Addressing Growth with MORPC

Tim Fulton 00:00Welcome to the Confluence Cast, presented by Columbus Underground. We are a weekly Columbus-centric podcast focusing on the civics, lifestyle, entertainment, and people of our city. I'm your host, Tim Fulton. This week, the future of central Ohio is coming at us fast, but not too fast to manage. In this week's episode, Columbus Underground co-founder and editor Walker Evans sat down with Jessica Kuenzli, the Chief Regional Planning Officer at MORPC, to explore how her team is tackling the region's explosive growth, sustainability needs, and the big picture of community development. Jessica shares insights into new federal funding for electric vehicle infrastructure, the importance of data mapping, and the challenges of uniting over 15 counties under one regional vision. You can get more information on what we discussed today in the show notes for this episode at theConfluenceCast.com. This episode is sponsored by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission. MORPC is central Ohio's voice as a regional council. With nearly 90 local governments and community partners, they provide nonpartisan data analysis, community resources, and long-range planning. Together, they drive the future prosperity and sustainability of the central Ohio region. Enjoy the interview.

Walker Evans 01:35Sitting down here today with Jessica Kuenzli, the Chief Regional Planning Officer and Senior Director of Planning here at MORPC. Jessica, nice to meet you.

Jessica Kuenzli 01:43It's great to meet you as well. Thanks for having me.

Walker Evans 01:45Yeah, yeah. So, I know you're relatively new here at MORPC. For those who are unfamiliar, can you tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you here?

Jessica Kuenzli 01:54Thank you so much for that question. Yes, as you mentioned, relatively new here at MORPC. I've been with the organization — I was Chief Regional Planning Officer and Senior Director of Planning — for about a month and a half now. Prior to that, I was actually at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for about 12 years. So I began at Ohio EPA in the Division of Air Pollution Control. Actually, I started off as an intern, and then I was in the Division of Air Pollution Control in a number of different leadership positions for about 10 years, and then the last two years of my time at the agency was actually spent as Deputy Director of Business and Regulatory Affairs. So with that role, I was charged with leading economic development projects — so kind of helping entities looking to come to the state, expand in the state, navigate that regulatory framework — and also working with federal funding opportunities. So it was really nice that there was a strong nexus between my work at Ohio EPA and the work that MORPC is doing as well. So here at MORPC, I'm overseeing sustainability, data and mapping, and then also our community development programs.

Walker Evans 03:01Nice, yeah, it's great. Cool. So, with those programs, what are some of the — you know, I know MORPC has so many things that it touches across so many different realms. What are some of the types of projects that you're going to be working on as a priority in the coming months and years?

Jessica Kuenzli 03:16Yeah. I mentioned that previously in my role at Ohio EPA, I was doing a lot of work with those federal funding opportunities. There are a lot of opportunities that MORPC is also pursuing when it comes to grant programming. So I don't know if you heard, but MORPC was actually recently awarded our largest grant ever. So we received a grant for $15 million from Federal Highways for the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program. So with that, we'll be looking to kind of build out that EV charging network. So really excited to be doing more work in that area as well. And that's just one grant program. We also received another grant for $2 million for charging infrastructure repair work. And there are others out there as well. So really kind of looking at, what does the region need when it comes to all of these federal funding opportunities that are coming in, how can we best position central Ohio to capitalize on these, and really be of most benefit for our residents?

Walker Evans 04:10Cool. Yeah, I don't have an electric vehicle yet, but as we are all moving more toward those, it's really interesting, because that's one of the questions a lot of people have right now, is, what does the charging infrastructure look like? It seems to me, just as a casual observer, there's a big mix of, like, public and private. You know, you see some gas stations that have charging stations, you see, like, Easton, shopping centers, destinations like that that have charging stations. You see some public parking spots, you know, both in the city of Columbus as well as some of our suburbs. What does that money go toward in terms of helping to fill, like, gaps in the network and the coverage? Or is it going to be a public-private thing, like, you know, five, 10, 15 years down the road?

Jessica Kuenzli 04:50So I think that's definitely an evolving landscape that we're seeing right now, and something that we're very cognizant of as well. We want to build out that network. So I always like to say that when it comes to some of these funding opportunities, it's kind of putting together the pieces of the puzzle. So how can we utilize, you know, this funding, this grant program, to fill that gap? Something that's definitely top of mind here at MORPC is, how can we better serve those underserved communities as well? So that's very much top of mind — making sure that we are ensuring the deployment is equal across all of these areas.

Walker Evans 05:26Nice. You mentioned data mapping, community development, sustainability. Obviously, there's a lot of overlap between those things when it comes to the planning side of things. How do you make sure that all of these different projects and programs are sort of talking to each other, and that the planning aligns, you know, so that no one's really working in silos?

Jessica Kuenzli 05:48Yeah, I think it kind of does that naturally. I mean, a way that you can kind of think about this is just, look at the growth that we're seeing here in central Ohio. We know that this region is growing. It has been growing, and it will continue to grow. We're projected to become a region of about 3.1 million by 2050. And some people can see that growth as a really exciting opportunity. Others can be a bit intimidated by that. We understand that, and the work that we're doing here at MORPC is to help the region become best prepared for that. So that covers all of those different aspects that you talked about. So the sustainability aspect, the data and mapping, making sure we have the information readily available to help our communities best prepare for this. So something that is nice about the growth that we're experiencing is that it's been fairly steady, and it's on a more gradual rate than other areas across the nation, like Austin or Nashville, that experienced a really marked jump in their population. And that really allows us the opportunity to be more proactive when it comes to our planning. So that's really something that, across all of the work that we're doing here at MORPC, we're leaning into: how can we be a resource for our communities? You know, we're committed to driving investment and also building value for our members and the region, and we know that we can come together to grow better as we grow bigger.

Walker Evans 07:14Yeah, yeah. So, as I always like to point out too, when you talk about regional growth, you know, it's not just a Columbus set of problems to tackle. I know MORPC works with 15 different counties all across the region, countless cities and suburbs and townships and neighborhood groups. It's a lot of different interests to kind of get all on the same page and get community buy-in for the different, you know, region-wide initiatives. Is there anything unique about dealing with that here in central Ohio, or is that just kind of the way it is across every American process of doing business and moving toward the future?

Jessica Kuenzli 07:53Well, that's the great thing about MORPC — is we pride ourselves on being a trusted regional convener and catalyst when it comes to these initiatives, because we understand that it's important to take that holistic view of everything that's going on, not just, you know, in one community, but take a step back, look at the region as a whole. And that's been a really fantastic way to kind of look at some of these issues that we are facing as a region. So it's really fantastic for MORPC to be able to kind of be that conduit for those conversations.

Walker Evans 08:25I know the planning process is often the most important part, you know, the whole "measure twice, cut once" sort of thing. But it's almost kind of the hardest to get people engaged with sometimes, you know. They want to see the end result, and not the years and years and years of work that goes into these kinds of programs. What are some ways that MORPC kind of is proactive at getting people involved in the process and making sure they show up to planning meetings and volunteer their input and be a part of the process before it happens?

Jessica Kuenzli 08:56I think the educational aspect is so important when it comes to planning and so many of the different initiatives and work that we do here at MORPC. And that's something that I really appreciate about the organization, is how forward-facing we are. We want to be partners and present. So we always have events going on too. Recently, we actually hosted our 18th Summit on Sustainability. It was our largest yet. We had over 650 in attendance. Yeah, it was fantastic. A great turnout and a great day. Nice. Yes, to have that many people who are passionate about these topics. And it really runs the span of, you know, mobility, sustainability, transportation planning. So it's not just, you know, that one focused conversation, but really something for everyone, and something for, you know, those who might know a little bit about the topic and those who are experts in the topic. So really being able to have opportunities and events that are accessible too is something that's key for getting that engagement. When it comes to the planning process, MORPC always has events posted too on our website, so I would say, go check it out there. We're fairly active when it comes to social media too, so please follow us. You can always find out more. And also, I love talking about it. So if there's something that is interesting to you, or you want to find out more about a subject, feel free to reach out to us. Especially something that we're committed to is paying it forward. We have fantastic internship programs too, because we understand that getting students engaged on these topics earlier is only going to help too when it comes to the planning process and making sure that we have people passionate about this in our communities moving forward. So definitely feel free to reach out. I love talking about it.

Walker Evans 10:49That's awesome. Thanks so much for talking to us today.

Jessica Kuenzli 10:51Yeah, thank you.

Tim Fulton 11:02Thank you for listening to the Confluence Cast, presented by Columbus Underground. Again, you can get more information on what we discussed today in the show notes for this episode at theConfluenceCast.com. Please rate, subscribe, share this episode of the Confluence Cast with your friends, family, contacts, enemies, your favorite data scientist. If you're interested in sponsoring the Confluence Cast, get in touch with us. We can be reached by email at info@theConfluenceCast.com. Our theme music was composed by Benji Robinson. Our producer is Philip Cogley. I'm your host, Tim Fulton. Have a great week.