Leadership Seneca County's February Class

Leadership Seneca County’s class of 2022 met on Wednesday, February 9, 2022.  The day began at the BANKquet Hall in Fostoria, where local historian Leonard Skonecki explained some of the most exciting details of the building’s history and reviewed some highlights from the history of Fostoria, as well. Kim Radison spoke to the class afterward on the importance of failure. The class broke into small groups for this portion of the session, and worked through a series of discussion questions and prompts aimed at helping them learn to view failure in a more positive light. The rest of the day’s speakers also touched on the theme of failure and the role it plays in personal fulfillment and long-term success.

While at the BANKquet Hall, Sarah Stephens, the Chamber/Small Business Director for the Fostoria Area Chamber of Commerce, presented on the current state of economic development within Fostoria. Her speech included information about the Fostoria Learning Center and some of the city’s current initiatives aimed at expanding small business and entrepreneurship, including its recent small business competition and partnership with CO.STARTERS. 

After Sarah’s presentation, the class traveled to Tiffin and ate lunch at Jolly’s, where they heard from the restaurant’s current owner Dave Spridgeon about the importance of being able to pivot and adapt plans as needed. Some time was spent toward the end of lunch on discussing the class project and determining next steps.

The class then made its way to the Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership (TSEP), where they heard from TSEP's President and CEO, David Zak, and the Director of Downtown Revitalization, Amy Reinhart. Both individuals described the state of economic development in Tiffin and Seneca County overall, with an emphasis on the role TSEP plays in helping both businesses and government reach goals related to the stimulation of economic growth, as well as information on recent efforts to revitalize downtown Tiffin. After their presentation, the class enjoyed hearing from some of Tiffin's notable business leaders: Jessica Wirth of Bailiwicks, Matt Dysard of Tiffin Metal Products, and Eric Kuebler and Rob Weaver of The LAB. These leaders spoke to the class as a whole and in small groups. Class was dismissed at the end of these small group discussions.