2007 AWARD WINNERS and 2006 RESULTS ANNOUNCED
by CITYWIDE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Contact:
Steven Budd
(937) 853-2547
Tonight’s Event Marks CityWide’s 35th Anniversary
Dayton, Ohio, April 19, 2007 - CityWide Development Corporation will announce the winners of its annual awards and review its 2006 accomplishments at the CityWide 2007 Annual Dinner tonight.
Tonight's event celebrates CityWide's 35th anniversary as well as the accomplishments of the nonprofit agency, its clients and its partners during the past year. CityWide was created jointly in 1972 by the City of Dayton government, local business leaders and neighborhood representatives. Largely in response to the manufacturing decline of the early 1970s, CityWide was given the responsibility of helping businesses create jobs and helping to strengthen the city’s neighborhoods. Today, CityWide’s mission remains unchanged.
Through its economic and neighborhood development services, CityWide has helped strengthen Dayton’s economy by encouraging business growth, especially downtown and in underserved areas on the edge of downtown. CityWide has also helped strengthen Dayton’s neighborhoods by encouraging home ownership, home improvement, the renovation of older homes and the renovation of older downtown structures.
CityWide 2007 Award Winners
Economic Development Project of the Year
Dayton Campus for Advanced Materials Technologies(DC-AMT)
Representatives from the following organizations will accept the award:
Montgomery County
National Composite Center
City of Dayton
Dayton Development Coalition
Liteflex
Project Summary: The DC-AMT is a branch of the Kettering-based National Composite Center (NCC). The NCC established the DC-AMT at 3251 McCall Street to develop advanced materials and manufacturing processes and to support high-tech tenants. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held last September, and the facility currently houses three companies.
“We felt that this project deserved recognition because of the extraordinary cooperative effort involved between local, county and state groups in persuading NCC that the McCall Street site was the right location for this new technology center,” said Steve Budd, president of CityWide Development. “Also, the Dayton Campus for Advanced Materials Technology will further strengthen Dayton’s growing reputation as a leader in advanced materials and manufacturing.”
Due to the number of partners involved in this project, the five organizations listed above are being recognized with the award.
Banker of the Year Award
Shirley George
Vice President, Small Business Banking, National City Bank
Shirley George partnered with CityWide on several loans in 2006, helping owners of small businesses open or expand within the City of Dayton. CityWide-administered loan programs utilized included SBA 504 and the Neighborhood Business Assistance Program.
George began her career at National City as a part-time teller in 1978.“I enjoy helping small businesses start, grow and expand,” she said. “I also really enjoy the challenge of finding a way to make deals work. Partnering with an organization like CityWide is sometimes just what is needed to make these deals happen to be able to help my customers.”
Neighborhood Revitalization Award
Fairview Commons, Phoenix Project
Representatives from the following organizations will accept the award:
Dayton Board of Education
Mt. Auburn Neighborhood Association
City of Dayton
Good Samaritan Hospital
Designed as the centerpiece of the Phoenix Project redevelopment area near Good Samaritan Hospital, Fairview Commons will link various public amenities and create a new public space for the neighborhood. Within this space will be a new PK-8 Dayton Public School that will replace the existing Fairview elementary and junior high schools.
The Phoenix Project is a public-private partnership that is investing millions of dollars for redevelopment activities in the greater Fairview neighborhood. “Fairview Commons will be the heart of the entire Phoenix Project area, and the new Fairview school will be an impressive new landmark within Fairview Commons,” said Buddy LaChance, neighborhood development director for CityWide. “It’s another great team effort and big win for Dayton as whole.”
2006 Economic Development Highlights
Through a multitude of loan programs, CityWide provided nearly $6 million in financial assistance to Dayton business owners in 2006. These loans helped to fund a total of 46 different projects. As a result of these projects, 1,145 Dayton-based jobs were either created or saved. Among CityWide’s clients are the Dayton Campus for Advanced Materials Technologies, Bonbright Distributors Inc., and Coco’s Bistro, all of which opened new facilities in or near downtown Dayton in 2006.
CityWide also remained highly active in the Tech Town project, entering into a contract with the City of Dayton to act as development manager for Tech Town, and hiring Norm Essman as Tech Town redevelopment director.
Downtown housing continued to be a major focal point of CityWide’s activities. Among CityWide’s accomplishments were financing the development of Excelsior Lofts in the Oregon District and assisting the City in structuring a condo project at First & Patterson with Neyer Development.
2006 Strategic Development Highlights
In keeping with the CitiPlan 20/20: Focus 2010 & Beyond, Dayton’s long-term development plan, all of CityWide’s economic development efforts are strategically focused on specific “clusters” groupings of interrelated industries in which the region specializes. For example, the 1,145 jobs created or saved with the help of CityWide funding all fall within one or more of the following clusters:
- Data Management & Sensors
- Advanced Materials & Manufacturing
- Retention and Expansion
- Heritage Tourism (new cluster)
- Health Services
2006 Housing Services Highlights
In 2006, through its Mortgage Credit Counseling Program, CityWide educated 216 families about all aspects of purchasing a house. More than half (135) of participants purchased a house in 2006, and 64 of those bought homes located within the City of Dayton.
2006 Neighborhood Development Highlights
In 2006, CityWide continued as a key partner in both the Genesis and Phoenix neighborhood revitalization projects, with major progress made on both. CityWide was also an active participant in planning for revitalization projects involving the North Main Corridor, the Wyoming Corridor and the West Third Corridor.
In the Fairgrounds Neighborhood, where the revitalization efforts of the Genesis Project are focused, CityWide’s accomplishments included selling a prominent parcel of land on Brown Street to facilitate commercial development, and working with Miami Valley Hospital and the University of Dayton to complete a traffic/pedestrian enhancement plan for Brown Street. In the greater Fairview Neighborhood, where the Phoenix Project is concentrated, CityWide’s 2006 accomplishments included structuring a deal with Dayton Public Schools to build the new Fairview School, acquiring 34 properties, and developing the Fairview Commons concept.
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