Our History

Community leaders have come together to launch a comprehensive effort.

In 2014, a group of public, private, and nonprofit leaders from across Greater Columbus came together to create a comprehensive Community and Economic Development Strategic Plan. This 10-month process culminated into the Regional Prosperity Initiative, which addressed a full range of issues impacting the region’s competitiveness– its talent, education and training systems, business climate, infrastructure, quality of life, and quality of place, just to name a few.

A diverse group of representatives from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors that guided this process uniting as the Regional Prosperity Initiative Implementation Committee.

 

The greater Columbus region has undergone a remarkable transition into a hub of entrepreneurial success stories and a home to companies with international renown and influence.

But just as the community has changed, so too has the world. Competition has increased, markets are more interconnected, and knowledge and skilled workers are highly coveted. Greater Columbus must once again adapt. The process will result in a holistic and comprehensive community and economic development strategy that addresses the full range of factors that influence a region’s prosperity – from its talent and economic structure to its quality of life and place.

  • Competitive Asssessment, July 2015

    This Competitive Assessment represents the critical first step in this process. We engaged with Market Street services to examine a wide variety of demographic, socioeconomic, economic, and quality of life indicators to tell a story about the community and uncover the key strengths, weaknesses, assets, and challenges that must be leveraged and addressed in order to raise levels of prosperity in the region.

  • Target Business Analysis & Marketing Review, September 2015

    The second phase of this comprehensive strategic planning process, the Target Business Analysis and Marketing Review, sought to identify and profile those sectors which possess the greatest potential to elevate prosperity through job and wealth creation in the years and decades to come.

  • Regional Community and Economic Development Strategy, January 2016

    This Regional Prosperity Initiative brings together the findings from the first two phases of the process to create a “Vision for a Greater Columbus.” This holistic five-year community and economic development strategy is a consensus blueprint for raising prosperity in Greater Columbus. Strategic recommendations are driven by the research findings – both qualitative and quantitative feedback.

  • Implementation Plan, March 2016

    While the Community and Economic Development Strategy details what Greater Columbus needs to do, the Implementation Plan outlines how it will be accomplished. For each of the strategic recommendations, the Implementation Plan identifies lead implementers, key partners, potential costs, the appropriate timeline for implementation, and metrics for gauging implementation success

Action Area Foundations

Enterprising Culture

Targeted Economic Growth

Talented, Educated People

Cohesive Image & Identity

Vibrant & Connected Places

Current Day

Partnering together for a stronger tomorrow.

Community leaders have invested in the development of our region for decades. The results are now changing the direction of our community. Columbus 2025 is designed to amplify that investment with across-sector approach that will produce broad, concurrent progress in jobs, talent, and place