By: Matt Hutton
ASHTABULA — The Civic Development Corporation is gearing up for its 2020 campaign.
This will be the 13th campaign since the CDC was founded in 1959. Campaigns take place every five years to raise money for various capital improvement projects across the county.
In the lead up to launching the campaign later this year, this week the CDC released results of its 2020 community assessment survey, which was conducted over several months at the end of 2018.
“The assessment is completed so that we have an understanding as to what Ashtabula County is looking for in the way of projects and what theme we will carry for our campaign,” Executive Director Amanda Tirotta said. “We like our donors and supporters to choose what is important to them as all the money we raise stays in Ashtabula County; donation dollars are an investment.”
She said they were happy with the results, getting 173 respondents, many of whom not only answered questions ranking priorities on a scale of 1 to 5, but also answered open-ended questions and offered suggestions and ideas.
“The community was really good about giving us a lot of detail and feedback,” she said. “We will definitely entertain those ideas.”
Respondents were asked to rank the importance of five topics in eight different categories including arts and culture; geography; recreation; quality of life; organizational impact; population; challenges; and communication.
One the things Tirotta said she was happiest to see was that people valued “our natural treasures,” such as pathways, Lake Erie and water access.
According to the survey, 140 of the 173 respondents said the waterfront/lakeshore areas were one of the two most important geographic areas to prioritize. Rivers/lake recreational areas were one of the top two most important areas for 128 respondents.
“Not every county in Ohio has what we have at our finger tips,” Tirotta said. “Everyone is treasuring what we have here.”
Paved biking/hiking trails narrowly edged fitness facilities/indoor sports complexes when it came to quality of life projects.
Other areas the topped survey results were music/dance/live theater/visual arts was most important category in arts and culture, while business growth and attracting new residents to the county were the top two areas for organizational impact. Families/children was the overwhelming top choice for population groups to prioritize.
As for challenges, substance abuse remained at the top, followed by the need for a skilled workforce.
The survey included a wide age range, with the bulk of respondents between ages 30 and 69, though Tirotta was glad to see a number of younger participants who were reached through the Youth Leadership Program.
“Our goal is to make Ashtabula stronger so our children put Ashtabula on their list that ‘I can have a family here, I can work here, I can stay here,’” she said.
The deadline to apply for a 2020 CDC grant is June 1, and thus far they have received 17 letters of intent, which are being reviewed this month in case more information is needed.
After the deadline, the CDC board will review the full applications and announce the projects in mid-July or August. Tirotta said the number of projects selected and the fundraising goal will vary in part based on the size of the funding requests.
“We’ll do the leg work of …. what is feasible without overtaxing everyone that is a donor,” she said.
The CDC’s 2015 campaign raised more than the $1.5 million to fund 14 projects throughout the county.
Tirotta said all but one of those projects has been completed, and the last one at the Ashtabula Arts Center is almost finished.
The 2015 campaign theme was “Placemaking.” While the 2020 campaign has a tagline — Your Vision, Our Focus — the board is still working on selecting a theme.
Tirotta also said CDC is working on a brand new website and social media push to help spread the community assessment.
“Our challenge and mission will be to fundraise for these sorts of projects that the community feels a connection to and are excited and willing to support and that will be sustainable for years to come,” she said.