The September 11, 2001 events in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania will likely make permanent changes to how Americans live and conduct business.  These changes will be felt at all levels of society from our largest cities to areas rural areas such as ours.  Many of have friends or family that have been personally involved in the events that have occurred.  Our office joins with all Americans in offering condolences to those affected by the tragic events and expressing hope for a speedy recovery for the American economy.

One change that is being seen in the business community is a large curtailment in the frequency of business trips.  Businesses are working hard to use technology to substitute for many meetings that traditionally have been face-to-face.  If your firm would be interested in using interactive video technology, but do not have it in house, you may wish to check out the video conferencing capabilities found at the OSU Learning Center East housed at the East District Extension office at Belle Valley.  For more information contact the OSU Learning Center East, 16714 SR 215, Caldwell, OH  43724-9414, phone 740-732-2381 or e-mail lceast@osu.edu

Best Regards,
Mike

A retention and expansion (R & E) survey is currently being conducted in Noble County.  Data consistently shows that most business growth occurs not by attracting new businesses to the community but by working with existing businesses to keep them strong and to help them expand.  This provides the logic behind the R & E program.  The current program is a regional effort supported by Departments of Jobs and Family Services and is being conducted in Washington and Morgan Counties in addition to Noble. 

Volunteer teams of two visit local firms to determine what additionally can be done to assist the firms to expand in our area.  The program is geared toward manufacturing firms but larger retail and service firms are also being included in the program.  If your firm has not been contacted and would like to be included in the program, please contact our office.

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As a part of a pilot program for OSU, Noble County was able to participate in a retail market analysis for the county.  Retail market analysis is a tool for identifying market trends within the local community, including the degree of surplus or leakage of dollars within specific trade sectors.  Estimation of retail surpluses and leakages provides a means to identify the relative strengths and weaknesses of the area’s retail markets and thereby to suggest economic development strategies for the community.

The study for Noble county looked at nine local trade areas including Zanesville, Cambridge, Barnesville, St. Clairsville, Woodsfield, Caldwell, McConnelsville, Marietta, and Parkersburg.  Data on spending on the various categories comes from Applied Geographic Systems, a private firm and is based on 1999 expenditures.  Data on population, housing, and income come from Census data.  The spending data is available for 30 separate categories.  The following table shows the percent of surplus or leakage 

This table shows the total surpluses and leakages for the nine trading areas:

Barnesville -          $48.8
Caldwell -              $66.7
Cambridge -          $97.6
Marietta                $92.5
McConnelsville -    $39.6
Parkersburg -        $159.9
St. Clairsville         $339.4
Woodsfield -          $22.2
Zanesville              $2.1

   (all figures in millions of dollars)

Strategies that are suggested by the results include:

· Strengthen the local market for one or more convenience goods for which the Caldwell trade area has a leakage.  Categories included here are grocery stores, drug stores, hardware stores, variety stores, service stations, and restaurants

· Pursue niche markets that either strengthen or complement existing surpluses with specialized goods.  For instance, the strong surplus in appliances could logically dovetail with improvement in furniture based on a presumption that people interested in buying appliances may well also be interested in buying furniture.

· Take advantage of the nearby interstate and destination sites in the area.  Use the interstate to funnel business into the area, not out of the area.  Work with NCI, the Wilds, and other regional attractions to bring visitors to area restaurants and service stations.

· Pursue niche markets that do not directly compete with larger urban centers and regional shopping malls.  Rural areas and small towns cannot compete directly with the variety and volume of goods and services that are offered by urban and suburban neighbors.  Developing a reputation of “going the extra mile” for service may increase sales in sectors of the economy that are currently experiencing leakages

· With leakages occurring in over 90% of the 30 categories, Noble County has many opportunities to strengthen and develop segments of its service economy.

Copies of the complete report are available from the Noble County Extension Office.

Apparel -86%
Appliances 151%
Bakery -100%
Bars 2%
Books -100%
Camera -100%
Candy -100%
Catalog -100%
Dept. Stores -100%
Drug Stores -78%
Electronics -86%
Floral -58%
Furniture -100%
Gas -44%
Grocery -77%
Hardware -71%
Hobby -69%
Jewelry -89%
Liquor -21%
Lumber -90%
Motor Vehicle -11%
Nursery -100%
Optical Goods -86%
Other -68%
Paint -79%
Rec. Vehicle -100%
Restaurant -53%
Shoes -90%
Sport. Goods -72%
Variety -53%

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Ohio’s population has not increased significantly over the past few decades, but it has redistributed itself dramatically within the state according to Jeff Sharp, OSU rural sociologist.  Today, 34 percent of Ohio’s 11.4 million people live in townships, outside the boundaries of a city or village.  That’s 3.86 million people, up from 2.7 million in 1960.

“There are a large number of people living in townships.  I’m not sure that we’re paying enough attention to that fact”, said Sharp.  He and colleagues Elena Irwin and Jason Reese have compiled Ohio data from the last 40 years on Ohio township population and its distribution.  It’s the first step of a long-term project that will focus more attention on the issues and challenges faced by residents living at what the researchers call the “rural-urban interface”.

“The level of population growth in townships can create many challenges for local officials,” Sharp said.  “From a policy standpoint, we need to better understand what townships are all about—what are there capacities, and what challenges they face.  This data clearly show that the townships are attracting a growing number of residents, and we can expect them to assert themselves politically.”

“In the past, sociologists have focused mainly on strictly urban or strictly rural areas,” according to Sharp.  “In Ohio, we have a lot of in-between areas that don’t quite fit either definition.  These areas are near urban jobs but have rural characteristics that people find appealing.  The question is how do we preserve that character as the population increases.”

Many of the state’s 1309 townships lost population in the past 40 years, especially in northwest and southeastern portions of the state.  In the 1960’s 516 townships saw a decrease in population.  In the 1980’s 557 suffered a loss.  “Rural economic development is a very important issue in areas that are slow growth or that are actually losing population.  These communities are trying very hard to attract new businesses and retain what they have,” said Sharp.  Contrasted to the slow growth/no growth townships are many near urban areas that are experiencing rapid growth.  Examples include townships in southern Delaware County, near Columbus, that have experienced growth of 140 percent since 1990.

The research group has published a report on statewide data, “Township Growth and Change:  Population Characteristics of Ohio Townships 1960 to 2000.  That, as well as more in-depth data on each of Ohio’s townships can be found on the group’s website http://aede.osu.edu/programs/exurbs/   You can expect three more reports soon on land use characteristics and policy, labor force characteristics, and housing characteristics in Ohio’s townships.

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The Leadership Noble program completed another successful program year by holding its closing ceremony on Saturday, October 20, 2001 at Lori’s Restaurant in Caldwell.  Members of this years class include Gene Davis, Stephanie Bond, Sarah Burton, Cynthia Fogle, Joanie King, Roberta Longfellow, Ruth Nau, Kevin Ranier, James Riddle, Chastity Schmelzenbach, Patricia Stires, Alice Tarleton, Misty Wells, and Jeffery Wolfe.

Cynthia Fogle and Jeffery Wolfe shared the “Honors Award” presented annually by the Noble County Chamber of Commerce.  This award, which is voted on by the Leadership Noble peers, is designed to recognize those who provide extraordinary input to the year’s programming. 

Speaker for this year’s program was Scott Braden, President of the Noble County Chamber of Commerce and a graduate of the Leadership Noble program. 

Recruitment is currently underway for the 2002 Leadership Noble class.  Participants can pick up information and pick up and return application forms at the OSU Extension office.  Application deadline is December 14, 2001 and includes a $100 fee.  Meeting schedule for the 2002 program begins with a overnight retreat which will be held on either Feb. 1 & 2 or Feb. 8 & 9, 2002 (Final date yet to be determined).  Monthly meetings will be held on March 14, April 18, May 16, June 20, August 15, and Sept. 19.

The two fold purpose of Leadership Noble is to improve the participant’s leadership skills and to provide a comprehensive examination of the workings of the county.  To achieve these goals, the 2001 class included sessions on education, nonprofit organizations, business and industry, local and state government, and agriculture and environment.

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In the face of the recent attacks agains the United States the National Drinking Water Clearinghouse (NDWC), a public service organization funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Services, has assembled a body of information about protecting small water systems from potential threats.

NDWC’s intent is to educate governing boards and system personnel, help them prepare emergency plans, and find sources of more information.  A collection of articles, checklists, phone numbers and Web Sites can be accessed from the NDWC’s Website at www.ndwc.wvu.edu, or if you don’t have a computer, call NDWC at 1-800-624-8301.

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Marietta College Small Business Development Center Workshops  (1-800-789-7232)

Basis of a Successful Start December 10, 2001 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the Noble County Library, 517 Spruce Street Caldwell, Ohio

Business Entities & Related Tax Structures (IRS Workshop) January 23, 2002 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Washington State Community College.

Boss-Basis of Successful Start on February 6, 2002 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the Noble County Library, 517 Spruce Street, Caldwell, Ohio.

Winter Courses at the OSU Learning Center East include:

»Navigating the Internet
»Beginner Basics I
»Introduction to the Internet & E-mail
»Internet Tools and Research Techniques
»Business Information Sources
»Speech
»Introduction to Composition
»Tiling the Soil of Opportunity
»Education

For more information please contact OSU Learning Center East at 740-732-2381 or you can email them at lceast@osu.edu.