Part Three of this series examined why Galion’s approaching utility obligations make population and business growth more than an abstract civic ambition. The next question is whether the city’s present economic-development structure is producing the projects and investment needed to broaden the base supporting those obligations.
The current development pipeline is paper thin
Galion contracts with the Crawford Partnership for Education and Economic Development, the countywide organization that connects local development efforts with the Regional Growth Partnership and JobsOhio.
The Partnership’s most recent report to the City for the second quarter of 2026 describes activity across Crawford County rather than Galion alone. It lists five new leads and seven total leads countywide, all at the early-inquiry stage, and identifies no active projects anywhere in the county. That necessarily means there were none in Galion. Of 19 requests for information received countywide, only two received responses. The report also notes that one Galion property was submitted for consideration and that the countywide activity resulted in one site visit.
There is an important distinction between a lead and a project. A lead may consist of an initial inquiry from a company examining several communities or regions. It may never advance beyond that first contact. An active project refers to something which has moved further. The company’s needs are known, potential locations have been identified and substantive discussions are taking place. Early inquiries are necessary because every completed project begins somewhere. But they should not be confused with companies preparing to build, relocate or expand. At the time of the report, there were no active projects anywhere in Crawford County.
The last two City Council Economic Development Committee meetings also had no business on their printed agendas.
Galion cannot compete with property it does not have
The Partnership report identifies a more fundamental problem: the lack of development-ready sites and buildings capable of meeting many prospects’ requirements. Among the needs repeatedly encountered are large industrial buildings, sufficient acreage, rail service, airport access and shovel-ready land. Without a property matching the request, Galion and Crawford County may be unable to submit a meaningful response. That helps explain why only two of the 19 requests for information received a response. It also demonstrates why economic development begins long before a company announces a project.
A community must identify potential sites, determine whether they can be acquired or controlled, understand their utility capacity, complete necessary studies and have reliable information ready when an inquiry arrives. A company considering multiple locations is unlikely to wait while a community begins that work. The Partnership’s board has approved the creation of a Site Development Committee. Its report notes that particular Galion intersections have been discussed as possible development areas for years.
The words “for years” are significant. Galion’s need for marketable development property did not arise with the water and sewer financing approved this spring. Creating a committee may begin to address the problem. It does not by itself produce a development-ready site. Now, the prospect of higher utility costs makes progress more urgent.
The city cannot outsource its responsibility
The Crawford Partnership has an important role, particularly in connecting Galion with regional and state development networks. It can respond to prospects, assemble incentives, assist existing companies and market available properties. It cannot create Galion’s local priorities for it. Representation also matters. The Partnership’s current board roster shows that less than 20 percent of its directors live or work in Galion.
The City’s economic-development page also directs inquiries to the Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce. Yet at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, August 26, the Chamber’s Galion office was locked and dark. No business hours were posted, and no sign indicated when or if anyone would return. A prospective business owner or new resident arriving at that time would have found no one available and no information about when assistance could be obtained. Three years ago, that individual would have been greeted by a person ready to welcome them and talk about what the community has to offer. At the same time the next day, there was a “Be Back Soon” sign with a note suggesting contact with a specific person — who had left the Chamber over a year ago. Still there was no schedule of hours posted.
Countywide organizations must represent multiple communities and interests. That structure works for Galion only if the City maintains an active and visible role of its own. Galion’s administration needs to be, as it has in years past, walking the halls of Columbus in search of support and funding while maintaining direct contact with existing and prospective businesses. It remains the City’s responsibility to determine which properties should be prepared, what kinds of development it wants, what local tools it is willing to use and who will maintain those relationships.
Contracting with an outside organization is not a substitute for local leadership. It is one instrument of that leadership. Economic development also cannot consist solely of waiting for the Partnership or JobsOhio to deliver a large industrial prospect.
Residential construction, smaller businesses, expansions by existing employers and the reuse of vacant commercial buildings can all add customers and revenue. The City needs both the occasional large project and the steady accumulation of smaller gains.
The alternative is contraction, which has its own costs
If Galion does not generate additional revenue, its other long-term option is to reduce expenditures. For a city, that ultimately means fewer employees and fewer services. Deep enough cuts could threaten locally controlled operations residents now value, including the municipal Electric Department and separate City Health Department. Consolidating or eliminating such operations could bring layoffs, the loss of experienced employees and less local control. Neither change is currently proposed, but that is what “cutting expenses” can eventually mean.
Service reductions would carry their own economic cost. A city offering fewer services and jobs becomes less attractive to residents and businesses, further weakening its revenue base. Economic development offers a better course by adding people, investment and revenue so that Galion can sustain essential services without placing an ever-greater burden on those who remain.
Galion’s timetable has changed
The long-term bonds contemplated by the ordinances are expected to be dated around July 1, 2027. The first principal payments are anticipated around December 1, 2027. That is about 15 months away. A major industrial or residential project can take substantially longer than that to move from an initial inquiry to construction and occupancy. Economic development begun today may not produce enough new utility revenue to affect the first payment. But the debt will not last for one year. Most of the principal is expected to be repaid over 20 annual installments. Development secured during the next several years could help support much of that obligation.
That makes the absence of active projects more important, not less. Galion cannot wait until the bonds are issued to begin creating the customer base that will help repay them. Each month of delay digs the hole deeper.
Activity must be measured by results
The City should not judge its economic-development position simply by the number of meetings held, inquiries received or organizations involved. Those figures are useful, but the measurements that ultimately matter are more concrete:
- How many prospects advance from inquiry to active project?
- How many requests for information receive a competitive response?
- How many development-ready sites and buildings can Galion offer?
- How many existing employers expand or remain in the city?
- How many new homes, businesses and utility accounts are added?
- How much new payroll, income tax and utility revenue is created?
Those questions should be answered publicly and regularly. They would allow Council and residents to determine whether the current approach is working before additional years pass.
Standing still is neither a neutral nor a responsible position
Galion’s water and sewer improvements are necessary. The City cannot avoid maintaining systems on which every resident and business depends. It can, however, influence how many people and businesses will help support those systems.
Galion enters this period without an active economic-development project. Every lead reported countywide remains at the earliest stage, and longstanding gaps remain in the inventory of marketable sites. Its population is slightly smaller than it was five years ago and smaller still than it was in 2010. That is not standing still. It is moving backward slowly but surely. The financing approved this spring makes it harder to overlook. Galion now has a timetable for borrowing and repaying millions of dollars for essential infrastructure. It needs an equally clear timetable for expanding the economic and residential base that will help pay the bill.
In the final installment of this series, we will look at the success of other Ohio communities in achieving economic and community development, including projects that build upon older and historic properties of the kind Galion already possesses.
Image by Manuel Baumheier from Pixabay