partnership took over operations, including adding SNAP and senior benefits and attracting more than 150 unique vendors last year. On marketing, she said Destination Sandusky’s Facebook content received about 8.5 million views in 2025 and the group’s followers grew from roughly 8,000 in 2023 to more than 21,000 at the end of last year.

Matt Lasko, GSP chief development officer, presented the partnership’s housing and economic development work. Among items he highlighted were a planned housing inventory to be completed by 2026, active engagement with 12 developers (six of them newly engaged in the past 12 months), and advocacy at the state level to qualify Erie County for a residential economic development district created in recent state legislation.

Lasko said the state budget included $25 million earmarked for that program in 2026–27 but requires proximity to a qualifying “mega project” (defined in the legislation as a $700 million investment or 700‑job project). He said GSP is coordinating with Erie County and the Ohio Department of Development to seek qualification for the region.

The presentation also covered ongoing projects in Sandusky — projects tied to the Erie County Port Authority and other regional incentives — and GSP’s work on opportunity zones, the Sandusky State Theater planning, Route 6 corridor development studies, and regional pathway grants. Lasko said the port authority reported $238 million in qualifying capital investment in 2025 regionwide and that two of those projects were in the city of Sandusky.

Commissioners asked for details about how GSP measures attendance at downtown events, and Spriggs and Eric from GSP explained they use cell‑phone visitation data from a vendor called Placer.ai that tracks dwell time in the downtown area. Commissioners also pressed GSP on funding sources; Eric said the partnership’s combined budget grew from about $900,000 to nearly $3 million in recent years, of which roughly $800,000 comes from public contracts and the remainder from sponsorships, membership and earned revenue.

The commission thanked GSP for the presentation and had no objections to continued partnership work.

The partnership said it will return as needed to provide updates and answer follow-up questions.