Mayor Ferguson: New Albany boasts many blessings

When most people in central Ohio think about New Albany, they think of our beautiful residential community where master planning is evident in every direction: from our scenic vistas, wooded preserves and golf course views to our classic Georgian architecture and iconic white board fencing.

While our quality homes, outstanding schools, abundant open space and charming Village Center are a large part of what makes New Albany special, recently it has been our New Albany International Business Park which has been attracting attention-not just in Ohio, but from as far away as Japan and Europe.

The 3,000-acre New Albany business park was literally nonexistent just 15 years ago. Today it is the largest master planned business park in Ohio. Despite the eco- nomic downturn, the park will soon be home to 15,000 workers. Over 6,000 new jobs have been created in New Albany just since 2009.

While 60 percent of those new jobs are new to Ohio, many are also new to the United States.

There is dual-feed electric power system throughout the park. Our municipal fiber optic network allows our companies to choose from more than 200 data providers while enjoying a significant savings. Our development review process has been streamlined so we can "work at the speed of business." Companies like Discover and AEP are so pleased to be in New Albany, they are expanding their operations here.

Our Village Center, the core of our community, is expanding so quickly you might not recognize it.

Exciting new retail spaces and restaurants are under construction. The Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany, set to open in December, will be a truly unique blend of health assessment, medical fitness, research, education and health care offerings, and will be a national model for how community wellness is practiced.

Our 200-acre school campus, also located in our Village Center, will be opening a unique, state-of-the-art building which is sure to provide exciting, new educational opportunities for children and adults. These new buildings are all interwoven with our existing community library, McCoy Center for the Arts, coffee shops and restaurants, post office and government offices, and are connected to our business park and residential communities by 32 miles of leisure trails.

The Village Center has truly become the heart of one of the most walkable communities anywhere.

New Albany is blessed to be home to some of the most outstanding business leaders in the country and, uniquely, is home to many female leaders in both the private and public sectors. This issue features several of those female leaders who, like their male counterparts, balance their work and personal lives in New Albany.

Last year, Columbus Monthly, a sister publication of Columbus CEO, named New Albany the best central Ohio suburb. We hope you will read on and learn why that is so for yourself!

Mayor Nancy Ferguson