Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) is seeking input from businesses, community leaders, and the public as it develops a five-year regional economic development plan for Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca, and Wood counties.
TMACOG is collecting feedback through an electronic survey and at five open meetings during May. Your input on regional strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats will directly inform priorities that will become part of a new Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS).
The CEDS is a five-year strategic plan that guides and prioritizes the region’s economic development efforts and provides a roadmap for federal, state, and private investment in the region. The plan examines economic factors including workforce, education, infrastructure, transportation, business climate, quality of life, industry and innovation, and demographics and population trends.
Click here to access a five-minute survey, which will be available through the end of May. Responses will be kept confidential.
You can also learn more about the CEDS and share your input at upcoming meetings across the five-county region. The Wood County meeting will be held May 13, from 4 to 5 p.m., at BGSU’s Center for Regional Development, 400 E. Poe Road, Bowling Green.
TMACOG kicked off development of the new CEDS in November 2024 and expects to complete it by the end of 2025. This is a crucial step toward creating a federally designated Economic Development District (EDD) for the five-county region, which will open new avenues for funding through the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
TMACOG is working closely with partners including Lucas County Economic Development, Ottawa County Community Improvement Corporation, Sandusky County Economic Development Corporation, Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership, Wood County Economic Development Commission, Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce, Seneca Chamber of Commerce, Owens Community College, Terra State Community College, Tiffin University, Bowling Green State University, the University of Toledo, Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, and other local economic development practitioners.
TMACOG is a nonpartisan regional planning partnership made up of voluntary members in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. Together, TMACOG members work on transportation, water quality, and other economic development endeavors that affect quality of life for everyone in the region. For more information, go to www.tmacog.org.
