Fremont releases new economic development plan: successes and challenges noted
FREMONT ― Pushing a plan that has already helped propel Fremont into the micropolitan city top 10, the “Think Fremont” economic growth and development plan has been released by the city administration.
The economic development plan is halfway through the eight-year design. It’s based on several studies that link city growth requirements like puzzle pieces, for a 1% growth rate, which has been helped along by investment of American Rescue Plan Act funds and a range of grants.
Site Selection Magazine ranked Fremont as a top micropolitan, which is a rural county whose largest city does not exceed a population of 50,000. In 2018 Fremont was ranked at 19th and hit No. 7 in 2020 and 2022.
Fremont Mayor Danny Sanchez has promoted investments in the city that have grant money. Croghan Street is in the midst of a $1 million construction project, a quarter of which is being funded by the city's successful run of grant applications. He also pointed out the nearly complete amphitheater project, which was used for the first time on New Year's Eve.
The amphitheater received more than $3 million in grants funding.
Sanchez talked about the type of work his administration had to do in order to start getting those grants.
"90% of these projects are grant funded. We have gone after dollars that previous administrations have not, because it takes a lot of work. I'm not saying that they didn't work, but you have to have good relationships with the state representatives. You have to have good relationships with your state senators. When I got into office, those relationships weren't there," Sanchez said. "When I got into office, going into Columbus was embarrassing."
He listed off some of the many controversies.
"We had elected officials going to jail, our sheriff in trouble. There was just a lot of negativity from our Sandusky County area that took a leadership change to make things happen," Sanchez said.
He also noted the downside of matching money for grants.
"Grants only allow you to do what is allowed under that grant," Sanchez said. "So, do we have the infrastructure to do that, and do we have the matching dollars? We are at that point today that I can't keep applying for state and federal grants, because we don't have the matching dollars."
He praised Bob Gross, the city economic development director, who has pushed the synergistic aspects of the different components needed for growth.
Gross said growth is needed for infrastructure maintenance and funding, but that requires population, which in turn doesn't happen without jobs.
“Our plan is about population growth. If you lose population, it increases blight, empty buildings and lack of investments. We’re just trying to create a certain amount of synergy so that people will want to invest here," Gross said. "It starts with the industrial park and people wanting manufacturing space. Hopefully, it will bring in good, high paying, high tech jobs, but those folks need places to live. What we’ve been able to do is to create a tax incentive to help invest in Fremont, finished a housing study, to justify the need for housing here in Fremont, to real estate agents, lenders and developers."
There was a housing study done in 2021.
“The housing study said that Fremont could use 230 to 300 homes right now," Gross said. "That’s how bad the desire is for new housing. If you don’t make it a priority, and don’t address it, you miss out. More than a hundred homes have been built in the city of Fremont in the last three years. That’s more homes, in a three-year time, than in at least the last 50 years. I looked back to the year I was born, 1972."
Gross said the most he could find was in 2008, when a condominium development put in 20 units.
He acknowledged that some of the township had shown growth, but added that they typically lack some of the benefits of a city. One example he gave was water infrastructure, where the houses might have well water instead of city water.
“Townships tend to be a bedroom community. They build on the edge of town, add a neighborhood and the people drive into the city to work,” Gross said.
Gross said the housing study identified the need for a greater volume of housing within the city, across the price spectrum.
Over the past four years the city has seen a steady increase in single-family homes, from five new homes in 2020, 29 in 2021, 37 in 2022 and 36 in 2023, for a total of 107 newly completed homes. The Sunset Meadows development has a second phase of 48 residential lots coming this summer. Bloom Road, which has Sandusky River access, had one house built in 2022, another in 2023 and now has six sites available for construction.
There’s also a community reinvestment area with 32 applications in 2023, that includes eight remodel locations and 24 sites for new construction.
Industrial development continued in 2023 and a new industrial park opened.
Gross said the Bark Creek Industrial Park appears to have empty space, but in fact has only one small site, with approximately 5 acres, available. The other businesses at the park have been buying up the land for future expansion.
The most recent addition to Bark Creek is the Lagersmith canning company, whose new building nearly completed. The company is expected to move in by April. The business has expanded into Fremont after investing $10 million in the construction of the 25,000-square-foot can supply plant. It is expected to bring 20 new jobs to the city.
“Jobs Ohio and Region Growth Partnership have been sending us leads,” Gross said. “Since July 1, 2023, the site has been submitted for leads 12 times.”
The Harold P. Young Industrial Park is the newest industrial park. It has 150 total acres, with 130 acres being developable. The last part of the infrastructure is gas lines, but Gross said it is otherwise considered to be shovel ready for development. Gas is expected to come in the spring.
Some of the other successes include the $13.6 million investment from Quality Steel, adding 18 new jobs, and the $3.6 million investment from International Cushioning Co., which added 75 new jobs.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Housing, industry, grants fuel Fremont OH economic development
