T-L Photo/JOSIE BURKHART Eric Richards from Rich Investment Group is opening a podcast studio soon, where people from the Ohio Valley can come to create their own content at the studio in Bridgeport.

BRIDGEPORT — A new studio for podcasting is being developed in the Ohio Valley, where people will be able to create their own content in a space in Bridgeport.

Rich Investment Group, a real estate investment company started three years ago by Eric Richards, is opening a new podcast studio in Bridgeport. The public will be able to use this new podcast studio at a low cost, Richards said, and it will provide an opportunity for people who don’t know how to get started.

He said all someone has to do is come into the studio and talk about whatever they want to, and engineers will record, edit and post it online. The engineer working on the podcasts will be Jake Wharton.

“They can do everything,” he said. “What you need to do is show up, walk out.”

Richards started his business because of the state of the housing market in the area. He said a lot of out-of-state investors and people who came to the Ohio Valley were buying properties and raising prices to the point local residents couldn’t afford homes here anymore. He added that his company is trying to provide opportunities for people, especially younger individuals, to stay in the region, and he believes the podcast studio is one way to do that.

Richards said a lot of the real estate he has bought in the last three years was purchased from landlords who are 50-60 years old and getting ready to retire, whose children don’t want anything to do with the properties. However, if there is nothing enticing youth to stay local and build something up, he said, everything will be lost.

He added that there has to be a way for young people to see stability in this area, so they don’t move to different locations, which causes a decline in population.

The company is currently furnishing and getting everything ready in the studio. Richards said it will be operational in the next seven to 10 days.

The company will also have a green room separate from the studio. A coffee bar will be set up at the studio. Richards said the separate room can help people prepare with their interviewee about what they’d like to highlight during the podcast episode.

Not only will this studio be for podcasts, but it can also be used for digital marketing.

“I firmly believe that we’re probably two years behind the rest of the world in the valley,” Richards said. “And everybody’s going to digital marketing. They’re going to get quicker information in a quicker amount of time. So I wanted to bring this into the area so that we could build as a whole.”

He added that he wants people to be able to introduce themselves and their small business, as this can help them grow.

“It’s going to give people such an opportunity to present themselves on a regional basis or a nationwide basis,” he said, “to where you can build a business and build a lifestyle, family, and keep that here where people want to be in this area.”

The company is offering different pricing packages. Richards said the more someone is doing, the more affordable the sessions will be.

The company will provide the environment, utilities, cameras, an engineer and the studio, which is customizable. Richards has an idea for his basement space, where he will have storage lockers where people can store decorations and such that they want in their podcast.

The company will have a Facebook page where people can go to sign up to get a slot for a podcast day and time. Scheduling will be by appointment only with no walk-ins.

The business will put out a digital schedule with a link where people can sign up.

Richards will have payment set up by Venmo or another digital source to keep up with the times.

He described this project as a “cutting edge studio.”

Richards will also be starting his own podcast called the “Road to Riches” once everything is operating. He will talk about real estate and talk to other business owners in the area, highlighting them and what makes them successful.

His company wants to be proactive in the community and make sure everything moves in the right direction and help people build on their podcast ideas, he added.

“Reach out to us. Honestly, we are always hiring because somebody wants to do something better themselves,” Richards said. “I’m sure there’s some way that we can help or facilitate if we’re not hiring. If you’re interested in doing a podcast in the studio or stuff like that, I would love to hear about what your ideas are.”