The Monroe County is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $1,515,725 Maritime Assistance Program grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation, in addition to $1,212,580 in funding from the Ohio Development Services Agency’s Rural Industrial Park Loan program. These funds are part of a $3 Million dollar infrastructure development project at the Port Authority’s “Powhatan #7” development site.
Powhatan #7 is a 70-acre riverfront, industrial development site located just south of Clarington on State Route 7. The infrastructure development project will include the construction of an industrial access road, as well as repair work on some of the existing 12 barge cells in the Ohio River. Engineering, design and permitting work is underway, with construction anticipated to begin sometime in Q3-2021.
“The Port Authority has conducted a significant amount of due diligence on this site since acquiring it in July 2018. We’re excited to begin adding the infrastructure needed so that this site can be shovel-ready for development” added Jason Hamman, Monroe County Port Authority Director. Hamman envisions near-term opportunities to lease acreage at Powhatan #7 to companies that provide support services to the shale gas industry, while also marketing the site to attract companies operating in petrochemicals, plastics and other energy intensive industry sectors that can benefit from the region’s abundant and inexpensive natural resources.
Powhatan #7’s location along Monroe County’s industrial riverfront corridor gives it proximity to the Hannibal Industrial Park, Long Ridge Energy Terminal and the planned Mountaineer NGL Storage facility. This corridor has active rail service, with the potential to add a rail spur to the Powhatan #7 site.
The Monroe County Port Authority was established by the Monroe County Commissioners in 2015 to advance economic development efforts in the County, with an emphasis on real estate development.
