The past year challenged us, but we embraced our role as a 21st-century public university for the public good and launched FORWARD., a guiding strategy defined by action. We've identified 21 moments during 2020-21 that moved us forward and will continue to make us better. Each of these moments, or actions, are positioning Bowling Green State University and our students for success.

The University was awarded a $555,000 Economic Development Administration (EDA) CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to develop a workforce strategy and recovery plan for a four-county region in northwest Ohio. The project will be matched with $141,536 in local funds, including $100,000 from JobsOhio.

The global pandemic changed the way we work and the BGSU Center for Regional Development brought together leaders to discuss future trends. From remote work to new economic development opportunities and projects, northwest Ohio is prime to move forward.

As a public university for the public good, the BGSU Division of Research and Economic Engagement, Center for Regional Development (CRD) and Center for Public Impact (CPI) developed the Reimagining Rural Regions (R3) Initiative. R3 provides expertise and capacity to assist communities to undertake a placemaking process to identify assets that could be reimagined in an effort to improve quality of life and to aid in the retention and attraction of talent.