Alliance is a unique community

"Persons who live in surrounding
townships will come to Alliance for
work, recreation and shopping "
this is a commerce hub for them."
- Toni Middleton
Mayor of Alliance
For Alliance Mayor Toni Middleton, the Alliance
community has been the place where he grew
up, where he returned after serving in the military,
where he has served his career and raised his family.
Middleton grew up in Marlboro Township and has lived
in the area all of his life besides the years he spent in the
military. Following a lengthy career as Alliance Fire Chief,
Middleton was elected the city's mayor in 2000. In November,
he was re-elected to his third term as Alliance mayor.
Middleton sees his leadership position as an opportunity
to make a positive impact on the Alliance community.
"It gives me the ability to directly touch upon the many
quality of life issues that make up the Alliance community
and I find that very exciting," Middleton said.
Middleton noted the importance of understanding the
diversity of the Alliance community, understanding the
community's desires and being able to better understand
and address the needs of the community.
Despite the recent lull in the economy, Middleton said
Alliance has been making consistent recovery in the last
several years.
"The community has come together and various local
entitites " The Alliance Area Chamber of Commerce, Alliance
Area Development Foundation, the Stark Development
Foundation and the Greater Alliance Development
Corporation " they have come to realize a great potential
that they have for the economic recovery of the city."
Those organizations have helped to retain current businesses
and bring new entities into the community, Middleton
said. The city of Alliance is a central location for many
outlying communities, according to Middleton.
"Persons who live in surrounding townships will come
to Alliance for work, recreation and shopping " this is a
commerce hub for them," Middleton said.
Alliance is a unique community, Middleton said, because
of the way community members come together to accomplish
a goal.
"Time and time again, the people of the community
have demonstrated through hard work and dedication that
they've achieved their goals," he said.
One example of this, according to Middleton, is the
Alliance Rotary Club Skate Park recently constructed at
Memorial Park.
"When you look at the initiative demonstrated there
and the philanthropic heartbeat of the community " what
they're willing to do and contribute " it's a very remarkable
place," Middleton said. "The community's greatest attribute
is its caring heart."
"The people of Alliance care and they demonstrate it
again and again. I don't believe you'll find that in other
communities " it's very unique to the Alliance community,"
Middleton continued.
Middleton noted the importance of educational opportunities
for the residents of Alliance. Included in the city's
offerings for higher education are the Stark State satellite
campus and Mount Union College.
"It is now more accessible for our young adults to access
that higher education and job training," Middleton said.
"It will reflect very positively for the development of our
work force for the jobs of the future. I think we offer better
choices than we ever have in the history of Alliance."
"We need to continue to work on career training, giving
our students the ability to be successful in those opportunities,
improving their basic education and helping provide
means of financing," Middleton said. "In the meantime, I
think education is a key element. Every community should
realize it's a cornerstone for the quality of life."
Middleton anticipates a bright future for the city of Alliance.
"We're trying to attract more recreational activities,
shopping and entertainment and encourage baby boomers
to remain in this area," he said. "I feel very positive that
we'll see additional business development in Alliance, more
educational opportunities for residents and the surrounding
area and more development with the rapid advances in
technology."
The city recently received validation that its efforts
to attract new businesses aren't going unnoticed as the
Canton, Massillon and Alliance areas were recognized
as number one in the nation for attraction and relocation
of businesses to the area by Expansion Management
magazine.
"The work will never be done " there will always be
something that needs to be achieved," Middleton said of
improving the city's economy. "The challenge is to repeat
what we've done " that's where the work really starts."
Mayor Middleton can be reached at mayor@allianceoh.gov