Working with local leaders, Appalachian Ohio’s Local Development Districts (LDDs) facilitated investments of more than $133 million in 60 projects through support from the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Governor’s Office of Appalachia in 2024. These projects helped the region create 211 jobs, retain an additional 1,471 positions, and represent investments that build local infrastructure and support the region’s workforce ecosystem.
In the Buckeye Hills region alone, the Appalachian Regional Commission and Governor’s Office of Appalachia provided grants totaling $9.7 million to Southeast Ohio communities to help bring a total investment of $44 million in 21 projects supporting local infrastructure, tourism assets, and workforce.
Four LDDs serve Ohio’s Appalachian communities: 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 prepared by all four LDDs serves as an annual to showcase the impact of Area Development funds received from the Appalachian Regional Commission and assistance from the Governor’s Office of Appalachia. Leadership from the four LDDs shared the report with members of the region’s congressional delegation on March 11 during a joint conference in Washington, DC, hosted by the National Association of Development Organizations and the Development District Association 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 with the goal of helping build community capacity and strengthening economic growth in the region
One of the primary roles of the LDDs is to identify the priority needs of their local communities. To ensure that funds are used effectively and efficiently. 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.