It was much welcomed to see the sun back out this week. It feels like the first ~20 days of August brought more rain than we had all summer, but we’ll take the sunshine and the positives that came with it.

For starters, Buffalo Wild Wings is planning to open next to the new Meijer in Waterville. Monclova, Waterville and Whitehouse residents, get excited: a new spot to watch sports, grab some wings and probably spend more time debating whether to order one more round.

But the bigger highlight for us this week was a first for Toledo Money: we went on our first podcast.

For the first time, we sat down and told the origin story of Toledo Money; where the idea came from, why we started it, what we’ve learned along the way and where we hope to take this thing next. It was a fun opportunity to step back from the weekly grind and reflect on how far we’ve come since launching. More importantly, it reminded us why we’re so excited about what Toledo Money can become for the business community across NW Ohio.

You can watch and listen to the episode here. We hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about the people and story behind the newsletter.

This week, we turn our attention back to Big Brothers Big Sisters of NWO. Our second look at the organization dives deeper into the mentorship gap across NW Ohio and the strides this impactful organization is making to help close it. We hope you enjoy this story and leave as encouraged and inspired by their work as we are.

Without further ado, let’s kick off the weekend properly.

Welcome to Toledo Money.

This week’s Toledo Money shoutout goes to Sean Burns. Employee Benefits Consultant with Hylant. Sean is a NW Ohio native, and recently made his way back to this great region. Sean is a important part of their employee benefits team and actively involved in the community around him.

Thank you for being a reader and supporter of Toledo Money!

Owens Corning | $OC ( ▲ 1.73% )

Dana Incorporated | $DAN ( ▲ 1.93% )

The Andersons | $ANDE ( ▼ 2.32% )

Owens Illinois | $OI ( ▲ 1.25% )

Welltower Inc. | $WELL ( ▼ 0.81% )

Marathon Petroleum Corporation | $MPC ( ▲ 0.49% )

First Solar | $FSLR ( ▼ 0.16% )

BBBSNWO's is challenged with building ways for young people to access it.

There is a math problem behind mentorship in Northwest Ohio. There are thousands of young people who could benefit from another trusted adult in their lives. There are considerably fewer adults prepared to make the commitment required to become a traditional mentor.

And unlike adding seats to an event, quality mentoring is not something an organization can simply scale overnight. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Ohio has spent nearly nine decades building one-to-one relationships between young people and adults. That model remains a cornerstone of the organization.

But today, its strategy increasingly reflects a different reality:

One-to-one mentoring remains foundational. It just cannot be the only way young people gain access to mentorship.

Start with Lucas County. An estimated 21,332 children under 18 lived below the poverty line in 2024, representing 22.8% of the county's youth population. Nearly 48% of Lucas County households with their own children under 18 are single-parent households, according to the latest five-year Census estimate. Family structure alone does not determine a child's trajectory, but it does illustrate how frequently one parent may be carrying the economic, logistical and emotional load of raising children. As young people approach adulthood, another gap becomes visible.

Roughly 7.9% of Lucas County residents ages 16 to 19 were considered "disconnected youth" in the latest Census data, meaning they were neither enrolled in school nor participating in the workforce.

These are not all BBBSNWO participants, and they should not be treated as such. They are indicators of the environment in which BBBSNWO operates.

And they help explain why the demand for mentorship, career exposure and supportive relationships extends far beyond the number of young people who can be placed into a traditional one-to-one match.

Today, BBBSNWO supports approximately 65 active One-to-One Mentoring matches. The organization remains committed to growing that number, but expansion of the traditional model is constrained by two significant factors: funding specifically available to support One-to-One Mentoring and the continued need for additional adult volunteers willing to serve as Bigs.

That is an important distinction.

A one-to-one match is not simply the pairing of a child and an adult. Professionally supported mentoring requires volunteer recruitment, screening, training, program staff, ongoing match support and the infrastructure necessary to build safe, lasting relationships. Historically, BBBSNWO has demonstrated its ability to operate that model at a larger scale. During its 2023–24 fiscal year, the organization reported serving 145 one-to-one matches, with more than 145 volunteer mentors contributing over 41,760 hours with their Littles. But the organization's current strategy increasingly recognizes that the number of one-to-one matches alone no longer captures the full scope of its work. Through group mentoring, leadership development, career exposure, life-skills programming, prevention education and other initiatives, BBBSNWO is now serving more than 1,500 youth annually throughout Northwest Ohio.

Based on its current growth and program expansion, the organization projects reaching approximately 2,000 young people by the end of this fiscal year.That changes the equation. Instead of measuring impact solely by the number of traditional matches created, BBBSNWO is creating multiple pathways for young people to build positive relationships with adults and peers while gaining exposure to opportunities that may otherwise remain outside their immediate networks.

The mission has not changed but the delivery model has expanded. BBBSNWO's programming increasingly provides young people with access to mentoring relationships, leadership development, career exploration, life skills and positive adult influences through several different formats.

Three programs illustrate that evolution particularly well.

Empowering Future Leaders, or EFL, may be the clearest example. The program centers on four areas: life skills, leadership development, cultural competence and career development. Young people participate in career exploration, guest presentations, field experiences, team-building and mentoring opportunities designed to help them better understand both the professional world and their own possibilities within it. The career component is particularly significant. A young person does not have to receive a job offer from a local executive to benefit from meeting one.

Sometimes the first step is simply discovering that a profession exists, understanding what it takes to enter it and seeing someone willing to answer questions about the journey. Networks compound, but only if you have them.

The Youth Ambassador Club creates another access point.Rather than requiring every participant to have an individual Big, young people can develop leadership skills through community service, prevention education, public speaking and peer-led initiatives while interacting with adult volunteers and community partners. The model allows the experience and influence of adults to reach multiple young people at once.

That does not recreate the depth of a long-term one-to-one match, It is not supposed to. It solves a different part of the problem.

BBBSNWO's programming also includes a STEM Club, connecting young people with science, technology, engineering and math through hands-on activities and exposure to professionals working in those fields. Additional mentoring initiatives and community partnerships provide young people with career experiences, leadership opportunities, prevention education and relationships with positive adults and peers.

Taken together, these programs demonstrate how BBBSNWO has evolved from thinking strictly in terms of matches to thinking more broadly about access.

And access to relationships that can expand what a young person believes is possible.

There is also a reason Northwest Ohio's business community should pay attention. In 2025, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America released research conducted by researchers from Harvard University and the U.S. Department of the Treasury that followed participants from an earlier randomized mentoring study into adulthood.

The results were significant: Young people who received BBBS mentoring were 20% more likely to attend college, while their earnings between ages 20 and 25 were 15% higher than comparable young people whodid not receive the mentoring intervention. The research also found lower absenteeism and fewer school suspensions within 18 months.

The national organization estimated its programming costs approximately $2,000 to $3,000 per participant annually, while the researchers' economic analysis suggested higher future earnings and related tax revenue could offset those costs over time.

That changes how mentorship should be viewed, It is not just youth development, It is also workforce development. Mentoring can expose young people to professions, strengthen communication and interpersonal skills, build social capital and potentially contribute to long-term economic mobility. A separate 2025 Harris Poll commissioned by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America found that 74% of Americans ages 18 to 25 surveyed said they lacked access to mentorship. Among those surveyed, 84% said mentorship exposed them to possibilities they otherwise might not have seen, while 83% said mentors helped connect classroom learning with real-world success.

For employers continually discussing talent pipelines, career readiness and the difficulty of attracting young people into certain professions, that should be difficult to ignore.

Northwest Ohio does not lack young people with potential, We need to give them access:

BBBSNWO's evolution beyond traditional one-to-one mentoring is an acknowledgment of scale. The organization currently supports approximately 65 active One-to-One Mentoring matches. At the same time, its broader programming now reaches more than 1,500 young people annually, with approximately 2,000 projected to be impacted by the end of this fiscal year. Those numbers should not be viewed as competing measures. They represent different forms of impact. A one-to-one relationship provides a depth of connection that group programming is not designed to replace. Group mentoring, meanwhile, creates reach, exposure and relationships for young people who might otherwise have no immediate pathway into a traditional match.

BBBSNWO still needs more Bigs. It also needs funding dedicated to supporting those matches. But closing the broader mentorship gap will require more than one model. It requires businesses willing to open their doors, professionals willing to share their experiences, volunteers who can contribute in group settings even if they cannot make a traditional one-to-one commitment, and financial partners willing to fund the infrastructure that makes professionally supported mentoring possible.

The mentorship gap is not a problem BBBSNWO can close by itself.

The need is measurable.

Meijer is only the beginning. Three major additions are turning one corner of Waterville into a new commercial destination for the Anthony Wayne area.

If you’ve driven through Waterville lately, you’ve probably noticed the dirt moving around the future Meijer site at Pray Boulevard and S.R. 64. The nearly 160,000-square-foot Meijer is expected to open in 2027, but the bigger story may be what’s happening around it. Three developments are coming together around the future store:

A roughly 3,600-square-foot Meijer gas station and convenience store will sit alongside the new supercenter, giving residents another everyday reason to stop at the development.

A new roughly 7,600-square-foot Buffalo Wild Wings is planned nearby, bringing another recognizable dining and sports destination to Waterville. It’s currently expected to open around the same time as Meijer.

And now, Toledo Money can announce another addition: Chipotle is planned for the development, with an expected opening in late 2027.

Put those together with Meijer, and this is no longer simply a new grocery store.

For residents, the obvious benefit is convenience. Groceries, gas, dinner and a quick lunch are all moving closer to the neighborhoods surrounding Waterville, Monclova and Whitehouse.

Meijer represents an investment of more than $32 million in Waterville and is expected to create roughly 300–350 jobs, according to the City of Waterville. The city has also said that non-residential development accounted for 76% of its tax revenue in 2025.

And for homeowners, continued commercial investment can be a positive signal.

Amenities, jobs, tax base, infrastructure and demand for housing all play a role in how attractive a community becomes. It doesn't mean every new restaurant automatically increases your home's value, but a growing commercial ecosystem can strengthen the overall appeal of an area.

Waterville is already positioned at the U.S. 24 and S.R. 64 interchange, with easy access to I-475/US 23 and the Anthony Wayne School District. The city is also investing in road improvements around the development, according to the City of Waterville.

Toledo Money will keep watching this corner as it develops.

Here are a few headlines we are snacking on

A New Era of Intelligent Energy Management:

For decades, businesses have treated energy as a necessary operating expense.

They receive a bill.
They pay the bill.
They renegotiate a contract when it expires.
And they move on.

That model is no longer sufficient.

Energy has become one of the most dynamic and unpredictable cost drivers facing modern businesses. Markets shift. Demand fluctuates. Supplier pricing evolves. Grid conditions vary. Regulatory frameworks change.

And now, artificial intelligence is transforming how businesses can respond.

Businesses should not have to wait for a utility bill to understand that their energy costs have increased.

They should not have to rely on supplier pricing proposals without visibility into the underlying market conditions.

They should not be making high-value energy decisions based on spreadsheets, assumptions, and outdated information.

The future belongs to businesses that understand their energy before they purchase it.

Artificial intelligence enables businesses to transform energy data into actionable intelligence.

Instead of simply asking:

"How much did we spend?"

AI enables businesses to ask:

"Why did we spend it?"

"What is likely to happen next?"

"Where are we incurring unnecessary cost?"

"When is the optimal time to buy?"

"Which supplier and contract structure is most advantageous?"

"How can we reduce exposure to future price volatility?"

This marks the beginning of intelligent energy management. Connect with Nexus Energy today by visiting HERE.