Submitted by Bob Hibner, Chair, Mercer County Republican Party

Jerry Laffin

(11-22-24) Jerry Laffin and his wife Nancy who have been married for 64 years and they have three children, eleven grandchildren and three great grandchildren.  Jerry Laffin graduated from Celina High School in 1958 and served in the U.S. Army from 1961 to 1963.  Jerry first took office as a Mercer County Commissioner on January 2, 1981.

Jerry is completing his 44th year as a Mercer County Commissioner. He will officially retire his position on December 31, 2024.  

Jerry is the longest serving county commissioner to ever serve in the state of Ohio.  Quite an accomplishment!  Jerry has also been a grain and hog farmer for over sixty five years. 

Mr. Laffin has said-

“My long-time involvement in agriculture has helped me understand the need for programs by which Mercer County residents could increase both the quality and quantity of products and services.”

 Mr. Laffin has served in multiple organizations locally, at the state, and at the national level.  He has been chairman of the Mercer County Emergency Planning Committee, Chairman of the elected officials of WIA, Chairman of Ten County Ohio Resource Conservation and Development Council, and a member of the State of Ohio Resource Conservation and Development Association. He has also served as President of the North Central Resource, Conservation and Development Region which is a seven  state region, a member of the National Association of RC&D Councils Board of Directors, Treasurer of the National Association of RC&D Councils, secretary-treasurer of the Mercer County CIC, member of the Mercer County Farm Bureau, member of the Mercer County Farmers Union, Master/President of the Unity Grange, member of the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Washington Township and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Council.  He was also a Washington Township Trustee and has been a loyal member of the Mercer County Republican Central Committee. He also worked for ten years at the Karch Stone Quarry.

Jerry placed great importance in maintaining a strong work force in Mercer County! The need for strong economic development was one of his priorities and was a must to ensure stable and growing job opportunities for the citizens of Mercer County.  Jerry Laffin’s accomplishments are widespread 

In his first term in office, he initiated the establishment of the Mercer County Economic Development Department. His efforts coupled with Director Jared Ebbing and other commissioners and county officials have over the years helped new industries to locate in Mercer County including companies such as Celina Aluminum Precision Technology, Basic Grain Products, RJ Corman, DeRuijter International USA, Inc., VJ Westerheide S&K Products, Val Aerospace of Ohio Inc., Cooper Foods, Visions, Versa-Pak, Inc., Accutech Films Inc., and Relizon Corporation.  Mr. Laffin also worked with other local industries to maintain and expand employment at plants in Fort Recovery, St. Henry, Rockford, Mendon, Coldwater, Chickasaw, Marion Township, Franklin Township, and Celina.  

He has worked with the State of Ohio on many Ohio-based initiatives to help all our businesses grow and expand. Jerry is particularly proud of the Revolving Loan Program (RLF) started nearly 35 years ago.  Since the inception of the RLF program, nearly 2,000 jobs have been created as a direct result of the program that started with the first loan to Casa Rodríguez way back in 1990.  Since then, almost 190 loans have been awarded totaling $18,000,000 to local businesses as they’ve started and expanded.  Over 1,900 local jobs have been created as a direct result of the County’s Revolving Loan Fund Program.  Additional jobs have been created through Community Development Block Grants and JobsOhio Grants for business development.  Mercer County has also assisted companies such as Celina Tent, Ferguson, Coopers, and JR Manufacturing.   The total amount of ‘new money’ that has been brought into the County from all the various grants and incentives since 1990 is now nearly $98,000,000. These initiatives have help create many additional jobs for our area!  Mercer County consistently ranks as the leader in unemployment statistics in Ohio and our workforce remains as one of our greatest assets.

Jerry has commented that–

“My years as county commissioner have shown me the continuing need for expanded product markets, quality road and bridge systems, and technical and educational programs such as Soil Conservation and Cooperative Extension”. 

As part of that vision Jerry played an integral role in the development of Mercer County’s infrastructure over the years.  Specifically, Jerry oversaw and implemented many new sewer systems in Mercer County, including the Montezuma/Club IslandSewer District, the East Jefferson Sewer District which extends from Celina all the way out to the County line, Marion I & II Sewer District for the Maria Stein & Chickasaw areas, the West Jefferson Sewer District which includes Silver Lakes and Menchoffer Woodsand well as sewer districts for villages of Philothea, Burkettsville, and Carthagena.

As a conservative Republican, Jerry spearheaded efforts to limit government and to control costs!  Mercer County, together with neighboring counties, have formed joint self-insurance pools due to rising costs in the insurance industry.  The Midwest Pool Risk Management Agency administers property and liability insurance for its county members. Midwest Employee Benefit Consortium administers the health insurance program for its member counties. He helped initiate self-insurance of property, liability, and health benefits, and saved the county over $1,000.000.

Jerry was also quite active in leading efforts to ensure a safe environment and effective public health for the county.  Legislation was lobbied by Auglaize and Mercer County to form the “Grand Lake St. Mary’s Lake Facility Authority”.  It is the only Lake Facility Authority in the State of Ohio.  Mr. Laffin chairs this Board, which has successfully obtained over $6 million in grants to improve the water quality of Grand Lake. Commissioner Laffin was also involved in the implementation of the 911 emergency system in Mercer County. 

Jerry is an effective communicator who was able to resolve complex issues with fairest and integrity.  He would readily evaluate all sides of an issue, research for solutions, and then take decisive actions that brought everyone together! 

Commissioner Jerry Laffin has been an excellent leader the last half century and he has helped make Mercer County a great place to live, work and play!!