Appalachian Ohio’s Local Development Districts (LDDs) leveraged investments of more than $95.8 million in 46 projects through support from the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Governor’s Office of Appalachia in 2022. These projects helped the region create 388 jobs, retain an additional 281 positions, and represent investments in local infrastructure, workforce development, transportation, tourism, and broadband expansion.
Examples of such projects in the Buckeye Hills region included:
- A $1.1 million project with Washington County Rural Electric Cooperative to help expand broadband access
- A $300,000 investment in establishing a Regional Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Noble County
- A $337,840 project to increase the historic Monroe Theatre’s seating capacity
In total, The ARC and GOA contributed $5.5 million toward 18 projects totaling $47.6 million in the Buckeye Hills region of Athens, Hocking, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Perry, and Washington counties.
Ohio’s Appalachian communities are served by four LDDs: Buckeye Hills Regional Council, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association, and Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission.
The Return on Investment report serves as an annual report prepared by all four LDDs to showcase the impact of Area Development funds received from the Appalachian Regional Commission and assistance from the Governor’s Office of Appalachia.
Ohio is home to 32 Appalachian counties and bolsters federal ARC funding with a matching state investment. Within this region, the four Appalachian Ohio LDDs organize community-driven projects and target funds for distribution from federal and state partners to ensure positive movement toward the mission of the ARC: to bring the region to socioeconomic parity.
“The primary roles of the LDDs are to identify the priority needs of their local communities and to ensure that funds are used effectively and efficiently,” said Buckeye Hills Regional Council Executive Director Chasity Schmelzenbach. “To strengthen local participation, Ohio’s project selection process utilizes a grassroots approach through which local governments prioritize state and federal investments across the region for the greatest regional impact.”
With 423 counties, the Appalachian region includes all of West Virginia and parts of 12 other states, including Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Appalachia is home to more than 26 million people.
With the goal of bringing 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 building Appalachia’s businesses, workforce ecosystem, infrastructure, regional culture and tourism, and community leaders and capacity.