Paulding County Economic Development Press Release 3/19/2023
PAULDING – The Paulding County Economic Development (PCED) Board toured the Small Business Innovation Center (SBIC) during their March meeting.
The SBIC is a building located at 103 E. Perry Street in Paulding on the square, that is owned by the Paulding County Commissioners. The building hosts the county Election Board offices on the first floor at 105 E. Perry. The 103 E. Perry side, has offices available for rent on the first floor, and several office and conference room spaces available upstairs (103 ½ E. Perry). These offices are over both first-floor business spaces and offer a spectacular second story view of the courthouse. These offices are managed by the PCED office.
“There are three new members on the PCED Board of Directors this year. We thought it would be fitting to let them see what our office manages, but it also allowed some of our established members the opportunity to see the latest improvements and changes the offices have been through lately,” stated Tim Copsey PCED Director. “Our hope is to get the word out to folks working from home that the county does have a shared working space facility if they needed to host a meeting or just find a remote spot to work from occasionally.”
This space was developed back in 2018 to allow new businesses, researching the village or county, an option to test foot traffic before buying a brick-and-mortar facility. It has allowed many businesses to start and grow, or falter, before a lot of investment is made. One of the recent successes was Ag Credit. They started in this space before moving into their facility at 839 N. Williams Street in Paulding. Another success was having a place for Union Bank to open their Paulding branch, immediately upon deciding to come to Paulding, while the building they purchased for rehabilitation was remodeled.
Other businesses tested the water and weren’t as successful. Brown & Brown, a Toledo attorney group, rented space for a while before deciding they could do their services from Toledo. More recently, Family First Jail Bondsman rented office to see if a Paulding address would be beneficial for more business, but ultimately decided it was not. Currently there is one ground level floor office available for rent open and three upstairs offices available ($250/month upstairs).
Both upstairs and downstairs offices offer a kitchenette, restrooms, and have conference room available. The tours were to show, and remind, board members of the opportunities available for shared office space. The spaces can also be rented by the hour.
The regular business agenda followed including:
- Received updates from the Director for projects taking place around the county
- Accepting PCED By-law changes presented at January meeting for review
- Accepting Financial reports presented by Treasurer Jeff Mumma and Financial Committee
- Heard committee reports as presented
- Heard from each member in regard to the business sector they represent per PCED by-laws
The board will meet again in a regular meeting on Tuesday, May 14, 2024
