The Scioto County Board of Commissioners, Scioto County Economic Development Office, Southern Ohio Port Authority, JobsOhio, and Ohio Southeast Economic Development (OhioSE) celebrated the groundbreaking of the first spec building at the Southern Ohio Aeronautical Regional (S.O.A.R.) Business Park on Friday, September 24.
Attendance at the ceremony included representatives from the Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission(OVRDC), Governor’s Office of Appalachia, JobsOhio, OhioSE, Fluor BWXT Portsmouth, as well as Scioto County Commissioners Bryan Davis, Scottie Powell, and Cathy Coleman, Ohio Representative Brian Baldridge, and Ohio Senator Terry Johnson.
The $5.3 million, 45,600 square foot spec building will be the first of many projects located on the site. 42,000 square feet will be allocated for manufacturing/warehouse space with remaining 3,600 square feet allocated for office space.
“The strategic partnership between JobsOhio/OhioSE and our local economic development entities has produced tremendous economic development benefits for our region,” said Commissioner Davis. “S.O.A.R. is one more example of this collaboration. Their help has been instrumental in getting us to where we are today. Scioto County is investing heavily in infrastructure and ‘product’ to attract job creators, and JobsOhio/OhioSE is helping lead the way through their support for our efforts.”
The funding for the spec building was comprised of grants and loans from multiple state and local entities. The project received a Rural Industrial Park Loan (RIPL) for $2.5 million that has the potential to be forgiven up to 50% of the total loan. Within the RIPL, the county can also request to defer interest on the project up to five years. This site also benefitted from a comprehensive site analysis through the OhioSE Sites Initiative.
“Ohio Southeast Economic Development commends Scioto County for launching this ambitious project,” said Mike Jacoby, OhioSE President. “Most growing companies want to grow into an existing building versus a constructing a building. This spec building will result in jobs someday.”
The new industrial building is located on a 5.125-acre site at the end of the new Barklow Road extension. The county worked collaboratively with AEP, Utility Pipeline, Water 1, the Scioto County Sanitary department, and Minford Telephone to ensure the infrastructure matched the needs at the industrial park.
“The Scioto County Economic Development Office and the Scioto County Commissioners were very excited to break ground on this project,” said Robert Horton, Executive Director of the Scioto County Economic Development Office. “It has been a privilege to collaborate with OhioSE and JobsOhio on this project and bring it to life in Scioto County – this is exactly what our rural communities need here in Southern Ohio. By leveraging multiple funding programs, we are able to create a site and speculative building that will help us attract business to our region.”
Funding to support construction of the building has been submitted through the JobsOhio Ohio Site Inventory Program (OSIP), a program that offers grants and low-interest loans to support speculative site and building development projects with no identified end user. $608,565 in OSIP funds are pending to assist with the spec building construction and site preparation. The goal of the OSIP program is to fill gaps in Ohio’s real estate inventory and accelerate the process of bringing in-demand projects and sites online.
Additional coverage:
- “Ground breaking held for area S.O.A.R. Business Park” – The Pike County News Watchman, 10/01/2021
- “S.O.A.R. Industrial Park breaks ground” – The Portsmouth Daily Times, 09/27/2021
