By: Tim Schneider, Manager - Local Government Advocacy, TRCC

​Graduates of the 2018 Institute for Leadership & Advocacy program joined members of the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce for its annual Legislative Day in Ohio’s capital on April 18. This event was an opportunity for those in attendance to have lunch with our region’s state legislators and receive updates from key agency leaders.
 
The luncheon, held at The Athletic Club of Columbus near the Ohio Statehouse featured speakers Andrea Boxill, Director, Governor’s Opiate Action Team, and Joe Testa, Tax Commissioner, Ohio Department of Taxation. Ms. Boxill spoke about the national opiate epidemic’s impact on the workforce and societal challenges that exist in addressing the problem. Mr. Testa spoke about recent tax changes at the state level and implications for Ohio businesses.

​ARK Restoration & Construction was started to support local residential and commercial development. Ambrea Mikolajczyk and team are obsessed with designing and creating something special from “undesirable properties” — to restore and beautify buildings that have been forgotten about, paying close attention to quality and detail.
 
ARK Restoration & Construction offers clients a hands-on, customized approach to bring projects to fruition, specializing in construction management, masonry, carpentry, consulting, general contracting, and residential/commercial remodels. With a combined 100+ years’ experience in the field of construction, they employ highly skilled masons, carpenters, project managers, and laborers. The portfolio includes countless residential remodels, including bathrooms, kitchens, fixer-uppers and the complete restoration of 10 buildings, with budgets ranging from $250,000–$6,000,000 and square footage from 1,000–82,000.

​The HandleBar Toledo, LLC was founded in September 2016 by downtown Toledo resident Tom Van Wingen and his friends from college, brothers Brian and Stephen Lindsay.  Tom, Brian, and Stephen share a love for biking, great beer, being active, and all things outdoors, so starting a business that combined those passions into one was a natural fit! 
 
The HandleBar is Toledo’s first 16-person pedal powered pub on wheels, offering two hour bicycle bar tours of Downtown and Uptown Toledo.  Each of the company’s 4 bicycle bars can accommodate up to 16 guests.   Tours are provided in two categories:  Private Group Tours (where the entire bike is reserved for a fixed price and the customer brings between 6 and 16 guests) and Public Individual Tours (where single seats are sold and you’re matched with other fun riders).  The HandleBar Toledo requires that tours be booked in advance online and operates from 10:30am to 10:30pm 7 days a week from St. Patrick’s Day until Thanksgiving.  Tours feature a company designated driver (called the Bar Handler) who drives the bicycle bar and leads the tour, and each tour usually makes about 3 stops along the way at great local bars that feature exclusive HandleBar discounts.  Customers may bring their own beverages (beer/wine ok!) onto the bike and can expect to get some great group photographs with the help of their Bar Handler along the tour.  An on-board stereo capable of connecting to the customer’s iPhone / iPod / Android blasts great tunes throughout the ride, creating a truly unique and customizable experience for each group tour.

​The mission of Bittersweet Farms is to positively impact the lives of individuals with autism and those whose lives they touch.  Founded in 1983, Bittersweet is the first farmstead program for adults with autism in the United States.  For the last 35 years, we have provided innovative and person-centered residential, vocational, and social services to individuals across the autism spectrum.
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Our founder, Bettye Ruth Kay, was a public school teacher in Toledo, OH specializing in working with students with autism.  As her students approached their high school graduations in the late 1970s, they were confronted with the lack of autism-specific services available for adults.  Bettye longed for her students to live meaningful, active, and independent lives in a caring community. Together with the parents of her students, she founded Bittersweet in nearby Whitehouse, OH to fill this gap in services.  The students in Bettye Ruth’s class were among the first residents to move onto the farm, and most of them, now in their fifties, still live and work here.