On Aug. 13 and 14, the Small Towns, Big Futures Conference will take place at the Hilton at Polaris in
Columbus.
This is the third such conference, which is a service of the Ohio Rural Community Assistance Program
(RCAP).
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Drew Hastings, comedian and mayor of Hillsboro, have been invited as
guest speakers at Thursday’s lunch.
The conference offers three tracks: Infrastructure, Economic Development, and Local
Government/Management.
There are two tracks within Infrastructure – one addresses finance, oversight, and owner responsibilities
while the other addresses operations and management. Among the workshops in the Infrastructure track,
are sessions that address the water-energy nexus, well development and redevelopment for conservation,
capital improvement planning and what to consider in planning, designing and building a sewer rehab
project.
The Economic Development track offers, among others, information on the future of manufacturing,
brownfields re-development, and tips for branding a community.
Within the Local Government/Management track are workshops on personnel management and staff development,
how to respond to public records requests, Design Build Construction, and what you need to know about
municipal public contracts.
Those interested in attending the conference may register online at www.ohiorcap.org. For those who
register by Aug. 1, the cost is $399 per person; after Aug. 1, the cost goes to $450. One-day prices are
available. In addition, sponsors and exhibitors for the conference are still being accepted. The
deadline for sponsorships is July 16.
Ohio RCAP is part of a nationwide network that has been providing training and technical assistance to
solve water and wastewater problems in small, rural communities since 1972. Many services are provided
at no cost in the areas of program planning, facilities development, and management and finance.
Ohio RCAP offers trainings designed to help small systems improve their technical, managerial, and
financial capacity. In the last decade alone, the program has helped small communities secure more than
$350 million in state and federal funding for their water and sewer systems. Other community and
economic development services, such as comprehensive land use planning, economic development strategies,
downtown revitalization planning, strategic planning, coordinated transportation planning,
grant-writing, and more are also offered.
Visit the website www.ohiorcap.org for more information.