COLUMBUS, OH (WLIO) - Mayors from across the nation are in the Buckeye State this weekend for the 91st United States Conference of Mayors.
Lima Mayor Sharetta Smith is in attendance and is a panelist for one of the sessions. She will be sharing what Lima has done with a $10,000 grant from the Conference of Mayors "Dollar Wise" program. The city created a way to connect small landscaping businesses with young people at a landscaping expo to fill city mowing contracts for 500-specified parcels in the city.
"Our hope is, with this Dollar Wise program, we can introduce some young people to basically the lawn care business, where they can receive training, not just on the mechanics of pushing a lawn mower but actually working with some of the contractors and other vendors to note the business side of having a lawn care business," said Mayor Sharetta Smith, City of Lima.
Smith is also looking forward to attending several of the sessions to learn more about what other cities are facing and how they are finding solutions. It is also a chance to hear about new federal and state requirements.
"I'll be also attending the Mayors' Water Council where we're going to be talking about rules and regulations coming from the EPA and also what resources will be out there in the federal government to assist with meeting those mandates," added Smith.
The conference wraps up on Sunday in Columbus.
