<div>Oct. 18—LIMA — One video starts with Lima's mayor looking right into the camera lens, smiling."Hello, I'm Mayor Sharetta Smith, and it is my pleasure to welcome you to our vibrant city of Lima, Ohio," she says in the welcome for the "Lima Video Tour" on the city's website, limaohio.gov.In another video, Pat Summers, the president of PERRY proTECH, sings the praises of Allen Economic Development Group in helping it build a new facility along Interstate 75."Right around 2019, it became very evident our headquarters location was becoming a little obsolete," Summers says in the YouTube video. "It was time for us to make a move. We contacted Allen Economic Development Group because we knew that was something they might be able to help us with."In its video with OhioMeansJobs-Allen County, Bob Evans Farms gets right to the point about what it wants in potential employees, as footage of jobs inside the plant plays."I'm fortunate to lead nearly 400 great people as general manager of this 24/7 operation," general manager Chris Avery says in the Facebook video. "We're looking for attendance, attention to food quality, safety and teamwork."The people charged with growing the Lima region agree marketing is an important tool. The target and message in those videos vastly varies, though.Changing perceptionsEconomic development officials in Allen and Putnam counties agree that online videos can be a great way of altering long-held opinions."What we feel now at Allen Economic Development Group is we need to change local perceptions first," said Cindy Leis, president and CEO of AEDG. "What our goal is to win that first, then we can go start casting our nets out a little further. We need to spread the word, bringing family and friends back to the area to help take the jobs that are already here."Some AEDG videos focus on documenting recent changes, such as the transformation of downtown Lima with the Spring and Main restaurant complex or the tear-down of the former Allen County Home.Putnam County Community Improvement Corp. often posts short videos with updates of local projects, such as a Facebook video of the signage going up for the DeFord boutique hotel in downtown Ottawa."We're not just trying to get the next person to live here or next business to come here," said Amy Sealts, the director of economic development for the Putnam County CIC. "We're trying to grow from within. Some of the videos are aimed at residents to paint a picture of not only the work being done by the CIC and many of our partners but also to educate them about what is here already."</div>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Just press play: Region turns to video marketing

Oct. 18—LIMA — One video starts with Lima's mayor looking right into the camera lens, smiling. \"Hello, I'm Mayor Sharetta Smith, and it is my pleasure to welcome you to our vibrant city of Lima, Ohio,\" she says in the welcome for the \"Lima Video Tour\" on the city's website, limaohio.gov.

Oct. 18—LIMA — One video starts with Lima's mayor looking right into the camera lens, smiling. "Hello, I'm Mayor Sharetta Smith, and it is my pleasure to welcome you to our vibrant city of Lima, Ohio," she says in the welcome for the "Lima Video Tour" on the city's website, limaohio.gov.