Prepared Communities Program

The Prepared Communities Program recognizes that our region has its own unique set of circumstances and there is no blanket approach that will work across the diverse economic landscape that we have in southeastern Ohio. By engaging with our local communities to hear their needs, act as a resource and utilize the tools we have at OhioSE and JobsOhio – together we can create a plan to move each of our communities forward in their own way.

The mission of Ohio Southeast Economic Development (OhioSE) is to promote enduring widely-shared economic prosperity across 25 counties of Appalachian Ohio by serving as the regional JobsOhio partner delivering business retention, expansion, attraction, site selection, and site development services.

Eligibility

• This program is open to all local elected officials including County Commissioners, Mayors, and City Managers within the OhioSE region.
• The local elected official can be a current office holder, recently appointed or elected to office for a term beginning in 2024.
• The local elected official must complete the ED Now Series by attending both sessions on October 20 and October 27, 2023.
• The local elected official must complete the program application and include a separate goals and strategies document to be returned no later than December 15, 2023. We strongly encourage collaboration with the local county economic development offices and other key stakeholders in a community.

Program Overview

Ohio Southeast understands a community strategy or a common vision is necessary in order to achieve economic development success. With a vision that becomes an actionable plan, you have direction. OhioSE wants to help counties/communities in its region create a vision and develop an actionable plan. The Prepared Communities program will provide selected counties/communities with free technical assistance from the professional team at Bricker Graydon and OhioSE. Selected communities will receive six hours of virtual economic development planning assistance. This assistance will provide the framework for developing a workable plan for future economic development strategy.

Guiding Principles and Project Evaluation

Projects will be evaluated on a number of criteria to assess need and community impact. To be considered for support, applicants are asked to complete the program application. Key evaluation criteria include:

Current conditions in your county

• Provide the name and population of the community
• Provide a short narrative describing the business climate of community – include the top 10 largest employers in the community

Economic challenges

• Provide a short narrative describing the current economic challenges
• Include relevant information pertaining to jobs, unemployment rates, business closures within the last 5 years and any decline in population

Economic assets

• Provide a narrative describing quality of life in your community including school districts, cost of living, median home price, average income, area attractions
• Include area assets that provide insight on the following:
  • Workforce (demographics, availability & etc.)
  • Infrastructure for utilities, broadband and transportation
  • Tourism
  • Technical or vocational training schools, Community Colleges, Universities
  • Downtowns

Economic development goals

• Provide a narrative describing at least 5 goals you seek for your community to combat the challenges you face

Please return your completed application and any supplemental materials no later than Dec. 15 2023 to Destiny Bryson at destiny@ohiose.com. Once your application is received, Destiny will call to follow up and verify that your application has been accepted and review the documents to ensure all supplemental materials have been properly delivered for evaluation. Awards will be made in January of 2024, with technical assistance sessions to be scheduled soon after the beginning of 2024.

Should you have any questions regarding the program, please reach out to the OhioSE Engagement Team Ed Looman (ed@ohiose.com (740) 381-4119 or Destiny Bryson (destiny@ohiose.com (614) 440-1885.