OVRDC to Hold Regular Appalachian Community Grant Program Update Meetings
The OVRDC held an online meeting on Friday, April 14, 2023, to update interested applicants, public officials, economic development professionals, and others on the latest information issued by the Ohio Department of Development and the Governor’s Office of Appalachia related to the Appalachian Community Grant Program (ACGP).
More than 50+ people attended the Appalachian Community Grant Program update meeting, and regular communication is planned to help facilitate and coordinate among the many groups interested in participating in the technical assistance grants and procured planner process to prepare for Round II funding and Development Grant applications. OVRDC will be holding these update meetings on a regular basis, every other week.
The next ACGP Update will be Friday, April 28, 2023, at 10:00 am held online and recorded for upload to the OVRDC YouTube channel.
Click below to re-watch the April 28, 2023 meeting on YouTube, and share with others who couldn’t attend.
There were twenty-two Technical Assistance Grants awarded in Round 1. For the OVRDC region, Technical Assistance grants were awarded to OVRDC in the amount of $1,587,775 million, Clermont County Port Authority in the amount of $981,975, and the Mayor’s Partnership for Progress/Ohio University Voinovich School, which includes several member communities from the region, received $474,450. The list of Technical Assistance grants awarded and the four applications of the Round 1 Development Grant awardees are available online here.
The ACGP is administered by the Governor’s Office of Appalachia within the Ohio Department of Development and is part of the DeWine-Husted Administration’s Ohio BUILDS – Small Communities, Big Impact – a Plan for Appalachia, which focuses on enhancing the workforce in Ohio’s Appalachian region and improving the area’s infrastructure and healthcare. The program was created with the support of the 134th Ohio General Assembly and funded as part of House Bill 377. Submission of Round 2 Development Grant applications to the Ohio Department of Development and the Governor’s Office of Appalachia is anticipated to begin in late fall, and conclude in late winter 2023/2024.
Download the ACGP Information Sheet from the Governor’s Office of Appalachia for the most up-to-date guidance.
In the meeting, attendees were asked to please follow up with John Hemmings on two action items:
- Each county will identify who the lead partner on the OVRDC Technical Assistance (TA) grant award will be, and send that information to John Hemmings, jhemmings@ovrdc.org before April 21, 2023.
- Attendees are asked to share with us their opinion of OVRDC being a lead applicant for the region given that the state has said they are looking to fund less than 10 total Development projects from across all 32 Appalachian Ohio counties. Please send your thoughts to John Hemmings before April 27, 2023, Executive Committee meeting.
OVRDC has been working with consultant Ken Reed to meet with interested partners in the region in advance of the state’s procured planner program getting off the ground, and Ken will continue to help with the coordination of project partners. Today, OVRDC is working on compiling a contact list for sharing information on all things related to the ACGP funding. Please let us know if you or anyone else needs to be included on the ACGP contact list to receive regular communication by emailing Gina Collinsworth, public information coordinator, at gcollinsworth@ovrdc.org. Call our office for more information (740) 947-2853.
