SALEM — Two neighboring communities are taking similar journeys in regards to their municipal building departments.

As Julie Needs from Elevate Building Solutions (EBS) explained, the cities of Salem and Columbiana were on the ground floor when the company began servicing clients in 2023.

After successful starts for the initial two cities, the neighboring village of Leetonia jumped on board.

Now EBS handles both commercial and residential permits for Columbiana and commerical permits for Salem and Leetonia.

For Salem mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey, trying EBS was a no-brainer.

“From the time I became involved (with) city government in 2010, businesses complained about the delays and frustration with the state permit offices,” she said. “When I was on city council, we looked into getting a city building department, (but) the cost was far out of reach. We (also) didn’t have enough work for a full-time inspector.”

When she became mayor, Baronzzi Dickey began talking to Columbiana mayor Rick Noel and city manager Lance Willard. Columbiana, which had been experiencing tremendous growth, also had been looking for a better solution to the state permits.

That is when Needs got involved, and EBS was born.

Needs, who is executive director of the organization, believes that data show that the municipalities who use her third-party service provider is benefiting. She is also the executive director for Sustainable Opporutnity Development (SOD) located in Salem which has been an important community asset.

The Columbiana mayor shared that the county mayors have met regularly to discuss ways that municipalities can work together to provide the best possible services for residents, and EBS fulfilled that need.

Noel explained that EBS allows participating communities to not only live and work in a great place to live but also have “all the tools in our tool belt to maximize our ability to improv effective growth and development.”

For example, Columbiana’s commercial building permits have nearly doubled, according to the numbers offered at an earlier council meeting.

Permit numbers and turnaround time on building services for all their clients be reported monthly to the State of Ohio, where they are licensed service providers.

For example, delays of six months or more to obtain a permit through a state office was reduced to around six days.

The benefits of having EBS in their backyards isn’t lost on either Noel or Leetonia mayor Kevin Siembida.

“During COVID, developers and builders were frustrated with the slowing pace of building (permit) approvals at the state level,” Noel explained. “The idea of working together to provide this service locally to improve and shorten the building (permit) process, we were interested immediately.”

When talking to EBS and municipal officials, it was apparent that the local effort was beneficial.

EBS, sometimes only a few miles away from the proposed site and familiar with the area, could nip potential problems in the bud immediately.

For example, one EBS inspector said that he was able to point out to an applicant an inappropriate use before he spent too much time and money on it.

EBS commercial building official Jim Murray shared how a commercial applicant wanted to open a smoking lounge in downtown Salem and was unaware that he was not able to do that in the upstairs of an existing business within the state of Ohio.

As David Zofko, also employed with EBS, explained, “I am glad we were able to help them properly navigate the building code (before they became overly invested).”

Baronzzi Dickey said that the payoff has been big for the municipalities that elected to go with EBS for zoning.

“It has been a game-changer. Having our building department has increased business growth, and EBS works hand and hand with that growth,” she added.

Noel echoed that sentiment. “(EBS) is a great example of how communities working together makes things better for everyone.”