With growth happening in the southern portion of Union County, officials think Richwood should prepare to be next.
Savannah Allen with Union County Economic Development told Richwood Village Council Monday evening that growth would eventually make its way north and that the village should be prepared.
“As we see some of the growth from Intel and Honda and the Columbus region, Richwood is really poised, I think, to have some of that growth offset other parts of the Columbus region,” she said. “We were looking to see if there might be interest in forming some committee to see what parts of the village we would like to see some of that residential growth or industrial growth or commercial growth to really hone in on or help market those sites.”
She said it’s important to get village council’s feedback on what growth and development might look like in Richwood in the future.
“We’re open to having that conversation and getting your input on what that would look like for Richwood,” she added.
Richwood Mayor Scott Jerew said he has had conversations with Eric Phillips, who heads Economic Development for Union County and the City of Marysville, and other officials about possible locations.
“We sat down and went over the map a little but, just some of the stuff we talked about because we know it’s coming, whether we want it to or not, it’s coming,” he said. “We just need to make sure we’re getting prepared for when it does come.”
She said her department is already looking at areas just outside the village and those locations are included in discussions with developers but Richwood doesn’t always have amenities companies are looking for.
“Sometimes it’s a little difficult because they either want rail access, or lately, there’s a lot of large utility users that need a million gallons of day for sewer and water or have certain utility requirements or things with the EV industry or chip manufacturing,” Allen said, noting that the new village’s planned water plant will help drive new growth. “That will go a long way in encouraging those businesses.”
Jerew said one area of interest is the village’s industrial park on the south end.
“There’s 20 acres out at the industrial park that we don’t even own yet that but they (Economic Development) are promoting that hard right now,” said Jerew.
He said forming a committee would be pretty simple and just involve people volunteering for the roles.
“We sat down and looked at the map and said we know it’s got to be close so we can support it with water and sewer,” he said. “We know we can’t do a million gallons. Businesses have already tried to come in and see if we can do a million gallons and we can’t even come close to a million gallons.”
Allen said someone from Economic Development would help with the committee formation and likely sit alongside committee members to offer guidance.
“If we bring in a business, we want it to be something you all support,” she said. “So it would be important that it would be an industry you’re interested in and it would be a good fit for the community as well.”