What is the Community Improvement Corporation?

The Worthington Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) was created in 2006 via Ordinance No. 13-2006 as defined under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 1724 to be a non-profit economic development corporation, organized for the purpose of advancing, encouraging, and promoting the industrial, economic, commercial, and civic development of the community.

Additional activities that the CIC can undertake include:

• Acquiring and selling property (real, personal, stock, partnership, etc)
• Borrowing money for economic development projects (issuing unvoted revenue bonds or notes)
• Lending money (ie. revolving loan funds for economic development projects)
• Serving as an administrative agent for grant applications (ie. The City's façade program)
• The ability to charge fees to political subdivisions for services rendered
• May enter into contracts with third parties, including the federal government, the state, any political subdivisions, or any other entity
• Can sell or lease property owned by a political subdivision as its agent, without having to comply with public sale requirements.  The price may be below fair market value and the buyer may be in a targeted industry
• Projects do not need to be competitively bid
• The CIC can be used for strategic planning purposes for the community
• The CIC CANNOT levy taxes, issue tax-exempt bonds, condemn or appropriate property, nor grant tax abatement