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    The New Bellefontaine: Locals Bring New Life to Small Town Through Downtown Rejuvenation

    Renovated historic apartment buildings, hip local restaurants, quaint boutique stores and even a coworking spot and axe throwing venue. No, we’re not talking about the Short North or Easton Town Center or Bridge Park in Dublin. This is what you’ll find if you make a 60 minute drive northwest to Bellefontaine, Ohio (pop. 14,115).

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    Over the past decade, a dedicated group of entrepreneurs have been working hard to reshape the Downtown of this small city into a destination that locals can be proud of. Much of the credit for the rebirth is due to a development company called Small Nation, founded by local Jason Duff. To date, the group has renovated over 50 historic buildings in Downtown Bellefontaine, adding over two dozen retail and restaurant businesses and over 30 apartment units, with more projects currently under construction.

    And while the progress in Bellefontaine feels like something special, Duff claims that their business model could be easily replicated in other smaller cities facing similar stagnation or decline.

    “These opportunities are not unique to Bellefontaine,” he stated. “In fact, many other great small towns like Marion, Delaware and London that surround Columbus have buildings that are similar and equal value. The key is investing in towns where you can either create the ecosystem or build it with your friends and neighbors. Success breeds more success.”

    Growing Up in Small Town Ohio

    Duff grew up at Indian Lake, not far from Bellefontaine.

    “My mom had a shop in Downtown Bellefontaine and I spent time working with her in her business,” said Duff. “I met many people on main street who become mentors and friends.”

    After graduating from Ohio Northern University with a business degree, Duff obtained his Real Estate license and went to work in the industry in 2008, right as the national economic recession and housing crisis began.

    Jason Duff (center) speaking with US Senate Candidate Morgan Harper (left) about the growth in Bellefontaine. Zach Weber (right), Small Nation Leasing & Property Manager, takes photos of the conversation. — Photo by Walker Evans.

    “I was a bright-eyed realtor and one that was really struggling to make it work,” he explained. “However, I fell in love with historic buildings, small towns and specifically Bellefontaine. I’ve always had a knack for design and seeing the potential in things.”

    The potential that Duff saw in Bellefontaine came from the fact that the city had lost a lot of its luster over the past several decades. Early in its history, Bellefontaine was a bustling railroad town, and with Honda’s manufacturing operations located nearby, the local job economy has remained stable in recent years. But like many American cities, their “Main Street” struggled with what is commonly referred to as the “Walmart Effect,” as chain stores began disrupting and displacing locally-owned businesses in the 1990s.

    “When I came back home after graduation, a lot of things had changed,” he said. “The men’s clothing store that had been in town for more than 80 years closed. Many of the town’s independent pharmacies were bought out and closed and 80% of the first floor spaces in the Downtown were vacant and empty.”

    Duff began talking with local leaders, who he said were on the same page when it came to recognizing the challenges that the city faced and identifying the obstacles that were preventing a turnaround from happening organically.

    “Leaders saw that what was holding us back was friction and a lack of new investment,” he said. “To reduce that, they started asking questions about how to make it easier to get approvals for permits and plans, faster inspections, and also be able to hang up a new business sign. All of these steps were hard and required cooperation between the city, the county, economic development and our small business community.”

    Since 2014, Ben Stahler has served as Mayor of Bellefontaine, having previously served on Bellefontaine City Council in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He stated that the local leadership in Bellefontaine has been able to add a variety of incentives and tools for developers and business owners to utilize.

    “Much of the revitalization has taken place with a ‘historic factor’ in mind,” he stated. “Our Downtown is registered with the Ohio Historical Society and the National Park Service as a historic landmark. This also allows businesses to take advantage of historic tax credits. Each example of renovation has its own story and unique set of tools to take advantage of these incentives.”

    I’d Buy That For a Dollar

    In 2012, Duff purchased the 100-year old Canby Building and launched Small Nation. His new redevelopment startup was focused solely on bringing new life back into Downtown Bellefontaine. And the sale price of the 35,000 square foot Canby building was too good to pass up… just one dollar for the three-story property.

    Over the 18 months that followed, Duff began working on extensive renovations.

    “Everything starts with finding and building a small team of people who believe in your vision and are willing to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work,” explained Duff. “Many times the acquisition cost of buying a historic building can be very low. Often times, historic buildings have deferred maintenance or need to be adapted for modern use.”

    The Historic Canby Building, located at 144 S. Main St. in Downtown Bellefontaine.

    While a one dollar acquisition seems like winning the real estate lottery, Duff stated that similar historic properties in small towns can also be had for a price much lower than market value. Small Nation acquired the three-story, 40,000 square-foot Opera Block building in 2021 for $310,000 — a steal compared to soaring single-family home prices in larger cities like Columbus.

    The low cost of acquisition has enabled Duff to build not just a successful and profitable development company, but has kept rents affordable for the types of entrepreneurs and unique small businesses that he wants to attract to Downtown Bellefontaine.

    Beer & Tacos: Signs of Success

    As the local brewery scene began to take hold in Columbus in the early 2010s, plenty of people outside of Columbus took notice. Adam Rammel, co-founder and owner of local brewery Brewfontaine got inspired by the booming scene before launching his own business.

    “In 2014, craft beer was exploding,” said Rammel. “I would make a lot of trips to Columbus to chase down the hottest new beer. While there, we’d see a lot of other people from Logan County and thought to ourselves, ‘Why can’t a craft beer joint exist in Bellefontaine?'”

    Outdoor patio seating at The Syndicate — Photo by Walker Evans.

    Brewfontaine was launched in 2015 with a followup expansion called The Syndicate in 2020. The pandemic stifled some early plans for events, but the group was able to pivot to catering and private events to get by before becoming a full-service restaurant.

    In 2019, Brewfontaine was named the #1 Beer Bar in Ohio by CraftBeer.com. Rammel credits Small Nation with helping their brewery, restaurant and live music venues succeed.

    “It’s amazing how much knowledge they have in helping a new business with the tools, resources, and information it takes to be successful,” said Rammel. “A lot of real estate developers just collect a check. Small Nation helps with marketing, promotions, ideas, and is an invaluable resource for entrepreneurs who want to start their dream business.”

    Similarly, Laura Haverkos credits Small Nation as playing a key factor in expanding her Flying Pepper food truck business — founded along with her husband Humberto Nieto — into a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Downtown Bellefontaine in 2020.

    “When we started looking at property we knew it would take time to create a space that was worthy of the food that Humberto would be serving,” she stated. “We were drawn to Bellefontaine by the movement that we saw in the Downtown revitalization that Jason Duff was leading. The other communities we were interested in did not have that momentum.”

    Flying Pepper Cantina – Photo by Walker Evans.

    The Flying Pepper Cantina officially opened in May 2020, which could have been disastrous timing during the early phases of the coronavirus pandemic.

    “The business community really helped prop us up and sustained us with carry-out business and private catering orders, gift card purchases that served as interest-free small business loans,” stated Haverkos. “People come to Bellefontaine expecting to see and experience progress, witness productivity, and grab onto something positive. Many of us may not have survived these past couple of years without the thoughtful planning that makes our Downtown dynamic.”

    Coworking, Axe Throwing & More

    While it may be easy to overlook Bellefontaine as a small town of less than 15,000 people, it doesn’t mean that the residents in the region aren’t looking for the same types of living and working and entertainment options that can be found in larger cities. Bo Alexander, a regional sales representative with Small Nation and community manager of BUILD Cowork + Space, saw an opportunity to provide a unique work environment for their city.

    “One of the biggest demands locally here in Bellefontaine was professional private office space,” he stated. “Coworking was already on our minds before the COVID pandemic had happened, but COVID really spurred us into action. With so many people having to work from home or work remotely in this new sort of “hybrid work environment” BUILD actually saw its membership levels rapidly rise.”

    BUILD Cowork + Space officially opened in January 2021, offering private office spaces, office amenities, and bookable conference and event spaces in their 8,000 square foot historic building located at 139 W. Columbus Ave.

    The main lobby at BUILD Cowork + Space — Photo by Walker Evans.

    “The beautiful thing about renovating a historic building is you not only get to preserve the history that was once there, but you get to breathe new life into it for the next generation to enjoy as well,” added Alexander.

    Another newcomer to Bellefontaine is Axe Ventura, an axe-throwing establishment that launched in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2019 and expanded to Findlay, Ohio in 2020. The Bellefontaine location at 139 S. Main Street celebrated its grand opening in January.

    These types of new opportunities for locals to seek out unique entertainment and dining in their historic Downtown is a big part of Duff’s plans with Small Nation.

    “We set out about 10 years ago to be Ohio’s Most Lovable Downtown,” said Duff. “It all starts on how you make people feel. Is the town welcoming, are people smiling and helpful? That’s the hallmark of small town values.”

    Next for Bellefontaine & Beyond

    Mayor Stahler is enthusiastic about the direction Bellefontaine is headed. Not only did the city’s population grow by 5.6% over the past decade, it’s also growing more diverse.

    “The demographics of small business in our community has changed for the better,” he stated. “More than half of our business owners are under the age of 40 and a majority of them are women. Small Nation offers a full complement of services including coaching and supporting these businesses to see them through their first few years and keep them on a successful path.”

    Downtown Bellefontaine — Photo by Walker Evans.

    While Small Nation is hard at work on renovating the Historic Opera Block building and other local projects, Duff also has his sights set on expansion into other markets through both consulting efforts and real estate projects.

    “Small Nation is working with more than 17 towns in Ohio, providing training, coaching and consulting work to activate, engage and support growth, revitalization and innovation, ” he stated. “Many of these towns are looking for ideas, strategies and case studies on how to recruit and start new retail businesses, coffee shops and restaurants. Towns are also looking for ways to support existing businesses, help them grow expand and also activate people and capital.”

    Rammel said that requests to franchise Brewfontaine into other cities are frequent, and they’re in the process of working with Small Nation to figure out how to make that a reality. Locally, they’ve already continued to grow outside of their original venues.

    “We just took the Brewfontaine concept out to Liberty Hills, our local golf course as we take over the food and beverage operations there,” said Rammel. “We’re also working with the Small Nation team on The Vivian, a 250 person event center to be opened in 2023.”

    The building at 137-139 W. Columbus Ave. — home to Flying Pepper Cantina and BUILD Cowork + Space — Photo by Walker Evans.

    Similarly, BUILD Cowork + Space is also working on expansion plans.

    “We are currently renovating the Marysville Entrepreneurial Center and transforming this amazing space in Uptown Marysville into what we believe will be the entrepreneurial hub for the Union County region,” said Alexander. “Many other small towns have reached out expressing interest in bringing a BUILD Cowork + Space to their town and we are currently vetting those opportunities.”

    Stahler chalks up a lot of the success in Bellefontaine to “public private partnerships.”

    “I would like to think that part of our ‘secret sauce’ is that we either find ways to assist with any and all these projects or simply get out of their way in order to help them achieve their goals,” he explained. “We’re always willing to share these examples with other communities. As a city, we’re really getting noticed in other parts of our state and that’s exciting.”

    For more information, visit:

    (left to right) Brewfontaine, City Sweets & Creamery, Six Hundred Downtown — Photos by Walker Evans.
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    Walker Evans
    Walker Evanshttps://columbusunderground.com
    Walker Evans is the co-founder of Columbus Underground, along with his wife and business partner Anne Evans. Walker has turned local media into a full time career over the past decade and serves on multiple boards and committees throughout the community.
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