b'MVRPC 2023 ANNUAL REPORTEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,BRIAN O. MARTINLetter from Executive DirectorI am very proud of the work completed during the calendar year 2023 by your award-winning regional planning commission.The agencys Institute for Livable & Equitable Communities was recognized for our equity and age-friendly work by the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC). We have ingrained equity and age-friendly planning and programs into our board and staff actions, plans, and proposals. Read about this work beginning on page 18 of this report.In addition to the award from NARC, MVRPC was recognized by URISA, an international organization focused on geographic information systems, for our work on tracking the recovery data from the Memorial Day tornadoes. This year also marked the conclusion of the work of the Disaster Recovery Leadership Board and the final tree planting and celebration of the over 700 trees planted in the impacted areas. Please read more about this outstanding work on page 10.The Regional Transportation Pilot Program was launched with full participation by Darke, Preble, and Shelby County commissioners and engineers, county seats from all three counties, including Sidney, Greenville, and Eaton, plus other additional cities and villages from the RTPO counties. Their first project is to complete their regional transportation plan funded through federal, state, and regional funds. Read more about this project on page 11.In the MPO area of the Region, it was another year of outstanding work by the staff to award nearly $50M in project funding from federal and local sources, including the newly available carbon reduction funding source. With the initial year of carbon reduction funding, MVRPC procured level 2 EV chargers around the Region. Lastly, we started planning for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Grant received for regional environmental planning from the U.S. EPA. Read more about our work on page 24.While I thoroughly enjoy leading this team and agency, I can only provide a high-level overview in this short space of this report. Read on to learn more about how MVRPC utilizes the investment of our members to provide a Return on Investment of $477 for every dollar, bringing great value to the Region.I thank you for your membership, partnership, and interest in the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission.Your support is invaluable and it is an honor to serve you. Sincerely,2'