Training and Technical Assistance

OCDCA offers a variety of training, technical assistance, and professional development opportunities throughout the year. If you have an idea for a training or a question about trainings, please contact Torey Hollingsworth at thollingsworth@ohiocdc.org.

Main Street Job Recovery Program

The Main Street Job Recovery Program will provide state funds for 501c3 nonprofit organizations that are addressing the economic needs of low-income individuals and families through the creation of permanent business development and employment opportunities. The Main Street Job Recovery Program is modeled after the federal Community Economic Development grant program, administered through the Office of Community Service within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Learn more about this new funding opportunity for OCDCA members.

OCDCA Book Club

We read books related to community development topics of housing, food access, financial empowerment, economic development, and community engagement; place-based, urban/rural, and neighborhood issues; empathy; and leadership and other professional development skills useful to community developers.

Past books include Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap by Mehrsa Baradaran, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein, The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance by Edgar Villanueva, Radical Suburbs: Experimental Living on the Fringes of the American City by Amanda Kolson Hurley, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman, Cities for People by Jan Gehl, and The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart by Alicia Garza, Love Where You LIve: Creating Emotionally Engaging Places by Peter Kageyama, and The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van der Kolk.

You do not need to be an OCDCA member to participate in the book club. View all of the books on our possible reading list.

Upcoming Training and Events

Peer-to-Peer Technical Assistance Program (P2P)

OCDCA is pleased to launch the Peer-to-Peer Technical Assistance Program (P2P), supported by Huntington Bank.

There is a lot of expertise within the OCDCA membership. At the same time, many members need technical assistance. In response, OCDCA is coordinating and convening strategic pairings of OCDCA members to bolster statewide technical assistance (TA) efforts. We are focusing on the broad issues of community development, however given the nature of the program; the technical assistance will be tailored to fit the need or issue that particular organization is having around the topic. Examples of technical projects could be how to be a better fundraiser, how to write a particular community development or tax credit application, how to start a business incubation program, etc.

The technical assistance will build upon the strengths of the OCDCA network. Each TA engagement will be for up to a total 40 hours over a period spanning from September 2020 - May 2021. The organization providing the technical assistance will be paid a consultant fee of $6,000 for their time. The organization receiving the technical assistance will be provided with a stipend of $1,000.

The following group of providers and recipients have from September 23, 2020 - May 21, 2021 to work together.

The following groups were chosen to participate in the first cohort of P2P:

Pairing 1:
TA Provider:
Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet) in Athens
TA Recipient:
Elevate Northland in Columbus

Pairing 2:
TA Provider:
Economic and Community Development Institute (ECDI) in Columbus
TA Recipient:
Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions in Yellow Springs

Pairing 3:
TA Provider:
Parsons Avenue Redevelopment Corporation in Columbus
TA Recipient:
NEO Hispanic Center for Economic Development in Cleveland

Pairing 4:
TA Provider:
Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership in Warren
TA Recipient:
Northeast Ohio Alliance for Hope (NOAH) in East Cleveland

Pairing 5:
TA Provider:
Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation in Youngstown
TA Recipient:
Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity in Maumee