The Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission (OVRDC) met on Tuesday for the annual Lawrence County Caucus.

OVRDC is a public regional planning commission that covers 12 southern Ohio counties, including Lawrence, and works to drive community and economic development through the coordination of federal, state and local resources.

They met at the Joint Response Operations Center in Coal Grove and had a review of projects funded in 2019.

In Lawrence County, the City of Ironton South Third Street reconstruction was funded $250,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). 

“We’re the only state in the 13 states of Appalachia, that the state of Ohio says, ‘Hey, we’re going to match what we get from the federal government, from the ARC.’ It started with the Taft administration, carried on through Strickland, Kasich administration, and now DeWine. We’re still getting that support,” said John Hemmings, OVRDC executive director.

They also covered a working list of priority projects for which applications for ARC funds had been received. In Lawrence County, the three current projects under consideration include PureCycle sewer expansion, the first phase of the Coal Grove waterline replacement and an industrial access road project in Coal Grove and south Ironton. This list is not final and applications can still be submitted. For more information about ARC programs or projects, visit www.arc.gov or www.ovrdc.org 

Another funding opportunity discussed was Economic Development Administration (EDA). 

“The Point Industrial Park was an EDA project years ago when it was first developed,” Hemmings said.

There are three main programs, including public works and economic development program, which focuses on creating long-term jobs, and economic adjustment assistance, which focuses on retaining jobs, and local technical assistance.

For more information, visit www.eda.gov.