Author: Greg Davis

Recognizing excellence: Connecting resources for positive community change

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How do we achieve excellence? We stop what we are doing, stand back, and assess efforts. At this point we are better able to recognize special accomplishments.

Raymond Schindler

Raymond A. Schindler

The Raymond A. Schindler Excellence in Community Development Extension Award is named in honor of Raymond A. Schindler, one of the first Extension CD professionals in Ohio. Hired in 1962 as an Area Extension Agent, Ray began his career in southern Ohio, based in Highland County. He took a collaborative approach to his work, focusing on tourism development, comprehensive planning, planning commissions, and business retention and expansion programs until his retirement in 1988.

Today, we recognize Extension CD professionals with The Raymond A. Schindler Excellence in Community Development Extension Award. The annual award seeks to recognize:

  • long term strengths in teaching and research
  • a long-standing record of teamwork and collaboration in program planning, implementation and evaluation
  • a successful track record in grant awards, cost recovery, or other external funding
Susan Colbert

Susan Colbert

Just last week (January 24), we recognized Susan Colbert with the Raymond A. Schindler Excellence in Community Development Extension Award for her ability to develop and deliver multidisciplinary, evidence-based programs in collaboration with colleagues, stakeholders, private industry and state and federal funding partners that empower others to affect positive change. Since joining Ohio State University Extension in 1998, she has truly demonstrated a record of excellence in creative and scholarly work, teaching and service to community and profession.

Click here to learn more about Susan and her work.

Greg Davis

Greg Davis, professor and assistant director, OSU Extension CD.

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Community Economics Programs for Ohio (and beyond!)

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The economy is humming. You may have heard recently in the news, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the addition of 250,000 new jobs in October, topping the 118,000 jobs created in September. More likely, you have seen the “help wanted” and “now hiring” signs posted in your community and throughout your travels.

Even better, the Labor Department reported that average hourly earnings increased again in October, from 2.8 percent in September and to 3.1 percent on the year. This is the largest quarterly wage gain in ten years.

David Civittolo and Eric Romich discuss the Business Retention & Expansion program as a community economics tool

Serving as a model for the world, the U.S. economic system was the subject of study during a recent three-week, multi-state visit coordinated by the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration’s Special American Business Internship Training (SABIT) program. The SABIT program builds partnerships and provides technical assistance through training Eurasian business leaders in U.S. business practices.

The SABIT visit involved a 19-member delegation from many of the former Soviet bloc countries such as: Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Russia. The individuals represented academic institutions, regional/state/local governments, and national business associations (e.g. ‘chambers of commerce’).

As part of the SABIT program, Ohio State University Extension CD professionals were invited to share more about the ways Extension partners with communities, agencies, and organizations in pursuit of local and regional strategies for economic development. The delegates were particularly interested in learning more about our role in:

  • Cultivating and facilitating regional collaboration and partnership frameworks (e.g. advisory/planning committee approach)
  • Identifying and supporting industry clusters
  • Community and organizational strategic planning
  • Workforce development
  • Business incubators, and
  • Building capacity of elected officials

    Myra Wilson and Eric Romich discuss Extension’s involvement in workforce development

Working through interpreters, we discussed the land-grant system, Extension, and shared recent examples of how we engage others through the application of a wide variety of community economics programs and tools. After spending a couple of hours together, they were particularly interested in learning more about how they could strengthen their partnerships with academic institutions to inform research, teaching, and engagement efforts.

Despite the language barrier, there were many questions and the discussion was lively. Some of the delegates even inquired about returning to the U.S. to study and learn more. Others were eager to extend invitations to visit them in their home countries. Collaboration truly knows no boundaries!

In short, no matter where you are, we serve to partner with you and your community to share, learn, and identify ways to strengthen the local and regional economy.

You can learn the numerous ways we might work with you throughout these blog pages. To better understand the range of what is possible, take a look at the ‘Tags’ which highlight the content found here and feel free to contact the post’s author for more info. Or contact me directly at davis.1081@osu.edu or 614-292-5942.

Greg DavisGreg Davis is a Professor and Assistant Director, OSU Extension – Community Development.

Collaborating for Impact

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How do we expand employment opportunities and community leadership capacity as well as strengthen and leverage an area’s agricultural and natural resource-based economy within a three-county region? We marshal resources necessary to create three county-based Extension educator positions where the impact of the ‘full on’ Extension network and its collaborative efforts can be immediately felt.

James Morris and Brooke Beam recently joined long-time OSU Extension educator Dave Dugan in a three-county cluster in southwestern Ohio. James started most recently (May 29) in Brown County. Brooke Beam started March 26 and is based in Highland County. They will be working closely with Dave Dugan who will can now focus on Adams County; a welcome relief from his previous task covering all three of these counties. Brooke, James, and Dave bring a wide variety of experience and formal training in the areas of agronomy, agri-business, direct marketing, agricultural communication and Extension.

As a team, they will aim to address rural development needs in the three-county area. Specific areas of emphasis include: farm management, innovative ag-business enterprise development, and community leadership development, for example. A key program goal is to cultivate systems that support new rural economic development and business development opportunities.

Extension work is collaborative work. We are excited about the various ways that Brooke, James and Dave can work together and also in collaboration with community stakeholders, long-time partners and the many Extension colleagues that exist across the system.

How can you reach them?

Brooke Beam, PhDBrooke Beam
OSU Extension – Highland County
119 Governor Foraker Place; Suite 202
Hillsboro, OH 45133
937-393-1918
beam.49@osu.edu

Dave DuganDave Dugan
OSU Extension – Adams County
215 North Cross Street, Room 104
West Union, OH 45693
937-544-2339
dugan.46@osu.edu

 

James MorrisJames Morris
OSU Extension – Brown County
325 West State Street, Bldg B
Georgetown, OH 45121
937-378-6716
morris.1677@osu.edu

 

Interested in learning more? Go to https://adams.osu.edu,  https://brown.osu.edu/ and https://highland.osu.edu/

Greg DavisGreg Davis is a Professor and Assistant Director, OSU Extension-Community Development.

 

Recognizing Excellence: Contributions and innovations in Extension CD

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How do we achieve excellence? We stop what we are doing, stand back, and assess efforts. We then recognize those special accomplishments.

The Raymond A. Schindler Excellence in Community Development Extension Award is named in honor of Raymond A. Schindler, one of the first Extension CD professionals in Ohio. Hired in 1962 as an Area Extension Agent, Ray began his career in southern Ohio, based in Highland County. He took a collaborative approach to his work, focusing on tourism development, comprehensive planning, planning commissions, and business retention and expansion programs until his retirement in 1988.

Today, we recognize Extension CD professionals with The Raymond A. Schindler Excellence in Community Development Extension Award. The annual award seeks to recognize:

  • long term strengths in teaching and research
  • a long-standing record of teamwork and collaboration in program planning, implementation and evaluation
  • a successful track record in grant awards, cost recovery, or other external funding

In January 2018, we recognized Becky Nesbitt with the Raymond A. Schindler Excellence in Community Development Extension Award for her ability to develop and deliver multidisciplinary, evidence-based programs in collaboration with colleagues, stakeholders, private industry and state and federal funding partners that empower others to affect positive change. Since joining Ohio State University Extension in 1987, she has truly demonstrated a record of excellence in creative and scholarly work, teaching and service to community and profession.

Click here to learn more about Becky and her work.Congratulations, Becky!

Greg Davis is a professor and assistant director for OSU Extension Community Development.

Strengthening teamwork and leadership: conference planning-style

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When trying something new we’ve not done before, it doesn’t take us long to realize that proficiency requires a dedication to practice and in most cases a good bit of patience. And, you might say that Extension professionals work in teams all the time. It is not often, however, that we work together in national conference planning.

Logo photo courtesy of: ThisisCleveland.com and Larry E. Highbaugh, Jr.

CD professionals have been practicing teamwork and leadership skills around a singular focus since June 2014. That’s when the idea of hosting the annual conference for our professional association, the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (a.k.a. NACDEP), was first shared. After learning of our proposal’s success about 18 months later, even more opportunities to practice really kicked. For example, as a team, we have:

  • Participated in the past three NACDEP conferences like never before (i.e., ‘What does it take to put this on?’)
  • Encouraged colleagues to serve on the national NACDEP board (thank you, Nancy Bowen, treasurer; David Civittolo, president-elect; and Brian Raison, north central representative)
  • Served on a variety of prior NACDEP conference sub-committees
  • Worked together to identify our conference location (Cleveland) and venue (Renaissance Cleveland Hotel – Downtown)
  • Brainstormed and investigated the best things to experience in Cleveland

Exploring a potential conference MLW site: Edgewater Park

With Ohio JCEP’s support, a couple of weeks ago we were able to practice our teamwork and leadership skills in a face-to-face retreat at the conference venue in Cleveland. During this two-day retreat, we:

  • Investigated potential conference mobile learning workshop (MLW) ideas in small groups
  • Explored the conference hotel and surrounding areas
  • Continued our subcommittee work focused on sessions, speakers, sponsorship, publicity, hospitality, MLWs, etc.

This work required our best leadership and teamwork by subcommittee chairs and co-chairs, MLW investigation leaders, and situational leaders too. Even better, we were able to team up with members of the national NACDEP board in this work as they overlapped their annual face-to-face retreat with our conference planning retreat at the 2018 NACDEP Conference venue in Cleveland.

No doubt, there has been much to learn throughout this conference planning process. And when we consciously make the time for it, there is much to learn beyond the ins and outs of how to produce a top-rate NACDEP conference. Every day we have countless opportunities to actively and deliberately practice our skills necessary for working with others. Opportunities to strengthen our skills and build proficiency. The work that lies ahead will require our best teamwork and leadership.

Regardless of the task at hand or the challenge you face, how you go about practicing your skills is up to you.

Let’s ‘suit up!’

Greg Davis is a 2018 NACDEP Conference planning committee co-chair and Extension Assistant Director, Community Development.

BIG Skies, BOLD Partnerships

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Visiting with a colleague recently, she shared that these uncertain times in our workplace, in our communities, and in the larger world around us require that we ask ourselves what we really are about.

For the past several days, nearly 350 practitioners, academics, and Extension professionals came together to share and learn and discuss how we can make a difference within the various communities we serve in the first-ever joint conference with NACDEP and the Community Development Society (CDS).

Big Sky, Montana, provided the conference venue for over 130 concurrent session presentations, 40 poster presentations and 3 IGNITE presentations. Five keynote presentations were included along with 8 mobile learning workshops focused on culture, local food, leadership and collaborative partnerships for economic development.

June conference surprise

Among the presentations were ten involving a dozen of Ohio’s Extension professionals. Topics and presenters (including those involving out of state collaborators indicated with an *) are listed below:

  • Credentialing Local Planning Officials: Master Citizen Planner Program (Wayne Beyea*, Myra Moss & Kara Salazar*)
  • Entrepreneurial Networking Competencies: Contemporary Perspectives on Social Capital (Julie Fox)
  • Energize Job Retention: Energy Management Strategies as a Component of Business Retention and Expansion Programs (Nancy Bowen, Eric Romich & David Civittolo)
  • Bold Partnering: Join a National Network on Leadership Programming (Brian Raison, Kyle Willams* & Elizabeth North*)
  • A New Tool for Increasing Marina Resiliency to Coastal Storms in the Great Lakes (Joe Lucente & Sarah Orlando)
  • Building Collaborative Partnership Around Critical Community/Stakeholder Issues: Watersheds, Agriculture, and a City’s Source Water Quality (Myra Moss)
  • Maximizing the Gains of Old and New Energy Development for America’s Rural Communities (Eric Romich, David Civittolo & Nancy Bowen)
  • Partnering for Community Health (Becky Nesbitt)
  • Exploring ways of using Community Arts, Cultural and Heritage businesses to stimulate Rural Community Economic Development (Godwin Apaliyah & Ken Martin)
  • Using Farmers Markets as a Tool for Economic Development: Increasing Healthy Food Access While Benefiting Small to Mid-Sized Farms (Amanda Osborne)
  •  A Dialogue Prompt for Housing and Land Use Policy in a New Administration (poster) (Anna Haines* & Myra Moss)

Three Ohioans were also installed as officers on the national NACDEP board: Nancy Bowen (re-elected Treasurer), David Civittolo (elected President-elect), and Brian Raison (elected north-central region Representative).

Two OSUE NACDEP members were also recognized with national and regional awards. Raison received regional and national recognition for using educational technology in developing  ‘A Virtual Farm Market Pilot’ and creating materials for ‘Top 10 Ways to Improve Online Teaching and Learning.’  He received regional recognition in the category ‘Excellence in CD Work’ for his effort, ‘Establishing an Impactful Local Food Council.’ Romich received regional recognition (honorable mention) in the category ‘Distinguished Career.’

Sunrise over Big Sky

Leadership, teamwork and collaboration were celebrated and cultivated throughout the conference. And after a very moving final keynote address by Sarah Calhoun of Red Ants Pants, we were reminded again that working together we truly can move mountains. See you next year in Cleveland, June 10-13!

 

 

Greg Davis is a Professor and Assistant Director for OSU Extension Community Development.

Using technology to expand our reach

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There are only so many hours in a day and yet our work never seems to end. How can we better extend our reach and increase awareness of Extension?

For almost three years we have been using technology to enhance our efforts to inform and interact with the publics we serve. We drive web travelers to this very blog using popular social networking tools such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Together, these tools and the blog link users to our other web-based content that includes podcasts, videos, and a variety of downloadable materials.

In days past, we assembled a quarterly newsletter that required formatting, copying, and then hard copy distribution. With the advent of email, that approach gave way to an electronic PDF version that could be sent to an email list. The web enabled us to post the PDF but who would actually go there to read it?

blog-stats

Today, we are reaching literally thousands of people, many of whom are connecting with us for the very first time. Not only are they able to acquire the specific content that is of interest to them, we are also now able to interact in ways we could not ever before.

The entire staff plays a creative role which has built a real sense of teamwork. And knowing we are extending our reach and increasing awareness of Extension has been very motivating as well!

To learn more about our approach, please feel free to contact me or any of the CD team members.

To see how it could work for you, take the opportunity to investigate some of the recent posts, categories or tags that interest you on the left side of your screen. Notice how you can share the content you like with others, interact with the author and others who have an interest in the topic, and find additional information linked to the post. Enjoy!!

Greg Davis is the Assistant Director for OSU Extension, Community Development.

Transforming a School; Transforming a Neighborhood

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How do you help support an organization which aims to transform lives through education, job training, and local job growth through entrepreneurship development? If it is the Reeb Avenue Center in the south side of Columbus, you meet up with a colleague for lunch in their South Side Roots Café and Market.

The Center was once the Reeb Elementary School (circa 1904). The school served the South Side neighborhood comprised of immigrants from central and Eastern Europe, Africa, and Appalachia, many of whom worked in the area’s steel and glass industries. After experiencing the post-war boom period in the 1950s-60s, the neighborhood began a slow and steady economic decline.

Over the past year, the Rereeb-avenue-centereb Elementary School has been transformed into the Reeb Avenue Center; a hub for new investments in social, cultural, human, and built capital. Today, the school houses offices for over a dozen different non-profit agencies such as Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus, Godman Guild, and Mid-Ohio Foodbank. One of the building’s former classrooms serves as  a satellite location for the Franklin County Extension team as well. Together, these Reeb Center partners having been working to build a prosperous and sustainable south side community.

Part of the center also serves as a gathering place for community members to join others in a meal and purchase fresh produce. The South Side Roots Café (run by the Mid-Ohio Foodbank) is located on the ground level in the area that formerly housed the school kitchen and cafeteria. Combined with a variety of seating options, reading materials, and local art, it makes an ideal venue for building community with others as a patron or volunteer. In addition to daily lunches, a weekly meal is offered every Tuesday evening that accepts a variety of payment options (full price, full price and ‘pay it forward’, and volunteered time in place of payment). A Kids Café is also available for participants of the Girls & Boys Clubs programming.

To learn more about the Reeb Avenue Center or the South Side Roots Cafe, take a closer look at their webpages or plan your own visit when you are in the neighborhood at 208 Reeb Avenue, Columbus.

Greg Davis is the Assistant Director for OSU Extension, Community Development.

NCRCRD Partnering to Maximize Efforts

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How do we maximize our efforts to build human and social capital in ways that can strengthen resiliency and vitality? For one, we can partner with the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD), one of four rural development centers that work collaboratively across the U.S.

skidmore2013On Tuesday, a couple dozen individuals interested in learning more had a chance to share and learn with Dr. Mark Skidmore, director of the NCRCRD. Mark began as director in January 2016 and has spent the past five months meeting with faculty and staff of the land grant universities in the twelve-state north central region which includes: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.

Participants of the morning seminar learned that the NCRCRD’s efforts help support community capacity development in four primary areas:

  • Innovation diffusion for rural development
  • Sustainable communities
  • Leadership development
  • Entrepreneurial activities

Within each of these thematic areas, the center supports: research, development of publications and policy briefs, small grants programs ranging from $5-$25K (proposals due in early February), and professional development webinars.

During the visit, Mark learned more about programmatic needs and priorities of community development faculty and staff working in various roles throughout Ohio. Mark also shared his vision for the center; something akin to what some would describe as a ‘really big tent’ involving the various affiliated land grant institutions, communities, organizations and disciplines engaging in highly-functional partnerships.

And, in case you are wondering, while the center ‘s mission is to “address issues of interest to rural communities,” center staff also realize the inter-dependencies that exist between our rural areas and more populated urban ones. Mark said, “The center directors understand that the vitality of our urban areas is of significant interest to our rural communities (and vice versa) and this understanding is factored into the work that we support.”

Check out the center website to learn more about the center’s offerings that could support your efforts. To learn more about Mark’s visit, check out these fifteen slides.

Greg Davis is a professor and assistant director with OSU Extension.

Celebrating Successes and Exploring New Opportunities

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Lake Champlain 2016-06-30More than 400 years ago, a Frenchman, Samuel de Champlain, encountered the lake and land surrounding what would later be named after him, Lake Champlain. Earlier this week, Extension CD and Natural Resource professionals converged on this same part of the country in Burlington, Vermont for the first ever joint NACDEP-ANREP conference.

After a virtual welcome from NIFA director Sonny Ramaswamy, participants engaged in a wide range of sharing and learning opportunities. Much of the focus could be centered around the symbiosis between CD and natural resources, with the goal of both vibrant communities and a healthy environment.

More than a dozen OSUE-CD professionals could be counted among the project, paper, and poster presenters and OSUE-CD attendance was at or near an all-time high. We honored outgoing board secretary Julie Fox and welcomed incoming board treasurer Nancy Bowen. We also congratulated national award winner Brian Raison for his work with educational technologies. After 3+ days of sessions, tours, team building and learning, many have returned home to celebrate independence.

NACDEP 2018 announcementIt was by all accounts one of the best NACDEP conferences yet. But, perhaps most exciting of all, we were able to formally invite our colleagues throughout the country to the 2018 NACDEP conference to be held in Cleveland, O-H-I-O! If you are interested in helping with the 2018 event, please contact me or David Civittolo.

Greg Davis is the Assistant Director for OSU Extension, Community Development.