Governor DeWine Announces $88 Million to Support Public Health, Workforce Development in Appalachia

6/17/2024

Last week, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) announced more than $88 million in funding to help nearly a dozen Appalachian school districts improve public health and enhance workforce development in their areas.

OFCC is awarding the funds as part of the Appalachian Community Innovation Centers Program, which was created in partnership with the Ohio General Assembly. The goal of the program is to create full-service centers for public education, community health services, and career development in Appalachia Ohio.

The Appalachia Community Innovation Centers Grant Program awardees include:

• Bridgeport Exempted Village School District (Belmont County)
• Brown Local School District (Carroll County)
• Caldwell Exempted Village School District (Noble County)
• Chesapeake Union Exempted Village School District (Lawrence County)
• Fayetteville-Perry Local School District (Brown County)
• Gallia-Jackson-Vinton Joint Vocational School District (Gallia County)
• Indian Creek Local School District (Jefferson County)
• Mahoning County Career and Technical Center (Mahoning County)
• New Lexington City School District (Perry County)
• New Richmond Exempted Village School District (Clermont County)
• Trumbull Career and Technical Center (Trumbull County)

Funding will cover expenses related to the construction of four new school-based community wellness, education, and career development centers in Mahoning, Jefferson, Noble, and Brown counties. Seven existing school-district sites will be renovated or expanded to provide services in Belmont, Carroll, Lawrence, Gallia, Perry, Trumbull, and Clermont counties.

Each center will provide programming and services that could include in-demand job training; Ohio Means Jobs support; classrooms and computer labs; walk-in health and mental health clinics; on-site dental services; and wellness, physical health, and training space.
The new centers will be open to any Ohioan who needs assistance, including those living outside the school districts receiving the awards.

Administered by OFCC with support from the Ohio Office of Budget and Management, the Appalachian Community Innovation Centers Program aligns with Governor DeWine's Appalachian Community Grant Program, which recently awarded $500 million to support downtown and riverfront revitalization, community health, and economic development in Ohio's 32 Appalachian counties.