In the Mahoning Valley, we know a thing or two about scarcity. For so long, we have gotten what seems like a smaller piece of the pie than everyone else. But did we get a smaller piece because the world is unfair, or did we get a smaller piece because we spent so much time focused on what we didn’t have. The scarcity mindset has been so prevalent across the spectrum of the Mahoning Valley, it’s been this way as long as most of us can remember. We slipped in somewhere around 1977 and haven’t found our way out of it yet. 

They don’t call us the birthplace of grit for nothing – it’s a hard-earned, well worn title. But there is another way: Adopting an Abundance Mindset. It might seem like a bunch of rainbows and butterflies, but when we spend our energy focused on what we don’t have, we lose out on what’s possible. 

Let’s look at this concept with a tangible example: 

You want to start a consulting firm providing community and economic development assistance in the Mahoning Valley (sound familiar?). So you do your research, you identify a strong target market and the need that exists. Then, one month before you are set to launch, another consulting firm launches before yours. 

When you approach the world with a scarcity mentality, your first reaction in this scenario will likely be anger, frustration, jealousy, and a sense of doubt. “How will I be able to launch my firm?” “Who will I serve now?” “They are taking up all the resources/clients/business in the Valley.” When approached from a scarcity mentality, you focus all of your energy on the piece of the pie that this other firm has taken up. And, in doing so, you aren’t looking at the opportunities that exist for your own success. Approached from an abundance mindset, you instead approach the scenario with genuine curiosity, because you know the pie is not finite, and there is plenty of space for both of you. So, you reach out to the new consulting firm to learn more about them. You learn more about what they are doing, who they serve, and their core beliefs to see if they are aligned with yours. You might identify a way for your new firm and this new firm to partner up. Or, you might discover that they are actually serving a completely different market than you. Maybe you have complementary skill sets and you can work toward forming a joint partnership that, together, serves even more people than either of you could alone. Instead of focusing your energy on what they are doing, you focus your energy on what’s possible for your firm. 

This is an example of something I’m sure everyone has experienced to some degree. Instead of focusing on what you’re capable of doing, you spend your energy focusing on how little of the pie you think it left. I’m here to tell you – the pie is plenty big enough for everyone to have their slice. 

Right now, we are seeing opportunities open up for the Mahoning Valley that we won’t see again in my lifetime. If ever there was a time to take a deep breath and start practicing an abundance mindset, this is it. Our moment to shine, to shake off the rust, to join hands and work together is now. Let’s stop focusing on who is getting a bigger piece of the pie, and start focusing on how we can all enjoy the pie together. Look around at the cities who have already shaken off the rust and how they have revitalized. They certainly didn’t do it by spending all their time focused on what someone else had. They did it by coming together, putting their differences aside, rolling up their sleeves and getting to work – shoulder to shoulder. 

Next time you are faced with a moment that triggers your sense of scarcity, I challenge you. Take a deep breath, and really look at what’s happening. Find a partner, reach out, build a bridge and start approaching what’s possible from an abundance mindset. The pie is big enough for all of us. And if you need any help seeing it, feel free to give us a call. 

According to the OECD, American workers work about 1,767 hours per year. 435 hours a year more than the average German worker, and 400 more hours a year than the average worker in the United Kingdom. So, members of the workforce are not being lazy, they are reevaluating the role of work in their lives and their compensation. After years of suffering through jobs that offered low pay, unpredictable schedules, and unsafe working conditions, workers have said enough. Folks have decided that it is time they get paid what they are worth. Why is that a bad thing? Particularly when quality jobs have been on the decline since the 1990s, 54% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and 56% of Americans can’t afford a $1,000 emergency. The government, over the last 50 years, has given bailout packages worth trillions of dollars to the banks and billion dollar industries. The only group they haven’t bailed out is the workers. So, now that workers have the leverage, they have decided they are going to do it themselves. 

Another reason for the shortage is because of what economists are calling “The Great Resignation.” In 2021, millions of Americans voluntarily quit their jobs. Workers have decided that if their employers show themselves unwilling to offer the compensation and working conditions they deserve, workers will leave those positions for jobs that do offer the compensation and working conditions they deserve. They are taking new jobs that treat them with dignity and respect. And, in case you were wondering, the idea that extended unemployment benefits prevented people from going back to work is also bullshit. 

In the states that cut the extended unemployment benefits early, just 1 in 8 beneficiaries found a job after losing their benefits. 7 out of 8 beneficiaries still could not find work. The states that pulled out of the extended unemployment benefits early saw their economy suffer because of their decision. As folks lost their benefits, they reduced their spending by 20%. Which equates to $2 billion dollars of less consumer spending, and less economic growth. 

These resignations are frequently occurring in the leisure and hospitality and healthcare industries. These industries have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Workers in both industries have had to go to work knowing that there was a high probability they would be exposed to COVID-19. The thoughts of catching the virus and passing it on to loved ones are surely constantly running through their minds. So, it makes sense that workers in these industries would be looking for a change to improve their mental and financial health. Especially considering these folks are some of the quiet heroes that have kept society running through COVID-19, and they haven’t received anything in return. Perhaps Derek Thompson, a writer for The Atlantic, put it best when he said that the Great Resignation is “really an expression of optimism that says, we can do better.”

Lastly, folks are reimagining the role of work in their lives. It has been ingrained in American culture that you should work longer and harder than anyone else, even if that means sacrificing other parts of your life that are important to you. The pandemic has made folks realize just how fragile life is. They want to spend more time with friends and family and less time working for an employer that does not value them. Workers have decided they have had enough of a toxic culture that encourages exhaustion and being overworked. This toxic culture has caused 83% of Americans to experience work-related stress and 41% to describe themselves as burned out. The pandemic has proven to be the final straw for many workers who have experienced worsening mental health due to their employers poor response to COVID-19. Workers are finally prioritizing their own well being over everything else. 

In conclusion, workers are tired of the bullshit. They are tired of being treated without dignity and respect. They are tired of being stressed and burned out because of work. They are tired of participating in a game in which the winner is predetermined to be the rich. So, just remember the next time the labor shortage comes up in conversation, that this Labor Shortage has nothing to do with people being unwilling to work. Instead, it has everything to do with workers fighting for their families and their dignity. Don’t fall for the bullshit. 

KO Consulting, LLC had a good 2021. We were able to help many new small businesses get off the ground, assist with business expansion and bring $2 million dollars back to northeast Ohio in the form of grant monies for our clients. 

However, as a team we kept coming back to this need to explore and discuss our area’s strategy for community and economic development. To start that process, KO Consulting team is going to produce some essays, policy papers, blogs, short stories, and anecdotes to help us have more knowledge and hopefully a better dialogue on how to get our region to a place of better economic growth. As follows is my first essay, where I hope, we can start to look at what development occurs here, who approves of this process and how we can be doing better.

Too many Dunkins and Dollar Stores

First let us start with a shared definition of what I mean when I say economic development. There is a plethora of definitions and ways to define economic development but the one I found to be most representative and would like us to refer to is from the California Association for Local Economic Development and is as follows: the creation of wealth from which community benefits are realized. It is more than a jobs program; it is an investment in growing your economy and enhancing the prosperity and quality of life for all residents. I love the last phrase because at the end of the day, job creation, neighborhood revitalization and quality of life must work hand in hand. 

Let me start with the obvious fact that I do not think Dunkin’s and dollar store chains revitalize communities. Shocking right? No, not really, we know these chains pop up in low-income communities, national trends and data suggest just as much. To be clear, it is not having the chains themselves, it is the volume in which they arrive in areas like the Mahoning Valley. It is bad, when economic development professionals think visiting local Dunkin Donuts in multiple cities, equates shopping local , seriously this was quipped at a meeting recently, whether the individual was joking I am not sure but remain alarmed. It concerns me that this is what continuously passes for economic development. I used to believe that elected officials and the policy professional know this is not a path for stabilizing and growing an economy, but I am not sure of that anymore. I am not saying there is not a place for these stores and shops in an overall strategy but what concerns me is that these ribbon cuttings are highlighted as huge economic wins, without actually being such. 

Why is this important?

It is reasonable to ask why is this important? The first is that the contribution  to the local economy is generally  greatly exaggerated, these are low wage paying jobs, not jobs that create financial stability for anyone that works at them. Second, rarely is there a direct impact to the neighborhood these stores are located in. They do not create neighborhood cohesion, and they cannot be tied to lower crime statistics if anything they contribute to the destabilization of neighborhoods. It is critical that as a region we have a clear definition of what “economic development is,” that we talk about projects and processes in a transparent way, and that we have neighborhood metrics that guide decisions with quality of life in mind. There are pros and cons to every project and to determine if said project truly assist economic growth and neighborhood revitalization should always be at the core of these decisions. I do not believe it is, the Mahoning Valley region is in this constant state of panic in trying to “re-create” the steel industry, that when it comes to economic development, we do not have a cohesive and developed strategy. We also think any development is better than no-development and that is just not true. Living wages and neighborhood revitalization have to go hand in hand when our development professionals are shopping project or entertaining developers. Decision makers have to start asking better question, be more strategic and willing to plan projects with more stakeholders involved- and truly seek public input and have honest dialogue when doing so.

Who is in charge?

So, who are the “decision makers” responsible for our economic development? I will not pretend it is not a complicated question in and of itself. A myriad of policy makers, professionals, elected officials and non-profits organizations have a part of this process. But to lift the shroud of secrecy we have to start somewhere — so, let’s walk through the agencies and individuals who have a direct impact on economic development. These are in no particular order and may not be all encompassing, but for our purposes it is a start. The following are specific to our area, and anything in quotations comes directly from the entity’s website.

1. Elected officials- this means federal, state, and local elected individuals who have some part in the process, from funding to project approval. These includes local county commissioners, elected engineers, mayors, and township trustees.
2. Government/bureaucratic employees- this includes zoning department employees, sanitary department employees, city managers, chiefs of staff. These are government employees that have been appointed or hired by an elected official.
3. Non-Profit Organizations, specific to economic development in the Mahoning Valley:
   • The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber: “The Regional Chamber is your single point of contact for Economic Development Assistance. The Regional Chamber is Northeast Ohio’s source for economic development information and assistance. We provide a broad range of expert, confidential and proven economic development services to prospective and existing area firms. We help companies grow by providing information and assistance that is tailored to fit individual business needs. Since 1993, with our assistance, more than 600 firms collectively have made investments totaling $9.5 billion in the area”.
   • Western Reserve Port Authority: “The Western Reserve Port Authority combines leading-edge financing tools, consulting services and partnership opportunities into a unique suite of development solutions for business, government and non-profit institutions. Whether you are a company or non-profit seeking ways to finance growth, a developer looking for help with the public infrastructure needed to move your project forward, or a governmental entity searching for ways to retain or attract jobs and development, our professional, experienced staff is eager to put our solutions to work for you.”
   • Eastgate Regional Council of Government: “Eastgate provides a regional forum to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern, and to develop recommendations and plans to address those issues. All of this in hopes of leading to a common goal of improving the quality of life for the residents of Northeast Ohio.”
   • Valley Economic Development Partners: “At Valley Economic Development Partners, we combine our economic development expertise with our specialized flexible lending solutions to grow the region’s economy. Our staff is committed to the success of your business, which is why we work tirelessly on your behalf to collaborate with financial institutions to find the best lending solution.”
4. Professional Services
   • Consulting Firms, Engineering and Architecture Firms, Construction Companies, Surveyors, etc.

These individual officials or organizations are the gatekeepers to project approval, financing, and development. Over the years, I have watched as they have collectively stalled projects, shut some down, or pushed bad ones. I don’t think anyone is particularly nefarious and I do believe they want to see the valley succeed, but often it seems only if the project or vision is theirs, and that mentality collectively has failed our area, it stymies progress and it keeps the valley behind. I also think we have become too accustomed to operating with the same few experts, contractors, etc. If we opened, both metaphorically and physically, the doors to this process and had honest project dialogue, we would be all the better for it. 

ARP Opportunity

I had hoped that the millions of dollars coming to this area via the American Rescue Plan, would allow us a smart pause. Take the $200 million coming to the region and make it $400 million by strategic planning, matching grants, spreading those dollars. Having until December 31, 2024, to allocate funds and then to spend down those funds by December 31, 2026, gives time to pause. For an area that’s been waiting 50 years for revitalization, waiting 12-18 months to develop a plan makes sense. I am not foolish – operating funds, salt trucks, etc. are immediate needs – and portions of the funds could be divided to immediate needs, with the remainder requiring publicly available plans. But starting to allocate $15,000 here and $150,000 there without some type of planning effort, demonstrates the haphazard approach we take to economic development here. Allocating $50,000 for a county or citywide “ARP” fund plan, would pay dividends long term. Instead, as the Vindicator reported (Bad Vibe from ‘Secret Meeting’ on COVID-19 Funds), discussions were held in closed door sessions where only the small chosen few of our economic development “experts” are allowed in a room to determine what they think is best for how to spend those funds. 

It is an “all of the above,” not “either, or”

Which brings me back to my original point. Economic development and revitalization cannot occur in a vacuum, and it cannot rely on those who have led us in the past. We cannot put all our eggs in “Voltage Valley,” we have to have a diverse economic strategy for a multitude of small businesses as well. If we can figure out ways to give millions in grants and tax incentives to Lordstown Motors, we can find a way for a multi- million-dollar investment in mom and pops. Surely, we have enough brains here to figure it out.

But perhaps we need to ask ourselves – if the same individuals and organizations have been doing economic development in the valley for the past 30 years, are they even good at what they do?

STRUTHERS, Ohio – As KO Consulting moved from owner Kristen Olmi’s part-time passion to a full-time venture in 2021, it had the opportunity to work on some transformational projects that will begin to take shape this year.

Newly available state and federal funding opportunities, an increase in entrepreneurship, and the reopening of small businesses closed during the pandemic fueled a combination of opportunities. 

“Small businesses and nonprofits are often operating with limited resources,” Olmi says, “and our firm exists to help them succeed. Funding is out there, opportunities are out there, especially for minority and women-owned businesses, and it’s our job to help our clients find those opportunities.”

In 2021, the firm helped bring some of those opportunities to fruition for clients.

These projects included working with the city of Struthers to create its first comprehensive plan, securing an Appalachian Regional Commission Power planning grant for Struthers, supplementing existing grant writing capacity for organizations such as Brite Energy Innovators and the YWCA, and working with Woodland Cellars to develop its property in Liberty Township.

KO Consulting, based in Struthers, also conducted a crowdfunding investment campaign that saw $29,600 invested in the purchase of a food truck for A Fresh Wind Catering.

The company, founded in 2010, works with startups, small-business owners, nonprofits and government entities.

Olmi served as grants coordinator for Mahoning County until stepping down to devote her energy full-time to KO Consulting.

STRUTHERS — Three women are at the helm of Struthers’ comprehensive plan to revitalize the city both for its residents, and with its residents.

Discover Struthers, an online community engagement platform, is the brainchild of Mayor Catherine Cercone Miller and Samantha Yannucci and Kristen Olmi of KO Consulting, a Struthers firm the city brought on to help form the plan and secure funding. Cost for the plan is $139,000, which will be paid by grants over multiple years.

Miller wanted community input in the plan and Yannucci, KO Consulting’s director of planning and community development, came up with the idea of creating a virtual, interactive space for residents to voice their opinions and ideas of what they want to see in their city.

“It’s become so accepted that development happens to you, and we want people to know this is happening with you, because that doesn’t happen anywhere else in the county,” Yannucci said.

The site launched Jan. 31 and has garnered more than 200 participants with 36 unique ideas. Participants can up-vote, down-vote and comment on other ideas. Some of the most popular ideas are walking and bike paths, green spaces, downtown activities, a community center and a dog park.

“The people who live here are going to be the ones using the amenities, so they have to have a buy-in,” Kristen Olmi, managing member and grant writer of KO Consulting, said. “People who live here have to have a stake in the economic development, because if they don’t, they’re not going to use the restaurants, the amenities and the things that are put in the city.”

The comprehensive plan, which will establish a framework to guide growth and development in the city over the next 10 years, is projected to take one year to complete. The first phase was the existing conditions analysis to first figure out what the city is working with, and now the city has entered the second phase of community engagement. Miller said it’s important that community members of all ages have an input on the future of the city.

“We want everyone to have a voice in this plan; we want people who are older to want to stay here and make the community what they need it to be, and the same thing with younger people, parents and businesses,” Miller said. “We want everybody’s input to make sure it’s as comprehensive as we can make it.”

Miller said the need for a plan came from a lack of cohesion. When she came into office, there was no framework in place.

“There was nothing in place, everything was just sporadic,” Miller said. “We had businesses coming into the city and we don’t know who they are, we don’t know what’s going on, so we just want to have a better plan and a better pathway to success.”

Yannucci said a lack of planning is not specific to Struthers, and she sees it throughout the Valley. She said most municipalities have a reactive approach to planning, which leads to status quo planning and a lack of community identity.

“There’s a lot of options to create a more livable, walkable and bikeable city where the community can really get together and participate in their own city,” Yannucci said.

The plan is expected to take a year to complete, but it will project five to 10 years into the future. Residents have until March 28 to share their ideas, and then the second phase, the ideas analysis, will start and last until April 4.

From there, residents will be able to vote on their top priorities that will be included in the plan. Engagement activities will be added incrementally, including surveys, polls and mapping activities to collect feedback on various topics, including parks and greenspace, transportation and mobility and the future of downtown. Yannucci said she plans on having the website up for a year. Residents who want to participate can visit discover.cityofstruthers.com.

The Discover Struthers community engagement platform is an initiative of the City of Struthers to share information and collect ideas and feedback from the community throughout the planning process. Do you want to have a say in the future of your city? Visit discover.cityofstruthers.com to sign-up for updates and join in the conversation.

STRUTHERS, Ohio (WKBN) – It has been decided that the city of Struthers needs a comprehensive plan, a blueprint to the future out five to 10 years.

Based on the responses of 93 people in an online survey, the name of the plan will be “Discover Struthers.”

Monday at city hall, a meeting was held to decide where it goes from here. Eight of the 10 people on Mayor Cat Cercone-Miller’s executive committee on a comprehensive plan for Struthers attended the meeting to learn what they hope to accomplish.

“So we want to try to get to as many people so we can collect as much data as we can,” Cercone-Miller said.

The city hired a Struthers-based company, KO Consulting, to develop the plan.

“The adoption of the plan, once it’s created, will effectively set the direction for the city administration and the city staff and the other elected and appointed officials to make decisions that respond to the long-term needs of the city,” said Samantha Yannucci, with KO Consulting.

All aspects of Struthers will be studied from the downtown area to the Youngstown-Poland Road business district. The neighborhoods will be looked at, along with how to better utilize the Mahoning River and Yellow Creek Park.

“Creating a landscape, an environment that’s conducive for small business development and creating an ecosystem to support those businesses,” Yannucci said.

A major reason a comprehensive plan is needed is to become eligible for government grants.

“There was something with the county that we had to show them our plan that we don’t have yet in order to be eligible,” Cercone-Miller said.

The next step will be the formation of five subcommittees to get input from — senior citizens, the youth, communities of color, parents and caregivers, and Struthers businesses.

Nothing specific was discussed on Monday, that will come, but the mayor has an idea of what she’d like to see.

“If I could sum it up to one word I would say I want to see people. I want to see more people in our city, whether it be businesses, whether it’d be residents, whether it’d be at the parks, walking. So I just want to see more people,” Cercone-Miller said.

The scope of the plan will take Struthers out five to 10 years. The plan itself is expected to take one year to complete.

STRUTHERS, Ohio – Not every business expansion project comes with a $10 million price tag. But smaller projects need help with financing as well.

KO Consulting in Struthers tackles those projects at the grassroots level by connecting small businesses with funding sources. And its expertise doesn’t end there.

Incorporated by Kristen Olmi in 2010, KO Consulting serves small businesses, nonprofits and government entities that don’t have projects that require the involvement of larger economic development organizations. The projects typically range from $500,000 up to $4 million, she says, and include anything from buying new equipment to hiring personnel.

“Small business is where it’s at,” says Olmi, who believes there is insufficient focus on mom-and-pop businesses that employ fewer than 50.

“I saw a need for navigating some of the government red tape. The funding is out there for nonprofits and small businesses – particularly women and minority-owned,” Olmi says. “There’s a lot of opportunity that I see for a firm like ours to fill a lot of gaps.”

To identify grant opportunities, Olmi and her staff of eight connect small businesses with organizations like the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber or Valley Economic Development Partners, as well as the Ohio Department of Development. This benefits businesses that lack the time or staff to seek financing on their own.

“I think there’s a market for that here and a need for that,” she says. “Our clients are busy day to day running their small business. They want someone that’s going to sit down, do the application, go through that process with them and work on updating their financials.”

One of KO’s clients is Brite Energy Innovators in Warren. The energy incubator is funded largely by philanthropy and state grants, says Sara Daugherty, director of partnerships. To go it alone in exploring new funding opportunities, Brite would need two or three full-time employees working on proposal development or raising funds.

“For us, that’s just not realistic,” Daugherty says. “Having a team like KO is critical for our sustainability.”

Daugherty met Olmi when they worked for Mahoning County. Both currently serve on the board of YWCA Mahoning Valley. She lauds Olmi and KO for taking the time to understand the complexities of obtaining funding.

“We are all overstretched and working multiple positions,” she says. “It is very critical for us to have someone to take the time to understand us and provide that outside perspective.”

That process takes time, which requires a level of trust between KO and its clients, Olmi says.

Her company has 18 clients under contract in the Mahoning Valley, Ashtabula and Cuyahoga counties and a few inquiries from prospects in Akron and around Pittsburgh. Local clients include United Returning Citizens, the city of Struthers, Penguin City Brewing Co. and A Fresh Wind Catering.

Planning and developing a proposal for funding can take at least four to six months, Olmi says. Doing the project planning up front helps to build that trust.

“They trust our process. They trust we are going to get them where they want to go,” she says. “So they’re willing to take that ride with us and let us do project development and help them.”

KO works with four grant writers and is on track to reach $1 million in funding for its clients, Olmi says. While writing grants is KO’s “bread and butter,” the firm finds its clients usually need additional services, she says.

Victoria Rusu-Ebert, director of business development and operations, handles much of the business development, marketing and outreach support for clients, as well as strategic planning for fundraising and capitalization.

Samantha Yannucci, the firm’s director of planning and community development, handles urban planning and project development for clients. Matthew Longmire, as business-development associate, ensures clients have the resources they need.

Additional services KO provides are particularly helpful for businesses that have been around for a while, Rusu-Ebert says.

“There are a lot of resources if you’re just getting a business started. But once you’ve been around for a couple of years, those resources aren’t helpful anymore and there’s nothing until you’re a large business,” Rusu-Ebert says. “So we help them navigate everything they need to do to get from that small to medium level business.

“As long as they want us to, we can ride alongside them and help them grow their dream, their business, whatever they’re trying to accomplish.”

For Penguin City Brewing, that means financing the $4 million renovation of the brewery at the former Republic Steel warehouse at 460 E. Federal St., which it purchased in December 2020. Penguin City plans to convert the space into a brewery, taproom and event center.

Penguin City co-owner Aspasia Lyras-Bernacki met Olmi through Annissa Neider, principal architect at A Neider Architecture in Canfield and architect for the restoration project. The company has been taking out loans for the project, Lyras-Bernacki says, but wanted to explore other financing options.

“Instead of me taking the long way to find out all of this, Kristen already knows it,” Lyras-Bernacki says. “It’s nice that there’s someone who has that knowledge.”

KO is working with Penguin City to apply for grants for equipment and exterior beautification work, she says. The firm is now exploring other avenues for funding, including tax credits and grants.

Working with KO connected Lyras-Bernacki
to other local businesses such as A Fresh Wind Catering. And KO connected that company’s owner, Trina Williams, to Honeycomb Credit in Pittsburgh, which is managing a crowdfunding investment campaign so Williams can purchase a food truck.

In addition to expanding the reach of A Fresh Wind, Williams says she looks to use the food truck as a way to “bring my community along with me” by helping other local startups.

“As a black woman-owned small business, it’s a challenge to access the types of funding that might be available for others, and I know I’m not alone in that challenge,” she says.

When the food truck is ready to go, Penguin City will bring it on site to serve food during events.

“There’s this whole network with what Kristen is doing and connecting us to the people she’s working with,” Lyras-Bernacki says. “You can tell that Kristen cares about the community. She’s passionate about the redevelopment of the area. It’s exactly what we’re doing too.”

Ensuring projects are somehow interconnected is key to what KO takes on. Interconnected projects can help build stronger local supply chains and growth, Olmi says.

“We’ve been working with some of our food clients to locally source and grow their food here,” she says. “We’ve got some regenerative agriculture projects that connect to our other nonprofit clients. I try to look at the big picture. How does this client fit into an entire strategy? How can we get our clients to work together?”

KO is working with Brite Energy to explore opportunities with hemp, she says. The firm works with a number of fiber and hemp-based clients, who are exploring hemp batteries.

“There’s some real catalytic things out there,” she says. “Wouldn’t it be interesting if we can tie all our projects together?

Hemp is a “very hot topic in energy right now,” notes Brite’s Daugherty. “There’s a lot we could do together down the road.”

KO is also connecting Brite to new opportunities, such as startups that are addressing carbon emissions, of which there is great interest, she says.

In turn, Brite helps KO identify available real estate in Warren for startups, including food service and retail.

“We’re able to let [Olmi] know what’s available, and hopefully some of her clients will have storefronts in the very near future,” Daugherty says.

Pictured: Kristen Olmi points to information that she and Victoria Rusu-Ebert are compiling for a client.