Voinovich School receives $2.2 million grant to fund RISE Ohio

The U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration awarded a $2.2 million grant to be split between Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, the Ohio-Mideastern Governments Association (OMEGA) and the Buckeye Hills Regional Council. 

The funds will be put toward the Resilience Initiative for Southeastern and Eastern Ohio, or RISE Ohio, which provides assistance to coal workers around the state who have been affected by economic declines in their communities.

“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,” Ohio Senator Rob Portman said in a press release on Jan. 7. “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.”

In total, the project has accumulated $2.7 million in funding, with the remaining $500,000 coming from the Voinovich School, JobsOhio and the Appalachia New Economy Partnership. 

While the Voinovich School has been given a portion of the grant, a majority of it will be given to OMEGA and Buckeye Hills, who cover larger regions of the state under the Assistance to Coal Communities program.

RISE Ohio will help former coal economy cities revamp themselves and stimulate economic growth, according to an Ohio U press release. 

Jason Jolley, professor of rural economic development at Ohio U and RISE project lead, said in an interview that the Voinovich School’s efforts will be focused on improving the lives of coal workers in Coshocton County. Local residents of the area were affected after AEP’s Conesville plant was shut down, leaving many unemployed.  

“It could be coal-fired power plant closures, it could be coal mine closures. It could be companies that supply the coal supply chain that have been impacted,” Jolley said.

The project is set to take place over three years, which is a year longer than originally requested.

“It was the same amount of money, just a larger time frame,” Jolley said. “It takes a while to get started on a large grant like this, and no one is capable of suddenly turning around and engaging in a project of this size the next day.”

RISE Ohio is only one of the projects the Voinovich School is working on that has been funded by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), according to Jolley.  

Ohio U is considered an EDA University Center, alongside Bowling Green State University, who together are known as the Rural Universities Consortium. This connection to the EDA gave Ohio U an advantage when applying for the grant, which involved a competitive federal grant process.

In order to receive the grant, Ohio U had to match the grant by 20%, and the EDA sponsored the rest.

Students studying at the Voinovich School will get to play a role in the project. One of the match requirements for the grant was that graduate assistants would be funded to work on the program. Jolley said he will be sponsoring the involvement of two or three public administration students working toward their masters.

“Students are interested in economic development. They're interested in Appalachia and creating economic opportunities in Appalachia,” Jolley said. “So it’s a great learning experience for students who work with us, not just on this project, but on projects as a whole here at the school.”