The project wish list is open as the Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission organized for the upcoming year at its first county caucus meeting last week.

Now the commission is soliciting projects that could be eligible for federal funding.

“If they have a project that may be potential for funding, we ask them to put together a small scope of work to be brought up at the next caucus meeting,” Ralph Kline, OVRDC project representative, said.

The scope of work could include a description of the project and who will benefit.

The OVRDC is a regional planning and economic development agency that coordinates funding in 12 southern counties: Adams, Brown, Clermont, Fayette, Gallia, Highland, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Ross, Scioto and Vinton.

“When you deal with a metropolitan area, you have a metropolitan planning organization,” Dr. Bill Dingus, director of the Lawrence Economic Development Corp., said. “Some years ago they took rural Ohio and divided it into development districts. They basically do a lot of the planning that what your MPO would do at the metropolitan area. The whole issue is strategic planning. Projects are prioritized within the county and then on a regional basis. When the feds want to invest funds in the region, they will require that the prioritization be in from the OVRDC. … It is to develop a strategic plan so people will stay on course.”

Project funding usually comes from the Appalachian Regional Commission or the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration.

Recent projects that have benefited from OVRDC assistance include Chatham Steel opening a satellite distribution center and various phases of the intermodal facility, both at The Point; and Phase One of the St. Mary’s Medical Campus on State Route 141.

“Typically, (the projects) are infrastructure on public properties,” Kline said. “Typically there has to be job creation with the leverage of private sector investment.”

At the caucus Dingus was named the at-large member to the executive committee and County Engineer Doug Cade as caucus chair.