OHIO SOUTHEAST Economic Development and Opportunity Appalachia will host a webinar at 2 p.m. Feb. 27 to launch a third, 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, and revitalizing local economies.

The expanded program targets real estate projects that support downtown development, health care, education, recreation and tourism, food systems, clean energy, manufacturing, and affordable housing, and will now include communities in Kentucky.

Throughout 2024 and into 2025, OA will select 30 high-impact projects to each access $30,000 – $60,000 in technical assistance in areas such as design, business planning, market studies and financial structuring, and assist in the development of investment prospectus, creation of project pitch videos and presentations, and make connection with investment sources. Opportunity Appalachia 2024 expects the selected projects to attract up to $150 million in private investment to participating Central Appalachian communities.

“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 six projects with the allocated portion of these funds. Selected communities will each access $30,000 to $60,000 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.

For specific questions about Ohio projects, contact Katy Farber at katy@ohiose.com.