Working at TSEP is a different experience than working in many places
We get to impact thousands of people's lives
TSEP is a non-profit that focuses on improving the economy and quality of life for 50,000 people. The work we do has cut poverty and unemployment, stopped the population decline, created thousands of jobs, improved quality of life, and helped generate millions of dollars that fund public services. People who work for TSEP want to spend their time at work making a positive, lasting impact in their community and world around them. Read TSEP alumni Nick Dutro and Audrey Flood describe what this is like.
We enjoy great benefits and flexibility
Along with medical, dental, and vision insurance, paid holidays (10), and paid time off, we offer retirement match; performance bonuses; mileage, cell phone, and business expense (e.g., business lunch) reimbursement; an extra week off between Christmas Eve and New Year's; and branded clothing allowance. You even get hand-delivered coffee or tea from the local roaster and brewer Bailiwicks Coffee Company every week. Decaf black (David), decaf/soy/sugar-free Caramel Creme (Amy), citron green tea (Corrina), or cappuccino (Adam) anyone? And let's not forget the quarterly team lunches at the Empire, MST, Reino's, Kiku Japanese Fusion or other local eatery.
Perhaps most importantly, everyone creates the schedule that meets both their professional and personal needs: flex time, comp time, partial remote work, and optional reduced hours are the norm. We will even hire the right student on a part-time basis before going full-time after they graduate. We believe in work-life balance and continually striving to create an attractive employment environment for people.
We know what are values are and live them out
TSEP has four core values that the Board of Trustees identified and chose at a Board Strategic Retreat in 2019 (out of about 30 that were brainstormed): collaboration, innovation, excellence, and fairness and inclusion. These are ways of behaving that define us and inform our decisions.
Collaboration finds itself in our very name (Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership), and it expresses itself most often in the strategic planning we do and the committees, volunteers, and partners we work with and manage. We currently have 70 members and supporters, 15 boards and committees, and 150 volunteers that work with us. We also solicit feedback from stakeholders, members, and the general public through surveys to inform our priorities and practices. Collaboration almost always takes longer, and it can be messy and sometimes challenging, but it works, and we believe it's usually the best way to get things done. We don't do things unilaterally or in a vacuum, we do it with others.
Innovation means we agree with Sam Walton when he said, "I have always been driven to buck the system, to innovate, to take things beyond they've been." For us, innovation is the non-stop, continuous effort and vision to do things better, to make changes, to improve, to try out new and different ways of doing things. It's a way of (professional) life, a quality mindset, a creative drive. We never settle for status quo. In 2021, we won the state award for Economic Development Innovation for the Tiffin & Seneca CARES small business relief grant programs which we set up in 3 weeks and ended up distributing $1.2 million to 186 businesses (watch video). This program is a great example of collaboration as well. That's only one of countless examples of new, unique and innovative things we've done and we're doing.
Excellence is our standard. It's doing "A" level work. Work that oozes with quality, professionalism, and impact. It is the target we are continuously strive for. As someone once said, "Excellence is never an accident. It is the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, skillful execution, and the vision to see obstacles as opportunities." Every year, we go through a strategic planning process and develop our scope of work - our battle plan for the year - which details our strategy and defines what "winning" and excellence mean to us. Read our most recent Scope of Work here. Also every year, we put out an annual report, which details the fruits of our labor. We don't always meet the goal of excellence in everything we do, but overall, we're absolutely committed to and successful in attaining excellence.
Fairness & Inclusion in economic, downtown and community development takes many forms. Among other things, fairness means we work with and provide services to any legal business and project, even if some people might object to the industry, or company, or project. It means that we serve businesses of all sizes, such as start-ups and sole proprietorships, and not just the large manufacturers and employers. Inclusion means we want diverse voices at the table as we collaboration and act in ways to make that happen. We strive to make sure all stakeholders are represented and not just the wealthy and powerful.
We enjoy incredible public and private support
