The Future of the Ohio to Erie Trail

Hint: It’s more than a path from Cincinnati to Cleveland

Progress is almost impossible without collaboration, cooperation, and consensus. I aim to be part of that solution.

I am nearing my first anniversary as the president of the Ohio to Erie Trail. It has been a year of learning since assuming this leadership position. My job description reads that as the chief officer, I guide the organization in achieving its long-term mission and values. That is a lofty job for sure.

I retired from a career in corporate information technology focusing on data and information strategies, a world far different than trails. The skills honed over my forty pre-retirement years are assets in leading the trail’s board of directors to achieve the trail’s long-term mission and values.

Mission and values are terms tossed around in the corporate world. I spent countless hours wordsmithing these terms in my career. Mission describes the organization's purpose and what it aims to accomplish. Values are the core beliefs and principles that guide the organization's behavior and decision-making.

The Ohio to Erie Trail mission focuses on the funding of, advocacy for, and support of the acquisition of land to build a connected network of trails spanning the State of Ohio. That mission is 90% complete. The work of the Ohio to Erie Trail has transformed over the past 30 years beyond building a Cincinnati to Cleveland trail.

It is time to revisit the trail’s path forward. Completing the trail remains the top priority. The trail is a growing destination for outdoor tourism that plays a key role in the economic vitality of communities along the trail. This is a primary driver to align the mission and values of the trail to its place in today’s world.

Progress is impossible without change. Positive change happens when many minds become one.

The board of directors was fully on board and met this past weekend in a facilitated retreat focused on mapping the trail’s path forward. It was a revealing exercise. Active participation with diverse backgrounds and views identified the characteristics of a shared mission and values reflecting the priorities to guide the trail in the coming years.

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself. — Henry Ford

The board is spending the coming months refining the specifics of a path forward. The Ohio to Erie Trail has become more than the path across Ohio that Ed Honton and other early visionaries dreamed of. A vibrant future of the trail is assured when decisions are guided by living breathing mission and values, not just ones on paper.

More good news to come in the coming months!
Tom on the Trails