Thank you so much for joining us for our third state of the city address.

Tonight, I'm excited to talk about how we, our administration, our entire city government and our broader community are working to build Akron's future together.

I'll talk about our core city services, our streets, our sewer system, our 911 call response.

And that work is the foundation of what we do.

And over the past two and a half years, you have heard me talk about these four together for Akron pillars that build on that foundation, safer together, focused on public safety, living together focused on housing our neighborhoods and the environment, growing together focused on education, health and our young people and working together.

Focus on economic opportunity.

And within each of these areas, I'll talk about the innovative and collaborative solutions we continue to put forward to tackle these key challenges.

Now, a year ago outside, I talked about the hard way on purpose, David Giffels' term for how our Rubber City DNA allows us to be resilient to weather the storms at the federal level, to weather stark budget challenges here at the local level, and much more.

And while these challenges persist two and a half years into being your mayor, I am more confident than ever in what is possible that Akron's future can be very bright, that we have in this room and across this city everything we need to succeed in the talent and the creativity and the diversity of our people, provided that we work together and provided that we find common ground, and we all have a part to play in that story, in building the future.

And so as we go forward tonight, I'm going to ask for your continued engagement and that you lean in even more than you already are.

Our city needs us all and we all need each other.

Our work starts with basic city services and public infrastructure, and I'm thankful to Akron City Council for unanimously approving our 2026 capital budget, a $342 million investment in our city.

Let's start with something we hear a little bit about our roads.

We have 832 miles of pavement that we maintain, and since our 2017 issue for tax went into effect, we've dramatically increased our annual paving from 16 miles a year to about 48 miles a year.

By the end of this year, we'll have resurfaced nearly half of the roads in this city since issue four was passed.

there's a lot more work to do.

And here's somewhere you can help us out.

In 2024, we rolled out our 311 app.

If you haven't downloaded it, please try it.

You can help us spot potholes, sidewalks and streetlights in need of repair, and much more.

And you can still call in to our amazing 311 call operators.

Or you can use our website to report the same things.

Now our water and sewer systems are massive feats of engineering, and we are in the middle of replacing the historic Britton Road reservoir, also in Goodyear Heights.

And thanks to the work of our service department, particularly our amazing service Director, Chris Waddle, we're closer than ever to completing our federal consent decree project in our sewers.

With the Northside Tunnel opening up later this year and the Gorge Dam Removal project moving forward, the Cuyahoga River will not only have improved water quality, but it will be an even bigger draw for tourism playing to our strengths as a region.

Last year, we were proud to complete a historic milestone the replacement of every single lead water main in Akron, making us one of the only cities of our size and age to do so now.

Many people contributed to this work over many decades, but none more so than Dave Crandall, who served with our service department for 46 years and who witnessed the removal of the last line shortly before his passing at age 91.

Dave's legacy shows us that in Akron, we can do extraordinary things, even if it takes time.

Our capital budget focuses on infrastructure, and our operating budget is about our team, the folks who every day get up to get the job done.

As I mentioned last year, we are dealing with real budget challenges.

The end of more than $145 million in federal Covid era Arpa funding.

The sunsetting of federal grants that paid for 75 roles in our police and fire departments.

Last year, we saw a decline in our income tax collections, and we also worked to reach a resolution to our police and fire union negotiations.

Now, after going through a tough fact finding process, we agreed to some of the largest wage increases ever negotiated into safety forces contracts, which will certainly help with recruitment and retention in our safety forces.

But taking all of those things together means we do have to make cuts.

And this year and next year, we're going to work to balance our budget for the long run.

And as we do this, we're going to balance three things making appropriate investments in our workforce and compensation, maintaining service levels for the necessary work we do each and every day, and not depleting our reserves and putting the city's long term finances into jeopardy.

Now, there are no easy answers to these tough challenges, but we worked with City Council to find a 2026 operating budget that we could all agree on.

We reduced our budget from our 2025 spending.

We move to a more disciplined, mission critical hiring approach so that vacant roles wouldn't be automatically filled.

We're also taking a harder look at overtime costs, primarily in our safety forces, making adjustments while also maintaining the flexibility to tackle the call volume that we know is going to come in the months ahead.

We're also looking at where new revenue might be found, with sensible ideas like restarting our traffic speed cameras that were turned off in our school zones during Covid.

pledge that we will continue to work collaboratively so that our city can continue moving into the future in a financially stable way.

Now, I'm going to talk about a lot of things tonight programs, initiatives, challenges and progress.

And frankly, it's a lot to remember.

We want to make sure that we are sharing our story every day with our residents.

And so we're updating our progress tracker online.

Just as important as the work itself is how we show it.

And last year, the state of the city, we launched the we launched the together for Akron Public Hub and dashboard, where residents can track progress in real time.

And today we are unveiling an updated tracker at Akron, Ohio.

Tracker.

Quarter by quarter, you'll be able to see what's moving forward, what's been completed, and what's coming next.

Because transparency builds trust.

And again, we are committed to showing our work.

The together for Akron Hub gives residents a real time look at progress.

But before we talk about economic development, before we talk about housing or sustainability or youth opportunity, we have to talk about public safety.

Because if people don't feel safe, then nothing else matters.

Safety is more most basic building block as a community, and it's our most basic human need every single day.

The members of our Akron Police Department and Akron Fire Department respond to difficult, often dangerous and chaotic situations.

Just this past week, our safety forces responded to a plane crash in the Coventry Crossing neighborhood.

They helped to ensure that the tragedy did not turn into something even worse.

When it comes to violence, I want to be clear that we will continue to do everything we can to hold people accountable who perpetrate harm, that we will never get desensitized to violence, that we will never focus on statistics and forget the people behind those numbers, the lives behind those numbers.

Over the past year, we've expanded our federal, state, and local partnerships focused on gun violence.

We opened Ohio's fourth Crime Gun Intelligence Center, where our Anti-Violence Bureau officers work alongside our partners at the federal level with ATF, locally with our Summit County Sheriff Candy father's office, our U.S.

marshals, State Highway Patrol, and more to hold violent offenders accountable.

In September, this team arrested 35 individuals for firearms and drug charges.

They seized over 50 guns with the leadership of our United States Attorney's Office and our Summit County Prosecutor, Elliot Kolkovich.

We're also building upon the new community Violence intervention, or CVI, efforts that we have helped to start.

We're taking lessons from trailblazing cities around the country where CVI has taken root, and in partnership with Minority Behavioral Health Group, led by Pastor Jeff Dennis and Marcelle McDaniel with nonstop growth.

We've expanded our pilot program in which people with lived experience are reaching out to those at risk of becoming involved in gun violence and helping them chart a different path.

Especially our youth.

And in the next several weeks, we'll officially begin another community violence intervention program in partnership with our two largest hospitals, Suma and Cleveland Clinic Akron General, as well as Minority Behavioral Health Group.

We'll have counselors like Angelo Anderson respond directly to hospitals.

When violence occurs, we will connect victims with services and support to prevent retaliation and to break cycles of harm.

Now, across the city, we are committed to reducing violence.

Over the last several years, we have seen street parties devolve into violence, especially in one of our densest neighborhood business districts in Highland Square.

Our police department and our Economic Development department have worked in concert with businesses in the square, as well as Councilperson Fran Wilson, to create a new Special Improvement district, or CID, modeled off what we have here downtown with Downtown Akron Partnership, in which assessments help us provide additional security and resources beyond what we already provide across the entire city.

And I want to be clear, we will continue working alongside businesses across our entire city to ensure that people can gather safely.

Now, when it comes to safety, we are working to ensure our safety forces have what they need to do their job well.

For decades, our downtown police station has slowly fallen into disrepair broken elevators, peeling paint, HVAC issues.

It all adds up.

And earlier this year, we announced plans for a full phased renovation of the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center.

We're also nearing the completion of a staffing study in our police department, and soon we're working to undertake a similar one with our fire department at the request of our EMS Advisory Board.

Now, two weeks ago, we shared the completion of our comprehensive use of Force Review, commissioned by the Police Executive Research form with 58 different recommendations.

We announced some initial steps, including revisions to our use of force policy and restrictions on the use of head strikes, as well as our commitment to implement all of the recommendations and update the public monthly.

Now, the report and its recommendations, the actions we've already announced, there are about one thing doing everything we can to improve outcomes in the most challenging situations and which our police use force.

We have outstanding officers in this department and each day they respond to challenging, sometimes very dangerous situations.

My commitment, our commitment is that we make sure our officers have the best policies, procedures and training, as well as clear expectations, effective accountability structures, and the appropriate resources to implement all of the above.

That commitment applies broadly in the fulfillment of their duties to the residents of Akron, and specifically with regard to incidents which may involve use of force to ensure that every person in our community is treated fairly.

And through all of this work, we will continue to deepen our partnership and collaboration with our independent police auditor and our Citizens Police Oversight Board and move our efforts forward because they serve a critical role as an independent voice on this issue.

Now, there's a lot more that I could talk about in the safety space, but we wanted to do something a little different this year and show you a little bit more than we tell you.

Safety isn't a slogan.

It's how a city shows up every single day.

In Akron, safety means accountability for those who commit crimes.

If you do harm here, there are consequences.

We're using better tools, moving faster, working closer than ever with our partners.

But we also know by the time a crime happens, it's already too late for someone.

So we step in earlier, meeting people where they are interrupting violence before it spreads, reaching people at their most critical moments and helping them choose a different path because the right response can change everything.

And the strongest safety strategy is making sure the next generation has real opportunities, real support, and real path forward.

Because safety doesn't belong to one person or one department, it belongs to all of us.

And the choices we make to show up, to speak up, to look out for each other.

We're raising the standard, serving our residents and building trust one moment at a time.

Because a safer Akron is something we build together.

Folks are better off when they are safe, supported, and connected to the community around them.

And that doesn't stop with policing or emergency response.

It extends to the places that people call home, the condition of our neighborhoods, and whether families feel rooted and connected to the communities they live in.

Housing is a foundational part of our city, and our living together.

Pillar is about addressing the housing challenges around affordability and quality, homelessness, and making sure all of our neighborhoods are healthy, environmentally sustainable places where everyone can thrive.

In September 25th, 2025, we launched Akron's Right to Counsel Pilot in collaboration with Community Legal Aid Services, United Way of Summit Medina and the Akron Municipal Court, as well as other partners, and through the leadership of our Director of Opportunity and Engagement, Esther Thomas.

We've committed three years of funding to help residents facing eviction, have access to legal services.

With limited resources, we're prioritizing families with lower incomes and certain older adults with disabilities.

We've experienced so far an 80% success rate with this program.

80% doesn't mean that all of those people have necessarily beaten back their eviction.

It can mean that they have got an extended time to move out or settled through mediation.

But regardless of the outcomes which are which we're going to evaluate through the whole three year pilot program, it's important that we give people a basic right to have representation in our city.

Now, I also want to thank the Akron Municipal Court, because they have been building out a mediation program for eviction and rent escrow.

It's designed to help parties resolve conflicts without extra costs and the disruption of a court hearing.

And I particularly want to recognize our presiding and administrative judge, David Hamilton, who's here in the audience, and thank all of the members of the Akron Municipal Court.

We want to make sure that people have fairness and housing proceedings in court, but we also want to make sure that we're doing everything possible to ensure people have safe housing conditions.

We're strengthening code enforcement in our 2026 operating budget.

We worked with City Council to add two new inspectors, and we've consolidated our housing division, which deals with interior conditions issues, and our nuisance division, which deals with exterior neighborhood issues like high grass, into one code compliance division, led by our longtime administrator Duane Gregor and Director of Neighborhood Assistance, Eufrancia Lash.

So that our team is better using its time and its resources.

The deepest solution to our housing issues is supply.

We have beautiful neighborhoods in this city, including some of the first planned communities in this country, in Firestone Park and in Goodyear Heights.

Our neighborhoods have great bones, but they also have a lot of vacant lots and a lot of homes in need of some TLC and repair through over $4 million of federal funding and in some cases, donating city owned land.

We're currently supporting housing projects that will create more than 530 new housing units, many of which are affordable, including infill housing on vacant land, rehabs of existing homes and residential conversions of former commercial buildings.

Now we are also committing, for the first time, local funds to address homelessness.

For a long time we have provided our pass through federal funds, but we know we need to commit to doing more in this space, and so we're excited to work with our continuum of care to build out new responses, especially for our emergency shelters, so that people have a bed, especially when it's too cold to be outside safely.

Now, residents face a lot of obstacles when it comes to buying a first home.

Tonight, we are announcing our way to remove one of those obstacles a new down payment assistance program that will launch this summer.

First time homebuyers who meet certain income limitations will be eligible for up to $7,500 towards their down payment and closing costs.

We are also trying to build a stronger civic culture around housing because lasting solutions require broad public buy it through Unify Akron, Akrons residents are participating in the city's first Housing Assembly, a structure to resident led progress process focused on developing real solutions to safe, affordable and quality housing.

And alongside that, advocacy organizations like Freedom Block have continued to push housing issues into public view, organizing around the idea that housing should be safe, dignified and accessible for all.

Whether people come at this work from inside government or from outside government, that energy matters.

It means more Akronites are helping shape housing policy in this city.

In June, we will introduce several pieces of legislation Akron City Council focus on strengthening our housing code.

We will work to better address mold violations within apartments.

Too often, our inspectors find that management simply cleans mold, so there's no visible violation, but they aren't necessarily addressing the underlying source of moisture, so it just keeps coming back.

We will also work to strengthen our rental registry system to prevent our landlords from bringing in new tenants when they have failed to address housing issues on vacant piece of property.

And finally, we will work to eliminate minimum lot sizes for new housing on infill vacant lots in our city.

Somebody is very excited about that.

And the reason they're excited is because in many of our neighborhoods, we have vacant parcels and two identical houses on either side.

But filling it in with a similar house is prohibited by the minimum lot size that causes people to go through a lengthy city council and planning commission process that I know we all enjoy, but it waste time and money and so we will all be better served without it.

City policy should not be an obstacle to new housing, and so we are going to work with our council to eliminate every piece of red tape we can.

Several of the proposals we will bring forward have emerged from Freedom Blocks work, and later this summer we will plan to bring in more proposals stemming from the recommendations we get soon from the unified Akron Civic Assembly.

Here in Akron, more voices at the table are already making a big difference.

Living together is about our neighborhoods and quality of life.

It's about the streets and sidewalks, parks and public spaces that connect us.

We are investing in mobility and public spaces because a neighborhood is only as strong as it connects as its connections.

We are working to address a backlog of sidewalk repairs.

We are working to put in place permanent asphalt speed tables, and we're working to reduce speed limits on high injury arterial streets across our city.

These are all basic things that we can do to make sure that people are safer, and they feel more secure and connected in their city.

We're also investing in parks and public spaces as places of belonging, we are working with Akron Parks Challenge, both to identify parks for community led capital improvements, but also on a strategic plan for all of our city parks.

Our 2026 capital budget also included playground and recreation improvements across our entire city, and we're trying to think differently about how public land can work better for residents.

We started a new City Meadows program.

There are places, some turf fields with native meadows, improving beauty and wildlife habitat while reducing mowing costs and stormwater runoff in places like Hardesty Park down by the dog park.

The Ginter School site in Kenmore, which has been a long time blight on the nearby neighborhood and in Summit Light.

And these are projects that are not just environmentally sound.

They're smarter and more cost effective for our city services and our teams.

Living together also means preparing for the future that we know is coming.

Because of our continued sustainability work and community engagement.

We earn the All America City Award during our bicentennial year in 2025.

And that is also why Akron recently completed its first greenhouse gas inventory in 15 years, showing that we have reduced over that time period community wide emissions by 29% and our city operations emissions by 54%, that those numbers from that study are now feeding directly into our first ever climate action plan, which kicked off in September of last year and will be completed by the end of this year.

And the goal of this is not just sustainability for sustainability sake, it's resilience, it's lower pollution, it's better quality of life and a city that is ready for extreme heat, for stronger storms, for the long term pressure that climate change is already placing on residents and on our infrastructure.

This work has helped us secure private funding to continue moving the needle for our Climate Action Plan.

Through our Soul Smart Silver designation and through our Summit Fresh Mobile Market, which received a US Conference of Mayors grant.

and also for our forestry funding to expand tree planting and community engagement.

That tree planting program we call Project Acorn, is a grant funded urban forestry and workforce initiative that combines tree planting with paid job training.

Since its launch, the city has completed its first training cohort.

We're in the middle of the second training cohort.

We planted more than 250 trees, including fruit bearing trees, across five neighborhoods in our city.

The broader Project Acorn effort was backed by $1 million in federal community forestry funding, and it's designed not only to expand the tree canopy, but to create workforce pathways and direct environmental investments in our neighborhoods that have experienced disinvestment and canopy loss.

Now, a few years ago, a family friend took me over to Betty Street, just around the corner from Exchange and Route eight to see where all of our trash goes at our Fountain Street waste transfer station, just yards away from the folks homes on Betty Street.

Since the 1990s, our city government has been working to close Fountain Street and to build a modern new facility.

And for the last two and a half years, we've worked to make that a reality.

Last night, Akron City Council voted to approve the development agreement that will make this happen, meaning that the Fountain Street site will be decommissioned and closed for good.

A new state of the art facility will be built off of Archway Avenue, more than 1000ft from the closest homes.

It's also Akron's very first agreement that centers community benefits What that means is that there are real controls and monitoring reporting requirements from waste management, and $1 million in financial commitments that will help strengthen East Akron and Middlebury for a long time to come.

All of this work since January 2024 was done in a transparent and engaging way with residents, not because it was easy, but because it was the right thing to do.

This is the bigger picture here.

Healthy homes, connected neighborhoods, cleaner environments.

Check out how we are doing the work of living together.

In Akron.

Living together means more than sharing space.

It means shaping a future we can all be part of.

Through our climate action work, we're building a city that's more resilient, more sustainable, and ready for what's next.

Protecting our environment while investing in the neighborhoods we call home.

It means creating pathways where opportunity takes root through Project Acorn to individuals started by learning how to plant trees, how to care for the land.

And today they're full time City of Akron employees maintaining the spaces we all share.

And it means coming together to take on the challenges that affect all of us through Unify Akron residents, leaders, and partners in the same room, talking honestly about housing, about access, about the future of our city, not waiting for solutions, but building them together.

From sustainability to opportunity to shared voice.

This is what it looks like when a city belongs to everyone.

Connected, invested together.

Building a stronger city is not just about the places we build.

It's about the people we invest in.

And nowhere is that investment more important than with our young people.

When it comes to building Akron's future, we have to focus on how we support our kids from early childhood through youth and into adulthood.

And then on the other end, thinking about how we support older adults as they age.

This is what we call the growing together pillar.

And before we get into these initiatives, I want to take a moment and acknowledge some incredible young people in the room.

Tonight, we invited champions in sports and other extracurriculars from across our city to be here, including all city champions, state champions, our Akron Zips, Mac champions and their coaches.

Now?

Academic performance is something we want to celebrate as well.

And tonight we have students and faculty here from our Akron Early College High School just around the corner.

Last year, Akron Early College High School earned five stars on the state scorecard.

For the fifth year in a row, they are ranked 13th out of 903 public high schools in the state of Ohio.

They are number one amongst all Summit County high schools.

And it's not just Akron Early College who's doing amazing work.

Akron Public Schools is the only district in Summit County to improve its ranking in the last year, from two and a half stars to three and a half stars.

We also want to support our youth and their success, and it's important how we do that, right?

The city government is not in charge of the schools.

We certainly don't think we should control what happens in people's homes, but our role is to help students in those key out of school time hours when they're not at school and they're not at home.

And so we've worked to Stand Up Youth Success Summit as our city's backbone organization for all youth serving nonprofits.

Our consistent financial support has helped Youth Success Summit.

We call YSS, secure a multiyear national grant with the Wallace Foundation in New York City, which is projected to bring $10 million to Akron over the next several years, with a particular focus on East Akron, where there's significant need for youth programing.

In 2025, we awarded $100,000 in Small sports and wellness grants to 49 different organizations helping uplift our youth, including the Akron Bengals U7 football team.

They made it to the national championships in Florida this year, it was an empowering experience for these young kids that I saw when they came back.

Last year, we also started our connect at the Rec program to give teens a fun, safe space to interact on several Fridays, and this year we've expanded it to Saturdays as well.

In a world where so much is pushing us away from connection to loneliness and anxiety to our phones, it's so inspiring to watch our Rec and Parks team create a space for our kids to come in just because.

And over 750 young people have taken part in these programs.

this year we're undertaking a project play study with the Aspen Institute focused on assessing our youth sports and wellness opportunities, and where we can expand and grow from here.

This study will help us as a community create healthy, empowering opportunities for our young people.

We're also supporting our youth through workforce opportunities as well.

We welcomed 50 summer interns last year through our internship program with Summit County and jobs for Ohio graduates, and this year's group will join us in 6 or 7 weeks so we can clock the latest lingo.

I'm sorry.

Working with Akron City Council, we expanded our support of Akron after school.

And when it comes to our youth, what I'm most excited about is the work that we're doing in early childhood education with our unified early learning system.

This pilot program is bringing together more than a dozen partners, from apps to Head Start to in-home child care providers and center based providers, with a goal of providing more affordable, high quality preschool and child care to everyone in our city.

This program includes wraparound services for families, professional development for educators, and with another grant from the US Conference of Mayors, So that child care providers can access funding, navigate HR and legal, and grow as small businesses.

This is a huge opportunity.

It's about our kids getting the best possible start to their education.

It's about our families having more affordable options and reliable care.

And it's about folks who are doing this essential work, getting the support that they need.

This is a perfect example of how we can solve tough problems if we work together.

Look at all the partners listed on this slide.

Instead of building a patchwork, we're building a unified system to uplift all of our children and every single person who cares for them.

But again, we can show you better than I can tell you.

In Akron, growth doesn't wait.

It shows up early on practice fields under Friday Night Lights, a group of seven year olds, the Akron Bengals, given a shot and a $2,000 investment, turned it into a trip to the national stage, second in the nation.

But here, that's just the beginning.

Because growth isn't just about where you go, it's about where you are on a Friday night.

At Connect at the Rec, young people find more than a game.

They find connection, mentorship, a place that says you belong here.

And in those moments, paths start to change.

And it starts even earlier than that.

Through our unified early learning system, we're surrounding families with support, strengthening childcare providers, investing in the people's shaping our youngest minds.

Because when we invest early, we build stronger futures from the field to the gym to the classroom.

This is what it looks like when a city grows together.

And we want to share two really important ways that anyone can make a big impact in this space.

One of the great things about Youth Success Summit has been the creation of the Summit Mentoring Collaborative.

We have a lot of great mentorship groups in this community, right?

ACE Mentor Program, Akron Youth Mentorship, Big Brothers Big Sisters, First Glance and Kenmore, Project Grad RAHAB Ministries, Red Oak, iCARE, Fallen Fathers, HV3, Akron Area YMCA, and Young Life.

Each one of these programs has a unique focus and a unique approach.

Through the Mentorship Collaborative, you can fill out one form and figure out which of these programs might be the best fit for you.

And there are a few things more rewarding than mentorship.

It's not only for the gain of the young people who have a trusted, committed person to regularly talk with.

It's also rewarding for the mentors speaking from personal experience.

You learn and you grow alongside that person.

And secondly, I know this is not a fit for everyone, but there is a huge need in our community for foster care.

In some county, there are over 750 kids in the custody of Summit County Children's Services, and there's only 180 foster homes available.

Often, placements are across Ohio, causing young people to be uprooted from their communities.

We're highlighting this as another thing people can learn more about.

It's on the back of the program at the QR code.

And this Thursday, May 21st, Children's Services is hosting a virtual foster care open house from 630 to 7:30 p.m.. Now, the last major focus I want to talk about is our working together pillar, our work to create economic opportunity for every single Akronite from downtown to our neighborhoods, we're helping shepherd new growth that's adding jobs.

Today.

We're also doing the long term work of building the backbone of our economy around sustainable polymers and advanced materials, and there'll be more on that in a moment.

Over the past 12 months, businesses of all sizes have made a choice to invest and grow in the city of Akron.

Their commitment to improving the city through their presence, through employment of residents, contributes to our economy, to our competitiveness, and to the quality of life of our families.

Here's what this means.

Downtown.

We've worked with GPD Group, one of the largest engineering firms in Northeast Ohio, to support their decision to stay and grow downtown.

They're adding at least 120 new jobs with an annual payroll of $50 million.

And they've purchased their longtime space in the historic B.F.

Goodrich complex.

If you walk down there on a day like today, you can see the scaffolding.

It's a real sign of their investment and their commitment to Akron.

We've worked with one of the largest law firms in Northeast Ohio, Buckingham, Doolittle and Burroughs, to support their move back to downtown, meaning more than 70 jobs from their Akron office will be right here.

Millennium Capital is growing in the AES Building.

Trailhead Foundation, under the leadership of Tracy Carter, is opening their new foundation office downtown, and 717 Credit Union has made a big investment in our community, buying naming rights to the ballpark and opening new branches both downtown and in Wall Haven.

We're working on residential and mixed use redevelopment, with the CitiCenter building on High Street, the Cascade Plaza project right here.

Gino Faciana and Barb Faciana are leading that.

And just this past week, the Quaker Square development secured 100 or $1 million grant from the state of Ohio.

Bring us closer to our goal of seeing that space open and a convention center adjacent hotel in our downtown.

More people in downtown during the day, on nights and weekends.

For conventions, it means more support for the existing retail that has stuck by downtown.

It means more demand for new retail options like Crafty Steere, which is opening soon in the O'Neil's building a restaurant, gamespot and market.

It means more jobs.

It means more opportunity in the center of our city.

Now, our economic development team has spent a lot of time helping with each of those projects.

But as I announced in last year's speech, we've also started our downtown Akron Development Corporation to help move the ball forward and capitalize on the momentum that we're seeing.

I want to thank Chris Hardesty and the entire board of the corporation for their work.

Now, another big piece of how we support downtown is public gatherings.

The new lock three Park is headed into its second year.

This weekend kicks off our summer concert series.

You can come check out a show or one of our big festivals.

There's truly something for everyone, so if you haven't been to a show or festival in the newly revamped space, please make sure you get to one this year.

In our neighborhoods, we're also seeing similar expansions.

Ajinomoto, which is a subsidiary of Tokyo based Stocks and Broths Food company, is executing a $15 million expansion with the intent to add 23 new jobs over a three year period on Home Avenue.

Additive Engineering Solutions is in a small, unassuming building on Evans Avenue.

Andrew Bader and Austin Schmidt have built a business using some of the largest 3D printers in the entire world, right here in Akron, Ohio.

They recently completed a $5 million investment, adding 12 engineering and manufacturing jobs to our community.

Hickory Harvest, which has been based in our Copley Joint Economic Development District, is expanding into Akron this year with the purchase of a new facility on Waterloo Road, where they're going to be investing $4 million and the house, 330.

Has anybody been to House?

330.

At House 330, we're seeing the latest example of the LeBron James Family Foundation's people centered approach to economic development with I promise students, parents, teachers and family members learning new skills and job training while serving the community with the world's leading bucket getter.

Hailing from Akron, we're fortunate to have the new addition of his Buckets Restaurant, where Akronites can work together, grow together, share meals together, and as a community, their we are family approach to daily interactions become the blueprint for hospitality, safety and economic development because family doesn't let family fail.

In 2026, we will invest in growing opportunity and increasing the tax base by supporting businesses across the entire spectrum of entrepreneurship, from small businesses with 1 to 2 employees to large corporations.

Our economic development team will meet with more than 200 businesses to grow our city's economy one conversation at a time, and we will not only provide support, we will provide connections to a lot of our small business assistance providers.

Those providers, folks like the Akron Urban League, Bounce our citys innovation hub, where most of the speech was written, our Black Chamber of Commerce of Summit County, the Summit Medina Business Alliance, a Greater Akron chamber.

These are all entities that we're supporting with funding to be able to help support all of our small businesses, grow in what they need to succeed.

We're also supporting businesses, specifically in Our Great Streets Neighborhood Business Districts.

Last year, we invested in 31 small businesses to support not just their general operations, but also business development for entrepreneurship entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs who own their own business and have 1 to 5 employees.

These grants, again, were paired with those same connections to those small business assistance providers.

Now, you know, before I continue, I want to talk just a little bit about our polymers we have in this community, and I'm going to talk about it in a second.

An amazing opportunity with the polymer industry cluster.

And so we are going to work with the University of Akron and with all of our providers to grow that as part of our economy.

And we can do both things.

We can grow the long term of our economy while also supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs as they grow.

Is our businesses like Trin Max Freight Movers, owned by Tiffany Charlotte, Ethnic Race, owned by Terence Bailey, Joyful Interactions owned by Bianca Eris.

And these are folks who have been able to use our grants to support their operations, and we're proud to give them a boost.

I think we have the next video.

In Akron, we don't just look back at what we were known for.

We build what's next.

Our polymer cluster partners are driving a new kind of economy built on polymers, on innovation, on a global cluster rooted right here, one of the largest concentrations of polymer expertise in the world, turning research into real world impact, turning ideas into jobs, turning Akron into a leader in what comes next.

But growth doesn't just happen in labs.

It happens on our streets, in our neighborhoods, in businesses built from the ground up, Ethicrace clothing, a black owned business, moving goods, creating jobs, building opportunity right here in Akron, backed by local government, turning vision into velocity.

And across our city.

Momentum is building companies, choosing Akron businesses, expanding developers, reinvesting in our future, breathing new life into downtown and into neighborhoods across the city.

From innovation to entrepreneurship to investment.

This is what happens when a city believes in itself.

Now, as I mentioned a couple of times, I want to talk about sustainable polymers in the future of Akron's economy.

But before I do that, I want to take a short trip to our past.

In the 1800s, Akron was at the center of the growing American economy because of the Ohio and Erie Canal, which runs right under this building.

We were a hub of commerce between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River.

And because of that, in November 1870, Doctor Benjamin Franklin Goodrich moved to Akron to start the first rubber factory west of the Allegheny Mountains.

In the 1900s, as we all know, Akron was the rubber capital of the world.

To be a part of this industry anywhere in the world, you had to have some kind of connection or presence to Akron.

And that industry was our backbone economy.

It created tremendous jobs and prosperity.

We were the fastest growing city in the country between 1910 and 1920, and it wasn't perfect.

We had plenty of environmental issues and fights between labor and management, but the rubber industry powered our city.

Every community needs a backbone economy, something that young people growing up here can aspire to, to see a future for themselves.

And just like we did with the canals, just like we did with the rubber industry, we can be the best in the world at sustainable polymers and advanced materials.

We already have the pieces we need.

Our rubber legacy means we have hundreds of polymer related companies right here in Northeast Ohio.

We have one of the best polymer science programs in the world right here at the University of Akron.

And as many of you know, with the leadership of the Greater Akron Chamber and the polymer industry cluster now led by Hans Dorfi.

In 2024, our community was able to secure $100 million in state and federal grants to support this work.

Right now, we are part of an application from Case Western Reserve University on behalf of all of Northeast Ohio, for a $160 million grant from the National Science Foundation focused on polymers and other advanced materials like metals and coatings.

We won't hear about the grant until later this summer, but earlier this year I was part of an NSF site visit, and I want to tell you how proud I was of our community.

I was sitting in a room alongside Governor DeWine and Mayor Bibb and Steve Millard from our chamber and many other leaders.

And for the first time, I mean this for the first time.

It felt like we weren't begging.

It felt like we were sharing the confidence we have in our communities.

I am convinced that we are going to build this industry into an international leader.

Grant money will help it come quicker, but we are going to do this one way or another.

the polymer industry cluster will break ground soon on a pilot facility at the University of Akron to bridge the gap between an idea and a research lab and a commercial product.

But as a community, we have to make sure that our young people see the value of what we're building, that it's not just big numbers and big buildings.

I'm really proud of the work that the GA Foundation has done with Akron Public Schools and Weathervane Playhouse.

They have called it Once Upon a Polymer, and every single third grader in Akron Public Schools is now learning about polymer materials, the magic of musical theater.

I got to see this earlier this year, and I'm sitting cross-legged on the floor alongside the kids from Forest Hill Community Learning Center, and they're learning about polymer materials through the light, the the polymers that help change the colors on stage lights.

Through the polymers that make up the materials on the costumes in the dance studio.

And I can see them connecting with these concepts.

I can see them seeing a role for themselves in a future for themselves.

And it's a beautiful thing.

So tonight I'm excited to announce the next step in making the polymer economy real for our young people.

The City of Akron is working with partners across our community to create a Polymers Part Pathways Partnership in collaboration with Stark State College, the University of Akron, Akron Public Schools, ConxusNEO, Jobs for Ohios Graduates, our chamber and the Polymer Industry cluster.

We will work to ensure that any high school student in Akron who wants to pursue a career in sustainable polymers and advanced manufacturing can get credentials and certifications to do so.

From early career exploration to hands on learning and direct access to high demand jobs, we are going to build a system so that every young person in Akron can see a future for themselves here, and a pathway to build it.

Now, one symbol of Akron, of both our past and our future is the Goodyear blimp.

Goodyear is a key part of our polymer industry cluster, and you may have noticed by now that despite the beautiful sky, this year's speech has fewer blimps than last year's speech.

While after last year we thought, what is a cool way we can do something fun and also give us some civic pride?

I'm excited to announce that this year, the City of Akron will officially kick off a new city holiday with the help of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

Check it out.

This year, on Saturday, June 6th, will host the inaugural Blimp Day in the city of Akron.

From 9 a.m.

to noon, Goodyear will fly two of their iconic blimps over all 24 neighborhoods in our city.

We plan to host this event every summer, and while the specific date might change, you can get ready for a yearly Blimp Day holiday on your calendar.

In future years, Blimp Day will also include a festival with opportunities to get up close and personal with these symbols of Akron.

This year, we're hosting a Blimp Day photo contest to see who can get the best picture of the two blimps around the city, so stay tuned for more information on that.

Last month, the Akron Roundtable hosted a conversation with someone from Akron who's the best in the world at what he does.

Paul Tazewell, who's won an Oscar and Emmy and two Tony Awards for his work in renowned shows like Wicked and Hamilton.

Mr.

Tazewell shared about his childhood, how a supportive community in West Akron and Buchtel High School helped him grow into the person he is today.

And one of our team members, Patricia, was in the audience.

She was very excited because Paul is a huge inspiration to her.

She mentioned to me that her grandparents had known Paul when he was young, as his coach and as his teacher, and I thought, isn't that a beautiful reflection of what community is?

Her grandparents were part of the community that helped him achieve amazing things, and now he's inspiring someone from that same family.

That's what's powerful about Akron.

We are all part of this amazing community.

Sometimes we are lending a hand.

Sometimes we are the ones being helped.

We are always doing it together in a world that pushes us towards individualism.

Our community is a living example of how we can achieve amazing things together.

Our team and city government is part of a much larger community.

Everyone in this room and everyone across our city.

Have you seen over and over tonight the work that we're doing to build Akron's future is collaborative work, and we will continue in that spirit.

Together for Akron, to me, is more than just a plan.

It's a way of doing things.

We are connected to each other, and in a world that feels more divided than ever, more isolated, more cynical.

We still believe in community.

We still believe in showing up for one another.

We still believe in neighborhoods and mentorship and in public service, in coaching a team and helping a neighbor, and in building something bigger than ourselves.

That spirit is everywhere in this room tonight, in the public safety forces that we have in this room, in our teachers and our child care providers, our mentors, our students, our volunteers, our public servants and our residents who are speaking up to use their voice.

That's what together for Akron means.

It means understanding that none of us builds the city alone is all of us together.

And the truth is, the future for Akron is not something that's just going to happen one day.

We're making.

We're building it with the way we treat one another.

We're building it with each day.

How we choose to make an impact.

So as we close, I want to leave you with five ways that we can continue to lean in for this community.

As I've mentioned, downloading our 311 app.

Attending our amazing lineup of downtown events.

Learning about mentorship opportunities with Youth Success Summit, learning more about our foster care system in Summit County and for our young people sign up for the Polymer Polymers Pathway Partnership.

With each other, there's nothing we cannot do in successes and setbacks.

We are stronger because we face things as a community head on.

Akron's greatest strength has never been our factories.

It's never been our buildings, even our history.

It's always been our people, their resilience, their creativity, their compassion, and our willingness to show up for each other when times are easy and when times are hard.

That's who we are.

That's why I believe in this city.

Because when we work together, when we believe in each other, when we invest in each other, there's nothing we cannot do.

In Akron, the state of our city is strong because we are building our future together.

Thank you.

This has been a production of Akron Roundtable, PBS Western Reserve, the University of Akron, and Ideastream Public Media.