DevelopOhio

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lieutenant Governor John Husted recently announced “the first-round recipients of the Appalachian Community Grant Program [see our September 21, 2022 blog post], which includes the planned renovations of The Athens Armory,” as well as The Logan Theater, The Space at the Hocking Hills Chamber of Commerce, The Somerset Builder’s Club, and the Coshocton Collaborative, The Athens News reports. The projects “are ‘lynchpin’ projects, which will breathe new vibrancy into long-neglected downtown districts, and will serve as catalysts for further improvements and development,” according to the article. The Athens Armory “was funded as part of a larger four-county initiative called At Work in Appalachia,” which “establishes coordinated, interconnected remote work and entrepreneur hubs, and locally-designed health and workforce development programming through a series of public and private partnerships.” Plans for The Athens Armory include a community gathering space open to organizations and the general public, shared workspace and permanent offices for the Athens County Foundation. The At Work in Appalachia initiative was awarded $17,674,641 in total from the Ohio Department of Development and the Governor’s Office of Appalachia through the Appalachian Community Grant Program. For more, read the full article.