The Ohio Conference of Community Development is a 170-member statewide association of community and economic development professionals.
Clark County’s development department administered several important programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as securing more than $670,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding for local non-profits and distributing more than $400,000 in CARES Act relief funds to local residents and businesses, the press release stated.
Distributing federal funding to homeless shelters in Clark and Greene counties was another project department undertook, and it also secured a Hampton Inn to help house homeless displaced throughout Ohio due to congregate settings being shut down, according to the release.
The department also helped fund two large projects in New Carlisle: $367,100 in critical infrastructure funds went to the Fenwick Drive street and drainage improvements, and $173,900 went to demolishing a blighted and vacant school in the middle of the city.
The department also operated the Clark County Land Reutilization Corp.
Early in the year, the Land Bank took donation of the former South Limestone Street Kroger property, which closed in 2019, causing a severe food desert in the south side of Springfield. The Land Bank worked closely with the city to quickly locate a new grocer for the facility and sold the property earlier this year to Groceryland LLC.
“Amongst all of the challenges 2020 brought the world, Clark County came together to overcome great hurdles,” said Clark County Community and Economic Development Director Ethan Harris in the release. “With all of these positive outcomes, one of the greatest achievements is a renewed bond between Springfield, Clark County and our many partners.”
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