Economic Development Services

Business Attraction

  • Builds and diversifies the Lorain County economy by bringing in new businesses

  • Brings in new investment and revenue to expand the Lorain County tax base

  • Increases the number and types of jobs available for Lorain County residents

  • Spurs investment in our community assets improving the quality of life in Lorain County

ONE Lorain County will support business attraction by

  • Knowing the community’s assets and strengths (infrastructure, living costs, tax rates, etc.)

  • Targeting industries which are the best prospects for Lorain County and supplying them with high quality data and research and connecting them with key community resources

  • Crafting and communicating effective messaging that highlights Lorain County and positively impacts the target audience (site selection professionals and companies looking to move or expand)

  • Assisting local communities in undertaking strategic improvements that will maximize their appeal for company investment

Business Retention & Expansion

  • Preserves and increases local jobs

  • Preserves and increases local tax revenues

  • Maintains or diversifies the local economy

  • Maintains or diversifies access to goods and services

ONE Lorain County will support business retention and expansion by:

  • Performing calls to existing Lorain County businesses particularly those in our targeted industries to understand their successes and challenges

  • Connecting local businesses to key local and regional partners including TeamNEO, Ohio Means Jobs, County and community officials 

  • Bringing funding resources to local businesses to support growth and expansion

Site Development

  • Shovel ready sites are a crucial piece to attract new businesses                                                                      

  • There is a supply-demand imbalance of readily available site locations in Northeast Ohio                           

  • Lorain County must adopt a stance of aggressive preparation, leaning in with intention and foresight to transform our assets into industry-ready sites if we want to be competitive for new business.

ONE Lorain County will support site development by:

  • Serving as the JobsOhio network partner for new business attraction leads and maintains relationships with municipalities, brokers, realtors, site selectors, and others to ensure a full understanding of market trends, regional needs and available properties.

  • Working with Lorain County Community Development to maintain a property database for the county, enabling Lorain County to quickly respond to leads

  • Assisting communities and private property owners to evaluate and prepare sites to be ready to market. 

  • Collaborating in Private-public partnerships to drive brownfield development, make smart infrastructure upgrades, revitalize transportation corridors, create mixed-use developments, and launch urban regeneration projects

Workforce Development

  • As communities gain a higher quality workforce, improving their competitiveness to attract new business

  • People upgrade their skills and advance in their careers, increasing income and wealth

  • A skilled workforce offers businesses the workers they need to compete in the market space

ONE Lorain County will support workforce development by:

  • Participating in education collaboratives and offering insight into industry needs

  • Maintain open communication with businesses to understand the ever-changing talents needs

  • Connect employers and education and training resources to make employee upskilling and retention as easy and affordable as possible

  • Research and understand the needs of growing industries to ensure Lorain County can not only have a strong talent pool to fill today’s needs but be on the cutting edge of future demands.