MEDINA, Ohio — Medina County officials are positioning two new development projects as part of a broader strategy to support continued growth in what has become Northeast Ohio’s fastest-growing county.
The Medina County Board of Commissioners last week approved adding the projects to the county’s long-term economic development outlook, a move needed to help secure state transportation funding for infrastructure improvements tied to the developments.
The projects include major infrastructure improvements connected to the proposed $165 million Cobblestone Crossings mixed-use development in Montville Township that officials say will bring 125 jobs. The other project is for road upgrades in Brunswick’s industrial park to support expanding companies.
Bethany Dentler, executive director of the Medina County Economic Development Corporation, told commissioners the county submitted two $500,000 funding applications to the Ohio Department of Transportation last month.
Both Brunswick and Montville Township support the applications, Dentler said during the meeting.
Including the projects in the county’s economic development strategy is necessary for ODOT to consider them for funding, she added.
County officials say the projects reflect broader development pressure as Medina County’s population continues to grow faster than neighboring counties.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, Medina County’s population grew 22.2% — from about 150,000 to more than 180,000 — between 2000 and 2020. That’s the fastest growth rate among all Northeast Ohio counties. Lorain County ranked second with 13.1% growth, while no other county in the region exceeded 8% during that period.
Much of that growth has been concentrated in communities along the Interstate 71 corridor.
Montville Township, located off the highway southeast of the city of Medina, added more than 10,100 residents between 1990 and 2025, the most of any community in the county, according to Census estimates. Brunswick and neighboring Brunswick Hills Township added nearly 14,000 residents combined during that same period.
A demographic study presented to county officials last month by International Strategic Analysis, a Strongsville-based consulting firm, projects the county’s population will continue rising in the coming decades.
The study estimates Medina County’s population could surpass 200,000 residents by 2050 if current growth trends continue.
The growth has also reshaped the county’s development patterns. Census data shows Medina County was 57% urban and 42% rural in 1990. By 2020, the county had become nearly 66% urban and 34% rural, reflecting decades of suburban expansion.
County leaders say infrastructure investments tied to projects like the Brunswick industrial park improvements and the Cobblestone Crossings development will be key to accommodating that continued growth.
Both projects now move forward as part of the county’s long-term development strategy, while officials await word on whether the state will approve the requested transportation funding.
