Economic Development Grant Will Fund Appalachia Development Through Ohio University

Something important to talk about is economic development. This is a critical topic, especially as it pertains to already impoverished areas like Appalachia. This mountain-region of the United States has experienced poverty-related issues for decades. Like other poverty-stricken regions, opportunity zones can help create jobs, spur economic development, and encourage more investors to bring new opportunities into the area. And now, a $2.2 million grant awarded to Ohio University’s Voinovich School is hoping to spur economic development in Appalachia. This grant was awarded to Voinovich School by the U.S Department of Commerce.

Here’s what Ohio Senator Rob Portman had to say about this grant award: “This $2.2 million federal grant to Ohio University is great news for our economic development efforts in Southeast Ohio and our workers and families in the region. Opportunity Zones boost investments and jobs in struggling communities throughout Ohio which is exactly what Congress intended to accomplish when we created this incentive in the 2017 tax reform law.”

Appalachia Needs More Economic Development: This Grant May Help With That

So, how will this all work? Well, Ohio University’s Voinovich School will be partnering with Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association and Buckeye Hills Regional Council. The goal of this initiative is to get the region to move away from its currently coal-centered economy. This reliance on one industry may be responsible for much of the poverty as coal mines have closed. Throughout the pandemic, Appalachia saw some of the worst devastations when it came to this industry, where over 6,000 jobs were lost last year between March and April alone. This was one of the biggest job losses in 60 years.

According to Jason Jolley, director of the Master of Public Administration program at Voinovich, one of the things that the school’s work will do is help the region develop an economic development plan. But, each area in Appalachia requires a different level of help, and Jolley said the school will help them regardless of current need.

GrantWatch Has An Entire Catagory For Economic Development

Many of these grants fall into many categories, and those categories sometimes do overlap. Here at GrantWatch, we have a community/economic development grant category to help our subscribers find the right grants for their organizations. You can search through this grant category with over 1,000 currently listed grants to find the one that works for you.

If you have any questions about this grant category, or any of the others listed grant categories on our site, feel free to reach out to our customer service team! Reach out by calling us at our customer service team line at 561-249-2129.