“Give me land lots of land, lots of land with starry skies above. Don't Fence Me In”, the Cole Porter song sung by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters as well as a host of others.  On the other hand, Will Rogers said “buy land, they aren’t making any more of it”.

Our topic for the June 5^th Brews is LAND.  County Treasurer Jim Rokakis will lead our discussion of the proposed land bank legislation that Ohio will tackle in November.  The passage of this legislation is only the beginning of what will be a transformative change in our region and Ohio.  How the land bank advisory board, the disposition of properties, and the decision-making process for local communities are shaped provides a huge opportunity to “get it right”.

Civic engagement and the public process will be critical elements of a “land bank” that will be a deciding factor in a new form of economic development.  How can the land bank be used to draw new businesses to our region?  How will it retain the businesses we now have?  How could it be used to draw in a skilled workforce?  Which communities will find new ways to use this tool to enhance the attractiveness of the live, work and play potential inherent in that community?  What is the potential to use the land bank to strategically plan for shrinking our footprint?  How will we balance quantity with quality?

This brews has the potential to give us an opportunity to start the conversation to begin thinking in new ways and bringing together the best practices of Open Source Economic Development.