COLUMBUS — The State Controlling Board has approved a $2.5 million loan to support local job creation efforts in Scioto County, State Rep. Brian Baldridge, R-93 announced Monday.

The funding is part of the Southern Ohio Port Authority’s $6,160,000 plan to build a new 45,000 square foot speculative industrial building within the 300-acre Southern Ohio Aeronautical Regional Airport (SOAR) Business Park at the Portsmouth Regional Airport.

The $2.5 million loan comes from the state’s Rural Industrial Park Loan program. Baldridge and other lawmakers reinstated funding for the program in 2019, and it’s producing real results. The program received additional funding in the recently-approved state budget.

“Projects like this are exactly what we had in mind when we provided funding for the rural industrial park program,” said Baldridge. “This is a good example of how the state can support local economic development efforts.”

Also today, the State Controlling Board approved an amendment to the master facilities plan for the Green Local School District school construction project. The increase in the project budget is due primarily to market conditions leading to increased cost for the design and construction required to build a new school for grades PK-12, according to the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission.

As part of the board’s action, it approved the release of an additional $1.8 million in state funding for the project.