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Location and Context
The Appalachian Ohio Reinvestment Coalition serves a 29-county area that is a discrete part of a larger, 13 state region of the United States known as Appalachia. This 200,000-square-mile region follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi. About 22 million people live in the 406 counties of the Appalachian region. Although several major metropolitan areas are included in Appalachia, 42% of the region's population is rural, compared with 20% of the national population. Despite an era of unprecedented economic growth nationwide, rural Appalachia continues to lose its base of traditional industry-oil and gas, coal, timber, agriculture, and manufacturing.
Of the 29 Appalachian counties in Ohio, ten counties are considered economically distressed - a criteria based on 150% of the U.S. employment rate, 150% of the U.S. poverty rate, and 67% or less of per capita income. Four additional counties are on the margin of this definitional standard. In June 2000, seven of these distressed counties recorded unemployment rates exceeding seven percent, with four reporting rates of over ten percent. By comparison, the state's unemployment rate in June was 4.2 percent. Franklin County (greater Columbus), an hour's drive from Appalachian Ohio, posted a 2.8 percent jobless rate. The poverty rates in Ohio's Appalachian counties are equally as compelling. 17.4 percent of Ohio's Appalachian citizens live in poverty, with an average per capita income of just $18,009. Between 1990 and 1998, Appalachian Ohio lost 43,510 residents, mostly youth, to out-migration.
In 1995 approximately 1.4 million people or about 12% of all Ohioans resided in the Appalachian region of the state. Yet less than 2% of the state's foundations assets were held in the region.. As a consequence, Appalachian Ohio has far fewer grant dollars invested in and leveraged for its communities than when compared to the state as a whole. Appalachian Ohio is not among the funding priorities of any of the "Big Ten" charitable givers in the state. It has no "champion" to promote investment of private wealth for public purpose.
Collaborative Structure and Strategy
The goal of the Appalachian Ohio Regional Investment Coalition (AORIC) is to help strengthen Appalachian Ohio's economy by commonly identifying and crafting within certain sectors and communities a shared approach of support and assistance to communities and their development that can build on the region's strengths and its unique market advantage. AORIC partners have been working together on business development, community planning and leadership development strategies, often building capacity in the same communities and around similar issues of economic development; community planning and leadership development; arts and heritage; and grantmaking and networking. Building economic and civic entrepreneurial capacity, AORIC will work to build entrepreneurial capacity in two sectors: value-added field and forest products, and experiential tourism.
Leverage and Impact
Partners have already collaborated on pulling substantial resources into the region. FAO recently raised private funds to match a $1 million challenge grant, is investing grants in entrepreneurship and community development. It helped spur a regional initiative to build the region's rate of charitable giving, the Appalachian Ohio New Ventures in Philanthropy Initiative, a coalition of grantmakers and OSU Extension. COAD has brought over $140 million in public and private funds to the region in the last 30 years. The Ohio Arts Council awards almost $1 million in grants annually in the region to support an array of arts and cultural activities. ACEnet has a non-profit venture fund, ACEnet Ventures, to provide high risk, patient capital to food and technology businesses, leveraging significantly more bank financing longer term. AORIC proposes outcomes resulting in an inclusive community capacity to work on sectoral projects; region wide capacity to work on regional economic infrastructure; expansion of new and existing initiatives to develop community or regional assets that improve quality of life for low-income residents and significantly leverage new or additional resources.
Main Contact
Leslie Lilly
The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
Phone 740-753-1111, FAX 740-753-3333
llilly@ffao.org |
Appalachian Ohio Regional Investment Coalition