September 2026

Brian O. Martin, AICP

MVRPC on the Road: Greater Nashville Regional Council (GNRC) Peer Exchange

MVRPC’s Resiliency Planning Manager, Elizabeth Baxter, showcased the agency’s Regional Resiliency Guidebook & Toolkit to the Greater Nashville Regional Council (GNRC) through a peer exchange in August in Nashville, Tennessee.

The agency’s toolkit is designed to help jurisdictions understand their risk level to natural hazards and stressors and recommends the development of a disaster preparedness plan. MVRPC encourages taking these actions prior to impacts from extreme weather to speed up and streamline recovery.

With concerns over flood events primarily, GNRC is using the Resiliency Guidebook & Toolkit as a best practice and is working to replicate the tool for use in the greater Nashville region. Elizabeth met with much of the agency’s staff on August 11^th to share learning lessons and best practices related to recovery. She also provided an in-depth presentation about the toolkit to GNRC’s Environmental Roundtable on August 12^th including insights on how reducing greenhouse gas emissions can lessen the occurrence of extreme weather-related events. Finally, participants in the meeting explored the toolkit through playing various games to understand how this could be used in their region.

September is considered National Disaster Preparedness Month. MVRPC urges all individuals and jurisdictions to understand their risk related to natural hazards and ensure they have a solid plan in place to reduce impacts. For more information related to the Regional Resiliency Guidebook & Toolkit or disaster preparedness, contact Elizabeth Baxter, ebaxter@mvrpc.org. 

Miami Valley Urban League Releases “The State of Black Dayton: Resilience and Renewal Charting the Future for Black Dayton”

The Miami Valley Urban League recently released the State of Black Dayton Report, a critical benchmark for progress in creating a more equitable Miami Valley. In doing so, providing opportunity for everyone to live and work where they wish to. Last published in 2017, this highly anticipated report provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges and opportunities affecting Black residents across the Miami Valley Region. As a trusted resource and catalyst for change, the Report evaluates key areas including education, income, criminal justice, housing, minority and women’s business enterprises (MWBEs), the digital economy, and health outcomes. As a regional stakeholder and significant contributor to the Institute for Livable & Equitable Communities, the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission was proud to support the creation of this report by adding our data insights and regional context to the report. https://mvul.org/blackdayton

MVRPC Provides Critical GIS Services for Members

MVRPC staff team with diverse expertise and extensive professional experiences delivers enhanced GIS services for our member organizations. Our services range from technical consultation to developing a customized GIS data mapping applications to allow our members to have an enhanced decision support system.  

Our recently completed noteworthy GIS services for the member projects are highlighted below.

For more information about MVRPC’s GIS program, visit our website https://www.mvrpc.org/data-mapping/geographic-information-systems-gis-mvrpc or contact Tom Harner, GIS Manager at tharner@mvrpc.org.

On a monthly basis MVRPC is highlighting funding opportunities for member villages, cities, counties, and townships on our website. We include a description, contact information and program links. We have also listed other valuable resources for finding funding opportunities for our regional jurisdictions and organizations. Explore more on our Grant and Funding Opportunities page.

This month we are featuring information on:

• Low or No Emission Program – Deadline: September 21, 2026
• NAWCA 2027-1 US Standard Grants – Deadline: September 25, 2026

See more at: https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/e83aae66-837e-47e0-98f5-7a15dd60ba6c

If you have any questions, please contact Kathryn Youra Polk at kyourapolk@mvrpc.org or 937.223.6323.

MVRPC Meeting Calendar

Please check the agency calendar on mvrpc.org or contact Laura Dent at ldent@mvrpc.org for the status of your meeting.

MVRPC emails are produced through Constant Contact. We have negotiated a group rate for all of our MVRPC members and partners to join Constant Contact. You could save more than you could joining the platform on your own, and even if you are already using Constant Contact, you can apply our discount to save even more. Best of all, the MVRPC communication team is here to help you get started! Visit our unique Constant Contact link or contact Laura Dent, MVRPC Director of Marketing and Public Outreach to learn more at ldent@mvrpc.org.

937.223.6323 | mvrpc.org