PCBW Episode 98 – Sarah Harpel (Paulding County Clerk of Courts)

PCBW Episode 98 – Sarah Harpel (Paulding County Clerk of Courts)

Listen in this week as we hear from our new Paulding County Clerk of Courts elect Sarah Harpel. Sarah shares her experiences that led her to the position and what the clerk of court position does for Paulding County. We want to give a huge thank you to OhioMeansJobs for sponsoring this program. You can tune in to Paulding County Business Weekly on Tuesdays & Thursdays at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., or Click Here to Listen Online! PCBW is also available in podcast form through Apple, Google & Spotify. #pauldingcountystrong

Andrew’s Doggie Oasis Opens

Andrew’s Doggie Oasis Opens

Paulding County Economic Development Press Release                                 December 30, 2024

OAKWOOD – A ribbon cutting was held here recently to introduce a new business in the village.  Andrew’s Doggie Oasis is located at 105 North 2nd Street. Local owners Mindy Newsome and Sherri Fitzsimmons will offer full-service grooming for any size dog, dog boarding, and also breeding of miniature Schnauzers and Golden Retrievers.   They have been breeding miniature Schnauzers since 2002.

The business is named after Mindy’s son Andrew Newsome, whom they both helped raise until his passing in 2023. Andrew loved animals.

Mindy is engrained in a long family history of grooming in the community.  Her great-grandmother owned a poodle parlor for 30 years and her grandfather, Bob Weisenburger was a barber in the village for 69 years!   The new business owners are currently learning new techniques and skills through QC Pet Studies.

The business is excited to be available 7 days a week by appointment only. You can contact the business by phone at 419-594-2338, email andrewsdoggieoasisllc@gmail.com, or check out their business page on Facebook.

Paulding County Zoning Inspectors Meeting

Paulding County Economic Development Press Release

PAULDING – The quarterly Paulding County zoning inspectors meeting took place on Wednesday at the Paulding County Economic Development Office. This group morphed out of quarterly county mayor’s meetings and has developed as a way to bridge communication gaps and further effort in zoning consistency and collaboration amongst the county.

The main agenda item was to start collecting the list of zoning fees for each municipality and township.  These lists will be compiled into a spreadsheet that will allow a comparison of costs and the variation of fees.  Those in attendance shared their table of fees which started a comparison discussion.  The group determined that if the zoning fee tables were submitted to the courthouse, they could be found on the recorder’s website.

Sarah McCabe, with the county auditor’s office, shared that they will be sharing year end data for building permit summaries.  These would be regarding commercial, residential, agriculture, mobile homes, and destroyed mobile home permits issued in 2024.

Brian Harder, with the county engineer’s office, shared that since the county GIS system was implemented visits to the office have diminished greatly.  It was questioned about how many zoning maps are on file with the engineering office.  Harder reported that less than 50% of the maps are on file.  The group will work with the office to increase this amount.

General conversation turned to the county health department and the septic verification program.  Recently the county has started to lay out the plan for verifying septic systems around the county are operating correctly and efficiently.  More information about this state-required program will be forthcoming from the department.

Tim Copsey, county economic development director offered information about the county land bank funds from the State of Ohio.  Earlier this week, the Ohio Department of Development moved forward with committing the $500,000 allocation to the county and asked for final paperwork to be submitted by January 6.  Estee Blair, with Maumee Valley Planning Organization, will submit this information for the county.  Demolition bids will then be sent out for the 42 submitted properties around the county.

Participants this quarter represented Washington Township, Carryall Township, Crane Township, Paulding Village, Cecil Village, the county auditor office, the county engineer office, and economic development.  The group agreed to meet again on March 19th, 2025.

PCBW: Doug Schlatter, Dave Nice, Jane Nice – Reclaimed Living Sober Transitional House

PCBW: Doug Schlatter, Dave Nice, Jane Nice – Reclaimed Living Sober Transitional House

This week, we dive into a new endeavor in Paulding County. We talk with board members Doug Schlatter, Jane Nice, and Dave Nice about the new Reclaimed Living Sober Transitional House and how it will benefit Paulding County. Big thank you to OhioMeansJobs for sponsoring this program. You can tune in on Tuesdays & Thursdays at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., or listen online at www.my1027.org/paulding-county-business-weekly/. Paulding County Business Weekly is also available in podcast form through Apple, Google & Spotify. #pauldingcountystrong

Paulding County BAC Hosts Informative in 4th Quarter Meeting

Paulding County Economic Development Press Release

PAULDING– The Paulding County Economic Development (PCED) office hosted the fourth quarter Business Advisory Council (BAC) Committee meeting this week.  The meeting was held in the newly remodeled OSU Extension building on the campus of the Paulding County Fairgrounds.

Twenty-one business leaders and educators introduced themselves so participants understood where and how each attendee fits into Paulding County’s growth.  The event was moderated by PCED Director Tim Copsey.  Copsey shared how the council is stronger with participation and how it can benefit school, student, and business relationships around the county, for the future.

Guests heard a summary of recent BAC Steering Committee activity.  The committee meets quarterly for months just prior to full council meetings.  This committee digs deeper into the details of how to develop collaboration between businesses and educators and helps guide future development within the BAC.  For the 2024-25 school year BAC template submission to the Ohio Education Association, 28 programs were identified and reported that were taking place between businesses and educators in the county.  This committee is now reviewing each of these programs individually to see if they remain viable, are relevant to business today, and if we can emulate them at other schools or businesses within the county.  The review will continue throughout the year.

As they started out in the past, this group was mentored by other high-performing BAC groups around the state.  The Ottawa County BAC has offered an invite for the Paulding County members to join in one of their upcoming meetings to see how they run their BAC and if anything could be learned for the future.  The group will look at the date and see if there might be an opportunity to participate in a collaborative meeting soon.

Discussion also took place regarding connecting with last year’s high school graduates. It would be of interest to the BAC to be able to share open employment opportunities, from around the county, with graduates and with current college students.  This would allow students to see employment opportunities, within their field of study, as they determine their employment future.

One highlighted area, for possible improvement from the committee, is with the OhioMeansJobs employment portal.  It was noted that this seems cumbersome for students.  A meeting has been scheduled to see if there may be an opportunity to walk through this portal with students and OMJ state leadership to see how training may help, or if there needs to be some tweaking to the portal itself.  Results will be shared with the committee at a future meeting.

All three county high schools addressed the group sharing new and exciting things taking place with each of them.  Superintendent Rick Turner shared updates from Vantage Career Center and Northwest State Community College Van Wert campus Dean of Students Jon Tomlinson shared information in regard to the college.

Copsey closed out the meeting sharing information about potential opportunities that have taken place in other nearby counties that the BAC should consider.  This included a business breakfast at Patrick Henry High School and an elementary business expo at Holgate Elementary.  Also shared were dates of April 2 for the Paulding County Business, College, and Career Showcase and June 2-5 & 9 for the 2025 Paulding County Teacher Bootcamp.  The boot camp is provided by the State of Ohio to offer local high school administrators and educators the opportunity go out to tour and meet local business professionals while receiving continuing college credit.

The PC BAC will convene again in February with a Steering Committee meeting and a full membership meeting in March