An Ohio University employee was placed in Coshocton County to help create and maintain opportunities for entrepreneurship following the shutdown of the area’s AEP coal plant last May.
Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs received a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to be used to help finance economic development in Coshocton and the surrounding Appalachian region. In moving forward with those developments, the Voinovich School has worked with leadership in Coshocton County to place the representative and begin planning for the future.
This representative is Sherri Gibson, an employee of Ohio University. In Coshocton County, Gibson works as an economic recovery specialist placed within the office of Coshocton County Port Authority. Within this office, Gibson works with Executive Director Tiffany Swigert to retain and build business in the county.
“A big part of why we have Sherri is that we really want to make Coshocton a hub for entrepreneurship,” Swigert said.
In May 2020, Coshocton County lost its AEP coal plant, causing many citizens to lose their jobs. The impact of this loss was felt not only by those working directly in the plant but also by contractors and others that worked in conjunction with the AEP plant, Swigert said.
This loss affected the community both financially and emotionally since everyone in the small town knew someone who worked at the plant, Gibson said. Job losses caused people to begin looking for new work, leading some to move away from Coshocton to find it.
In light of this, a large part of Gibson’s position is geared toward helping create opportunities for entrepreneurs within Coshocton’s community. This includes helping current businesses to expand, providing resources for new businesses and even creating internship opportunities for local high school students.
“One of my focuses is working with high school students going forward with their career interests,” Gibson said. “I want to help create a pipeline for local employers. I want to promote opportunities to live here and work here.”
Gibson emphasized she believes there are talented employers as well as talented students in the community with whom she hopes to connect with each other. She hopes to bring attention to the careers available within Coshocton to help alleviate “brain drain,” she said.
However, the community is facing barriers to programs and business in terms of financing, which is where the grant awarded by the USEDA plays yet another part. Some of the funds from the grant will go into Coshocton County, but not all of them.
This grant is a part of the RISE Ohio project, which addresses a large area including counties within Buckeye Hills Regional Council, or BHRC, and Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association. As a result of this, the approximately $2.7 million allocated to the project will be spread throughout all of those areas based on the need of each individual county.
The planning for the project has been going on for at least two years, BHRC Executive Director Misty Crosby said.
“The pandemic threw things off track for a while and (so did) just waiting on EDA’s approval,” Crosby said. “The process takes a minute, so we're happy to finally get permission to move forward.”
Although some progress has already been made in Coshocton County, BHRC is hoping to really kick things off this coming June or July, Crosby said.
