TIFFIN, OH (WTOL) - Two communities in the area could see their local YMCA's merging into one entity.
Two years ago, the Bucyrus YMCA reached out to the Tiffin Y for possible assistance. Since then, the two organizations have been acting under a management agreement where Tiffin staff fulfill duties for the struggling Bucyrus branch.
Since then, Bucyrus has normalized and the boards are ready to look into voting for a full merger.
"When you think about our members and they see the Y logo on a building, to them it is one YMCA. And we wanted to continue to present that and even enhance that perception and image to our members," said Tiffin YMCA CEO Steven Crone.
The merger wouldn't only be beneficial for the smaller Bucyrus location. Once the two Y's become one large entity, it would be able to apply for larger gr ants, combine services and lower prices on commodities.
And since many of the changes have already been made with the management agreement, the only change members could see is actually having more options available.
"But also the level of programming that we can bring. So if there was an expertise area in Bucyrus, how can we bring you know a chair bases yoga program for seniors to the Tiffin Y that was really strong, and vice-versa," said Crone.
Crone said this merger is part of an early national trend ; multiple YMCA corporations are merging while membership numbers are on the rise.
The joint board for both entities will be voting on the possible merger in November.
But anyone who is a Tiffin or Bucyrus Y member and has questions on the merging's impact, Steve said feel free to ask.
