New Philadelphia, Ohio (WJER) - The New Philadelphia Business And Community Association says it’s shifting its focus to help businesses take advantage of economic opportunities in the city. 

NCBA Interim Director Rick Arredondo says the organization wants to move beyond event planning by reaching out to existing businesses and potential new businesses. 

“Well, it’s not just about the downtown, although that is a focus, but we have a lot of empty storefronts. We are certainly getting the reputation of being business friendly, and so our goal is just to facilitate that, get new businesses in here that would be very complimentary and just continue the growth that we’ve seen in the last couple of years,” he says.

Arredondo says the organization can be the arms and legs for the city, working with Mayor Joel Day.

“The relationship we’re trying to build with him is [to] say, ‘Hey, if we can go attend a meeting for you, we could bring that information back to you.’ If once the master plan is put into effect, if we could take that responsibility of seeing some of those projects through or just maybe be some project oversight, those kinds of things, I feel like we can help him more,” he says.

Arredondo says interest is growing, as a recent meeting was standing-room-only. He says he hopes membership will increase enough to allow the association to hire a full-time director and designate committees for marketing, beautification, and economic development projects.

To learn more about the New Philadelphia Business And Community Association, visit www.newphiladelphia.org.

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