Agriculture and Agrotourism – When we think of agriculture, we usually think of small farms. But agriculture is big business! Technology-enabled farms have control rooms and machines do the planting and harvesting controlled from a central location. Cows on dairy farms have automatic milking machines that let the cow choose when she needs to be milked. And agritourism is when people come to visit a farm and could go to a petting area, walk through a corn maze, pick their own apples, or take a hay ride to get a pumpkin. 

Construction – The Construction Industry is responsible for building houses, buildings, bridges, roads, and any other structure you see. 

Healthcare – When we talk about Healthcare we often think of doctors and nurses, but the Healthcare industry has many more careers available. Dentists and eye doctors (optometrists or ophthalmologists are two kinds of eye doctors) are other healthcare professionals most people think of, but there are also athletic trainers, researchers, dietitians, paramedics, counselors, massage therapists, pharmacists, and all the administration positions in healthcare facilities. There is lots to explore in healthcare!

Manufacturing means to take raw ingredients and turn them into something else. That could be cooking, where you take eggs, flour, sugar, and baking powder and make pancakes, to taking steel and turning it into a car. There are manufacturers all over Medina County making lots of things you use every day!

Retail, Restaurants, and Hospitality – A retail store is a place people go to buy things. There are “big box” retail stores like Target, Home Depot, Meijer, and Walmart, and there are small retail stores that are owned by local people like The Music Box in Brunswick, The Bookshelf in Brunswick, Medina, and Wadsworth, and Funky Junk in Seville.

Restaurants are technically manufacturers, as they take raw materials and change them into a different final product, but tend to think of them separately. Some restaurants are owned by people in our community, while others are owned by a large corporation. And then some are “franchises” which means a local owner owns them, but they follow a set of rules and guidelines on how to provide food. McDonalds is a franchise and you know if you go to McDonalds in Wadsworth, Ohio it will be the same as if you go in Wadsworth, New York, Wadsworth, Nevada or Wadsworth, Texas.

The Hospitality Industry is everything that relies on travel and tourism to make money. This includes hotels and Air BnBs, airlines, could include restaurants, entertainment venues like Scene 75 and the Foundry Social, and other places people want to visit.

Financial, Personal, and Professional Services – In the Service Industry, companies focus on doing work so other people don’t need to do it. In the Personal Services Industry, you find dry cleaners and hair stylists, and dog groomers. In the Financial Services Industry you find bankers, and financial planners who help you manage your money, and tax professionals. In Professional Services you find attorneys, and business advisors, and graphic designers who create logos and advertising and other pictures for companies.

Usually the people in the Service Industry have some specialized training or experience to provide the services better than a person or company could do it themselves.