by Isabella Carwile | Feb 13, 2025 | Business Expansion, Community, Events, PCED Office, Workforce
Paulding County Economic Development Press Release February 13, 2025
PAULDING – The Paulding County Business Advisory Council (BAC) Steering Committee held their first meeting in 2025 at the Paulding County Economic Development office, with 16 members in attendance.
The meeting opened with Dee Basinger, from Ashland University, sharing that Ashland was the largest recipient of the Ohio Education grant. The grant allows teachers to be credited CEU hours for attending Teacher Boot Camp. The Paulding County Education Service Center (ESC) 2025 Teacher Boot Camp will be held June 2-5 & 9. The event is open for educators, administrators, and school board members to sign up now. The bootcamp is designed to equip attendees with the necessary skills and knowledge to bridge the gap between education, and the workplace, and help them understand what is available right here in Paulding County business that matches what they teach in the school.
Mike Burkholder, representing the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, talked about the High School Tech Internship program and how this program may benefit both students and businesses. He also reiterated that businesses should be using Ohio Tech Cred as cost reimbursement for upskilling their employees. Burkholder shared that many schools are using this program right now to help teachers learn more about and understand artificial intelligence. The Tech Cred sign-up is open again to all Ohio businesses in March.
The meeting continued with Paulding County Economic Development Director Tim Copsey sharing information about the upcoming Career and College Expo on April 2nd. The event will be held at the Paulding County Fairgrounds OSU Extension building. Details of the event are coming together, including the use of the YouScience data. YouScience is an assessment tool that students in all three county schools are taking to identify the best potential career paths. Students will be provided a color code for their top three career paths. The businesses will be identified with the same color codes as to what they can offer. This should help better match students to businesses in their assessed career paths. Collaboration will continue up to the event.
In preparing junior and senior students for this event, the county economic development office will be visiting all three county high schools to pass out #pauldingcountystrong T-shirts to the seniors, and sharing QR code information to the juniors and seniors for access to a Paulding County business contact booklet and collecting emails. The emails will be added for receipt of the weekly county newsletter and future open employment position postings in the county. This should help students understand what employment opportunities are available in the county while they attend college, join the armed forces, or are simply looking for local employment.
The discussion then switched over to open employment positions in the county, both for youth and adults. In the past, the economic development office shared open positions through their weekly newsletter. This became a little cumbersome, so a decision was made to use the established OhioMeansJobs website. Recently, it has been requested that this perhaps be brought back into the PCED office. PCED Office Administrator Jessica Stechschulte shared that she has recently submitted a grant application for the BAC. One of the projects that the grant could fund would be the implementation of a vehicle to share open employment positions in the county. The group suggested that however it was decided to share the information, that perhaps students could help with this detail and possibly even be compensated through the grant. Stechschulte stated she will share information about the grant once she is notified.
The floor was then opened for any discussion. There was great interactive conversation, and ideas exchanged, on how students, educators, and the county businesses can create more opportunities to engage with each other. BAC meetings continue to make significant steps in strengthening the relationship between educational institutions and local businesses, aiming to better prepare students for their future workforce endeavors, either right out of high school, while attending college, or after college.
The full first quarter BAC meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 12th at the Paulding County OSU Extension office. For more information about the Business Advisory Council please reach out to Jessica Stechschulte at the economic development office at 419-399-8295 or office@pced.net.
by Isabella Carwile | Feb 11, 2025 | Business Expansion, Community, Membership, New Business, Paulding County Business Weekly Radio Broadcast, Property Development, Shoutout
As we share information from around the county on Paulding County Business Weekly, let’s check in with the new Grover Hill Hardware House. Leslie and Rob Moser have purchased and totally renovated the former hardware building and created a beautiful VRBO space upstairs (that sleeps 10 comfortably) and an outstanding commercial/retail space downstairs. Listen to how this whole project came about and how it will benefit the community as several other projects in the community transpire. You can tune in to Paulding County Business Weekly on Tuesdays & Thursdays at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Listen to this episode or catch up on past ones online by Clicking the Link Here or on many podcast platforms including Apple, Google & Spotify.
by Isabella Carwile | Feb 9, 2025 | Community, Events, Shoutout
Paulding County Economic Development Press Release February 9, 2025
ANTWERP – Three Antwerp businesses will be hosting the 2nd Annual Black Swamp Bash in what they consider the “ultimate Antwerp triathlon”. The business collaboration includes, The Upper Nine, Pin-A-Rama Bowling Alley and Hops Place. Each business will host one leg of the event for two-person teams to compete on Saturday, March 8.
Pin-A-Rama will host bowling at 207 West Daggett Street. Participants will bowl 20 frames of 9-pin no-tap bowling and use that score to post in the competition. The Upper Nine golf simulators are located at 113 North Main Street. There, competitors will play 9 holes of golf in a scramble format.
Following bowling and golf, contestants will end at Hops Place 518 Erie Street. They will compete in a double elimination washer tournament and post final results for the day to determine the overall winners.
The event started in 2024 as the local businesses tried to find ways to get more customers inside their establishments. 23 teams signed up to compete making a fun day for all and providing a business spark in the community. The Upper Nine owner Matt Moore remarked, “Last year we made an attempt to get some excitement generated for our businesses. The participation was more than we initially thought it would be and the comments after were all positive and everyone said they had fun. Based on that we felt we could have success again this year.”
Tim Copsey, Paulding County Economic Development Director also shared, “During the covid year the Flat Rock Creek Festival wasn’t able to be held. Instead, there was a tour set up with not-for-profit groups that would have provided food at the festival. This allowed several stops all around the county. That event was very successful and well attended. This Black Swamp Bash event could be something that is the beginning of a county-wide sports event that could be fun for many, just as that tour was. It will certainly boost the local economy, and would offer the opportunity for county residents and guests to find out more about each community in the county. We are excited these Antwerp businesses are continuing this event to see how it might grow into something larger and support its future growth potential.”
The entry fee for this Black Swamp Bash event is $100 per two-person team. Early registrants have the opportunity for a free T-shirt. Grab a partner and join in the fun. For more information about the event you can check any of the business Facebook pages or contact them direct.
by Isabella Carwile | Jan 29, 2025 | Community, Membership, Shoutout
Big shoutout to our third and final investment member with whom we celebrated 20 years of partnership, Dooley Funeral Home! Huge thank you from PCED for your continued investment, support, and partnership!
#ourmembersarethebest
by Isabella Carwile | Jan 28, 2025 | Community, Paulding County Business Weekly Radio Broadcast, PCED Office, Shoutout
Episode 100!! Can you believe we have recorded 100 episodes of Paulding County Business Weekly? This week, My102.7 FM Station Manager Joe Barker, Station Engineer Terry Carwile, and Economic Development Director Tim Copsey sat down to discuss and reminisce about where it all began and how we developed the idea of PCBW. Thank you to OhioMeansJobs, My102.7 FM, West Bend Printing & Publishing, Natural Design & Graphics, our show guests, and our listeners for nearly 4 years of fantastic collaboration! PCBW would not be possible without YOU! #pauldingcountystrong! You can tune in to Paulding County Business Weekly on Tuesdays & Thursdays at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Listen to this episode or catch up on past ones online by Clicking Here or on many podcast platforms including Apple, Google & Spotify.
by Isabella Carwile | Jan 22, 2025 | Community, Membership, PCED Office, Shoutout
We want to give a massive shoutout to Natural Design & Graphics, another one of our 20-year investment members! Thank you for your wonderful partnership, fantastic collaboration, and continued investment over the years! We look forward to what our partnership brings in the years to come!
