Success Story: One Columbus

magnifying glass icon  The Situation: 

A confluence of events and negative economic indicators surfaced in 2009 causing public and private sector leaders to seriously assess how economic development and job creation is conducted in the central Ohio region. After researching the leading economic development programs and meeting personally with their leaders, the process began to incorporate these "Best Practices" from around the country and build and fund a first-rate economic development organization to launch a bold 10-year economic growth initiative called Columbus2020.

cross-hairs icon  Funding Goals: 

Following a comprehensive regional assessment, it was indicated the public and private sectors were willing to come together and fund the Columbus 2020 program at a projected level of $6 million annually.

lightbulb icon  The Challenges: 

The central Ohio region was struggling with negative economic indicators that required leaders to completely rethink their approach to regional job creation. The primary challenge was the need to build a new organizational structure from the ground up, which required a cohesive Transition Team to establish a new plan of work, define metrics, and set a budget.

checkmark icon  Our Approach: 

The RDG team actively participated in the Transition Team's six-month effort to build the new organization, plan of work, metrics and budget. To ensure the initiative was fully funded, RDG assembled a large Campaign Leadership Council composed of 50 committed business leaders to build a broad investor team. Furthermore, RDG Partners spearheaded national searches and successfully recruited top professionals to fill both the Columbus2020! CEO and Columbus Chamber CEO positions. RDG then designed and helped to implement a robust investor relations program to ensure proper communication and engagement opportunities.

chart icon  The Results: 

  • A high intensity, 10-month campaign yielded pledges exceeding $30 million over five years.
  • Columbus 2020 celebrated its ten-year anniversary early this year, having over-subscribed all of its goals.
  • The twelve county Central Ohio region has a new strategy for its next iteration titled One Columbus and is now recognized as one of the premier economic development organizations in the country.
  • RDG continues to assist One Columbus' parent organization, The Columbus Partnership, with consulting related to funding, organizational design updates, economic impact and investor engagement.