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at Glenwood Middle School.
Hess, a former associate of Columbus, Indiana’s Chamber of Commerce, said that with its similar experience with corporate growth, Columbus has much it can teach Findlay.
“Columbus, Indiana and Findlay are sister cities, in terms of population, size, demographic makeup and fairly large corporate citizens,” Hess said.
Like Findlay, which benefits from the presence of major companies like Marathon Petroleum Corp., Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., Whirlpool Corp. and McLane Co., which is building a new distribution center, Columbus is also home to numerous large companies, most notably Cummins, Inc., a Fortune 500 engine manufacturer.
These companies “have a strong need for global talent, especially in engineering and business services,” Hess said.
Because of the similarities between Findlay and Columbus, economic development officials in both cities have had a long relationship. Tony Iriti, director of Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development, said the issue of whether or not Findlay is ready to welcome new corporate employees has been a topic among several community organizations for at least a couple of years.
Wednesday’s forum is being sponsored by the Hancock Leadership Alumni Association, the Hancock County Community Foundation“>Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation, the Findlay-Hancock County Alliance, Findlay City Schools, the University of Findlay and the Findlay Publishing Co., which publishes The Courier.
Iriti said that research shows that the newest generation of the workforce tend to pick the community first and then the employer, so, if Hancock County is to attract the best employees, it needs to have the amenities they are looking for.
“We need to be able to attract the best and the brightest employees for our companies,” Iriti said. “And if we can’t retain them, we’ll be on a slippery slope.”
In addition to young professionals, a diverse community that can attract employees and students from other countries will also be important.
“Over the last 25 years we’ve done a pretty decent job welcoming the Japanese to Findlay and Hancock County,” Iriti said. You can attract them, but you have to engage them,” he said.
Knowing of Hess’ expertise in the area of community building, sponsors of Wednesday’s forum asked Hess to come to Findlay to begin dialogue on the topic here.
Hess said that in 2004, Columbus did a community-wide survey through its community foundation.
The survey provided a “benchmark” measurement on how the city welcomed new people. Is it easy for newcomers to get involved in community activities?
“We found out that maybe we weren’t as welcoming as we thought we should be,” Hess said.
From this, Columbus put forth several initiatives. The center employs “navigators” who help newcomers integrate into the community and offers classes in English as a second language.
A new organization was also started with representatives of several different ethnic groups which now offers cross-cultural activities and programs.
Hess said it was important to think of not only the employees the businesses might attract, but the families they would bring with them.
Columbus conducted a follow-up survey in 2011, which Hess said showed that significant improvements had been made but there is still work to do.
Hess said Wednesday’s forum will allow Hancock County leaders to establish a local benchmark.
Hess will be joined in Findlay by John Burnett, president and CEO of Columbus’ Community Education Coalition.
Hess said the evening will be divided into two parts. Hess said the Columbus community learned that other communities that had been successful in opening up to new people had a defined strategy for attracting, developing and engaging them.
Secondly, Burnett will lead a discussion on what particular steps this community can take to become a more welcoming community.
Angela Crist, a member of the Hancock Leadership Alumni Association, said Wednesday’s forum is “a conversation that really needs to happen.”
“We see all these great growth opportunities for the community,” Crist said. Listening to them, and taking into consideration their experiences from other places they’ve lived, can only make this community stronger, she said.
Iriti and Crist said the organizations sponsoring Wednesday’s forum were discussing the issue of a welcoming community for a couple of years, long before recent controversies such as a local debate about putting an addiction recovery house in a residential neighborhood and a proposed religious freedom bill in Indiana that opponents said made it legal to discriminate against certain groups of people.
But the concept of a welcoming community can apply to any number of subgroups, not just prospective employees.



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