Buckeye Hills Regional Council joined with Ohio Southeast Economic Development (OhioSE), and Opportunity Appalachia for a webinar on Friday, February 25 to launch a second, expanded phase of Opportunity Appalachia.
As the lead partner in Ohio, OhioSE invites all interested community and economic development leaders, local elected officials, developers, and business owners to learn about the opportunity to obtain technical assistance for important development projects to move your community forward.
Opportunity Appalachia will provide targeted support for downtown and rural development projects to build entrepreneurial communities where local business can thrive, creating quality jobs for residents, helping to address the COVID-19 downturn, and revitalizing local economies. The $2.25 million in funding for technical assistance will provide support for more than 40 projects which are anticipated to create 3,000 jobs and bring $400 million of new investment into Central Appalachian communities. The expanded program targets Appalachian communities in five states: Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.
“Opportunity Appalachia brings resources for technical assistance to those projects in the region that have good purpose but still need expertise to get the project through various stages and to investment,” said OhioSE Vice President, Katy Farber. “Redeveloping our communities is key to our long term success as a region.”
The Ohio program anticipates awards to up to eight (8) projects with the allocated portion of these funds. Selected communities will each access $30,000 to $75,000 in technical assistance to support their proposed development projects, to include (but not limited to):
- Development of investment prospectus, preparation of pro forma financial projections, structuring of project financing,
- Market research, demand assessment,
- Architectural and engineering,
- Business plan preparation, operations planning,
- Identification of project developers, and
- Investor outreach.
To learn more about Opportunity Appalachia, view a listing of participating projects from the first round, or to find the program application, click here. For specific questions about Ohio projects, contact Katy Farber at katy@ohiose.com.
Buckeye Hills Regional Council, OMEGA, and the Ohio University Voinovich School are also partners in RISE Ohio, a complementary effort to help communities make an economic transition to new industries and ensure continued job creation, as well as economic growth and diversification. This program will enable these communities to engage in Opportunity Zone planning, along with assisting them with the impacts of coal-fired power plant closures. You can learn more by contacting Kate Perani, Special Project Coordinator for RISE Ohio at kperani@buckeyehills.org.