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OhioSE Celebrates Assisting Over 100 Small Businesses
Posted on April 4, 2025
Ohio Southeast Economic Development (OhioSE) celebrates assisting over 100 small businesses in Southeast Ohio through the JobsOhio Small Business Grant Program.
Since 2020, 109 companies in Southeast Ohio have utilized the JobsOhio Small Business Grant to fuel business growth, creating over 450 jobs and leveraging over $38 million in fixed capital investment across the region.
The JobsOhio Small Business Grant was developed to provide additional financial support for qualified projects in designated communities and/or for businesses in trade industries owned by eligible populations across the state. The program recognizes that eligible communities may benefit from investments and job creation on a smaller scale than communities that experience higher levels of corporate investment on a regular basis. Additionally, this program recognizes that businesses owned by eligible populations may face additional challenges in growing their businesses.
“These grants really make a difference,” said Tim Martin, owner of Red Tail Design Company in Athens, Ohio. Red Tail Design Company is a multifaceted design shop that tackles small projects, large projects, and everything in between. Owner Tim Martin took over the web design company Electronic Vision (EV) in 2015 and evolved the company into a full-service design shop as Red Tail Design.
In 2022, Red Tail Design Company invested over $100,000 to expand its business in Athens County, purchasing new machinery and equipment to support production growth and fulfill its growing demand. The purchase was supported by a JobsOhio Small Business Grant of $25,000.
“We used the JobsOhio Small Business Grant to help pay a down payment on our new laser engraver/cutter that we wouldn’t have been able to afford to buy otherwise,” said Martin. “This sped up production, gave us a larger capacity, and increased the quality of the products we create for our retail business and wholesale orders.”
In Southeast Ohio, there are over 800 businesses that qualify as Small Businesses, employing over 50,000 people across the region.
“To put it frankly, the JobsOhio Small Business Grant program, overall, has been the single most impactful initiative to come out of JobsOhio for Southern Ohio,” said Sam Brady, President and CEO of the Jackson County Economic Development Partnership. “We have had more success in connecting this incentive to capture growth opportunities than we have with any other program.”
With the majority of businesses in Jackson County falling into the small business category, Brady says the JobsOhio Small Business Grant has become their best resource to share in their business retention and expansion outreach efforts.
“Partnering with JobsOhio and OhioSE, we have been able to support projects in every corner of the county,” Brady said. “The JobsOhio Small Business Grant program has been leveraged to support numerous growth expansions for companies like Sunrush Water, Sixth Sense Brewing Company, and H&H Industries.”
Jamey and Jennifer Ratcliff, owners of Sixth Sense Brewing Company, used a $50,000 JobsOhio Small Business Grant to aid in purchasing property in downtown Jackson to house new production and distribution services to meet growing customer demand, creating seven new jobs.
“We are humbled and thankful to JobsOhio, the Jackson County Economic Development Partnership, The Jackson Co. Land Bank, Commissioners, and other local individuals that have worked hard to further the brewery expansion,” said the Ratcliffs.
The JobsOhio Small Business Grant was launched in 2020 to help existing Ohio businesses invest in and grow their operations. Through the program, dozens of locally-owned small businesses in Appalachian Ohio have received funds to invest in equipment, infrastructure, training, and other essential costs.
“The JobsOhio Small Business Grant Program has been a powerful tool for businesses in our region,” said Matt Abbott, OhioSE President and CEO. “This program is designed to help small and mid-size companies and for much of Southeast Ohio, these are the companies contributing to our thriving local economies. We are grateful for this investment in our region.”
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