As southeast Ohio continued to reemerge from the pandemic in 2021, the region saw remarkable momentum and success on multiple fronts, from renewed investments in critical infrastructure to finding new and innovative ways to serve older adults. Below are just a few of the year’s highlights of our region’s resiliency and growth.
Medicare Savings
In a year when we were not sure how we were going to serve as many people as we usually do due to staffing transitions, our Information and Assistance team had an amazing impact helping 137 individuals in our region between October 15 and December 7 find $61,623.50 in Medicare savings.
MyRecoveryLink.org Impact Award
Created to assist individuals in southeast Ohio affected by substance use disorder, MyRecoveryLink.org received a 2021 Aliceann Wohlbruck Impact Award from the National Association of Development Organizations in October. Since its launch in July 2020, MyRecoveryLink.org and Opioid Resource Navigator Brandi Beaver have helped more than 1,800 individuals connect with resources to help them through their recovery journey.
Regional and National Leadership
Executive Director Misty Crosby assumed two new leadership roles of regional and national significance, amplifying the voice of southeast Ohio and rural communities. In early October, Crosby was named the first-ever Regional Trustee for Ohio University. Shortly after, that same month, she was named president of the National Association of Development Organizations.
Fiscal Relief For Local Communities
Following the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act by the U.S. Congress, local governments in southeast Ohio received a historic investment of more than $100 million in direct federal aid to help them recover from the effects of the pandemic and to help their communities reemerge stronger than they were before. Buckeye Hills Regional Council has helped several local leaders plan to use these dollars for the greatest impact and launched an online ARPA Resource center for southeast Ohio’s local governments.
Ohio BUILDS Invests in Southeast Ohio Infrastructure
With Community Infrastructure appropriations from the Ohio General Assembly, Governor DeWine created the Ohio BUILDS water infrastructure grant program to reduce or eliminate the local financial burden associated with critical infrastructure needs, such as the construction of new water systems, the replacement of aging water lines, and the installation new water mains. Grants are also funding projects to prevent sewer system backups and replace failing household sewage treatment systems with new sewers. In 2021, the program awarded $250 million toward 183 critical water infrastructure projects across the state. In the Buckeye Hills Region, rural communities will see more than $32 million invested in 16 projects to establish or improve drinking water and wastewater service for more than 67,000 individuals and more than 150 businesses.
HealthJay Tablets Help Connect Older Adults
In November, Buckeye Hills Regional Council announced its partnership with California-based software company HealthJay Inc. in a joint effort to deploy JayPad tablet solutions to older adults in several senior living communities. Hundreds of older adults will benefit from the initiative that is to address the pressing challenges of social isolation and staffing shortage. This partnership will also put Marietta on the map as one of the early adopters in the country to use smart technology to deliver hybrid senior care. Buckeye Hills Regional Council is putting the JayPad tablets into the Washington County Home and the upcoming Buckeye Fields independent living community.
ARC POWER Supports Southeast Ohio Community Projects
In September The Appalachian Regional Commission announced its largest POWER package to date: Over $46 million for 57 projects in 184 coal-impacted counties. This year’s announcement includes more than $4.75 million for projects in Noble, Athens, Monroe, and Morgan counties to improve broadband, grow our workforce, and open new economic opportunities for our region.
Senior Farmers’ Market Program Provides Fresh Produce
While initial enrollment was slow as our region reemerged from the first waves of the pandemic, the popular Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program ended the year serving 2,129 individuals who redeemed coupons for more than $100,000 in fresh, nutritious produce grown by more than 40 local farmers.
Expanding Broadband Access in Appalachian Ohio
At the 2021 State of the Region Conference in May, Buckeye Hills Regional Council joined with its fellow Appalachian Ohio Local Development Districts to relaunch ConnectingAppalachia.org with support from the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio and OhioSE. The resulting mapping and data from the project were shared with local leaders, agency partners, and lawmakers to show the areas in our region in most need of investment. The following August Buckeye Hills Regional Council announced the hiring of our new broadband staff members. In the fall, our region began to see significant federal investments in broadband from the Appalachian Regional Commission, including in the communities of Athens, Noble County, and Monroe counties. Additional investments are on the horizon in 2022 with 13 applications for major broadband expansion projects in southeast Ohio filed through the newly-created Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also authorized more than $62 billion in additional broadband investments nationally.
Serving Southeast Ohio’s Older Adults and Individuals with Disabilities
Buckeye Hills Regional Council’s Information & Assistance team answered more than 2,000 calls for help and guidance from older adults and their caregivers during 2021. Each month, our Care Management team helped an average of 830 older adults and individuals with disabilities receive cost-effective, in-home care and 55 individuals receive assisted living care.
ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin Visits Southeast Ohio
On July 20, ARC Federal Co-Chair Dr. Gayle Manchin and Executive Director Brandon McBride joined John Carey, director of Ohio Governor’s Office of Appalachia, and Julia Hinton, ARC Ohio state program manager, on a tour of Ohio’s Local Development Districts to see ARC investments in action. To bring the region to socioeconomic parity with the rest of the nation, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has focused investments into fundamental community and economic development needs, including basic infrastructure, education, job training, health care, entrepreneurship, and capital market development. From critical infrastructure to career readiness, recovery-to-work, the creation of a vibrant downtown, and collaboration and strong community partnerships, Dr. Manchin, as well as ARC and GOA leadership saw the ways these investments are having a real impact in Appalachian Ohio.
Mid-Ohio Valley Statistical Port District Approved by Army Corps of Engineers
In June, the Army Corps of Engineers formally designated the Mid-Ohio Valley Statistical Port District along a 220-mile stretch of the Ohio River. The purpose of the district is to create a new boundary for a statistical area that will be used for the aggregation and reporting of waterborne commerce statistics. Affected counties in the Buckeye Hills region include Meigs, Athens, Washington, and Monroe. The district also includes Belmont, Jefferson, and Columbiana counties, as well as nine counties in West Virginia. The new port district fills a gap that previously existed between the Huntington Tri-State Port District and the Pittsburgh Port District. The designation of the district will elevate awareness of the importance of the region and further support the attraction of economic development and use of the Ohio River system for efficient and cost-effective waterborne transportation. You can read recent news coverage of the designation HERE and find the formal ACE documentation designating the statistical port district HERE. In the ACE’s Transportation Facts & Information for The U.S. Coastal & Inland Navigation System report released in November found that the Mid-Ohio Valley Statistical Port District’s tonnage of 35.9 million tons ranked 17th among the Leading U.S. Ports and was the highest of any inland port in the United States.
Voinovich School, OMEGA, Buckeye Hills partner to boost community economic growth
In January, the Economic Development Administration announced a $2.2 million investment to accelerate the region’s transition from a coal economy through a new initiative called Resilience Initiative for Southeastern and Eastern Ohio (RISE Ohio). RISE Ohio is a $2.7 million, two-year program led by Ohio University’s Voinovich School, in partnership with the Buckeye Hills Regional Council (BHRC) and Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association (OMEGA), focused on helping communities in an 18-county region make an economic transition to new industries and ensuring continued job creation, as well as economic growth and diversification. The new funding will enable these communities to engage in Opportunity Zone planning, along with assisting them with the impacts of coal-fired power plant closures.
2021-22 Capital Budget Funds Community Projects in Southeast Ohio
In January, the approved capital budget, Senate Bill 310, prioritized the needs of state government, K-12 schools, and higher education institutions, with particular emphasis given to each project’s impact on jobs and economic growth. In the Buckeye Hills region, the Capital Budget included 39 projects totaling more than $28 million. Outside of state facilities and higher education projects, the total included $2.8 million in local community projects across Athens, Hocking, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, and Washington counties.