ARC's distressed county program and grant investments in OVRDC's distressed counties have done much to improve the infrastructure and quality of life for many residents in the region, bringing safe drinking water and eliminating ground water pollution. ARC investments in Pike County, for instance, have enabled over fifty miles of water lines to be extended to many rural residents, who had no reliable access to safe drinking water. The story is the same in our other distressed counties, such as Adams and Vinton, where hundreds now receive reliable public water who didn't previously. ARC grant funds more recently have enabled many financially strapped villages to improve or construct new wastewater treatment systems and correct potentially serious ground water contamination problems. We have several villages, such as Centerville in Gallia County and Beaver in Pike County, who with ARC assistance are in the process of building wastewater projects.
Summarizing the overall figures for ARC distressed county grants for the OVRDC region for the last four years (1996-1999) will give some idea of the significant impact that this assistance has had on improving the quality of life of our region's residents. During this period, ARC grants to OVRDC distressed counties amounted to $5,476,992 for water and sewer infrastructure improvements. These ARC grants leveraged over $27,692,000 in other funds to make possible new water and wastewater services for 2622 residents, who did not previously have them.
For instance, a Lucasville sewer extension grant in Scioto County of $200,000 leveraged an additional $375,000 that brought wastewater service to 90 new households. (For a further breakdown of distressed county grants and basic information on five recent projects, please see Table I attached)
The regions economic development problems will be further exasperated by the recent announcement by the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) that they will close the Piketon uranium enrichment plant in June 2001. This proposed closure would terminate approximately 1500 highly skilled jobs. Additional federal assistance will be needed in the near future to help the region plan and adapt to the potential severe economic impact, especially in the distressed counties of Jackson, Pike, and Scioto.
The situation is better in our five other ARC counties, (four transitional and one competitive) due to continued population and economic growth over the last ten years, including new plants and expansions.
Five of OVRDC's fastest growing counties are those counties closest to the growing metropolitan areas of Cincinnati and Columbus and served by limited access highways built in part through ARC assistance. These are Adams, Brown, and Clermont counties served by S.R. 32 from Cincinnati and Pike and Ross counties served by U.S. 23 from Columbus. The availability of limited access highways has provided a very important foundation for their growth. Jackson County, which also has good highway access, has shown significant growth in population and in business expansions.
ARC grant assistance has been critical in providing the necessary infrastructure improvements to support these new industries and expansions in our non-distressed counties. Key expansion projects include: the Wards Corner access road, supporting the location of a new International Paper facility in Clermont County; (600 jobs), the Mount Orab new water tower in Brown County supporting an expansion of the Cincinnati Milacron plant; the new water treatment plant in Chillicothe, supporting the expansion of Kenworth Truck and the Jackson access road that supported an expansion of Merilatt Industries and a new McCarty facility. Recent plant closures in Lawrence County have created a greater need for ARC assistance to develop a major new industrial park in the coming year to help the community recover.
ARC grant funds have supported infrastructure for industrial expansion in some of our distressed counties as well. Recent projects include: the New Boston (Scioto County) rail spur which supported Osco Industries new plant; (100 new jobs), infrastructure to the new Gallia County industrial park, which has so far created 58 new jobs and infrastructure to the Zahns Corner industrial park in Pike County, which has so far created 100 new jobs. Without this crucial ARC grant assistance, most of these projects would probably never have developed because our communities do not have the financial resources to replace these lost grant funds. A summary of all the region's ARC area development grants over the last four years shows that they collectively created over 2,100 new jobs and retained over 1600 jobs, and that they leveraged from 3 to 7 dollars in other funds for these projects. (For a summary of recent area development projects and information on five selected projects, see attached Table II).
Since a well trained labor force is critical for development, improvement of the region's education and training system has been a consistent OVRDC, as well as ARC goal. Over the last ten years, several ARC education/training projects have been approved, which have allowed our colleges and vocational schools to modernize their equipment to provide more state-of-the-art training in electronics, computers, auto mechanics and other areas, such as distance learning.
One of OVRDC's recent significant education projects is the 1996 ARC grant of $146,015 to the U.S. Grant Career Center in Clermont county. This grant assisted in the development of an audio-video interactive conference center and a 25-station computer lab in the school's new wing. The computer lab has been a vital resource for basic skills remediation for students needing to pass the Ohio 9th grade proficiency test, allowing them to progress at their own speed with customized software.
The Keith W. Boys Conference Center has already brought several videoconference training sessions to students, as well as area residents. OVRDC has used the school as a site for several video training conferences sponsored by ARC and the Development District Association of Appalachia (DDAA). On May 19, 2000, OVRDC used the Conference Center as one of four United States sites (three Appalachian Development Districts and ARC Washington) in an international video conference that connected two sites in Northern Ireland. The conference included community and economic development professionals in both countries, who shared background information and insights on development needs and activities. In addition, Clermont County businesses such as Cincinnati Milacron, U.S. Precision Lens and Spirit of America National Bank have used the facility. (For more information on this grant see the attached ARC Project Profile).
An additional resource provided by OVRDC in order to help address the need for more accessible equity capital for small business development in the region is our ARC revolving loan fund. This loan fund was originally established and has been recapitalized by ARC grant funds. During the 14 years that our loan fund has operated, OVRDC has made 24 loans totaling $1,623,089. These loans have enabled local businesses to expand and create 138 total new jobs and retain 859 jobs. One example of a recent loan is a $50,000 loan to Greenfield Products, which enabled them to purchase equipment and expand their operation and thereby add 23 new jobs. (Please see Table III for summary information regarding these 24 loans).
OVRDC also offers several other services that assist in the development of southern Ohio, including: administration of the regions Ohio Public Works Commission infrastructure assistance program, the provision of export assistance to the regions businesses, assistance in developing Economic Development Administration projects, and assistance in planning and securing financing for other priority projects. (For more information on OVRDC and the types of assistance offered, see Attachment II, OVRDC Summary of Services).
Key Needs for the OVRDC Region
Even though ARC investments over the last couple of decades have had a significant impact on the region, the region still lags behind in having the basic infrastructure, developed industrial sites, the community capacity, and the business assistance capacity to compete successfully with the rest of the nation.
In closing, I would like to outline some key needs for which continued Appalachian Regional Commission assistance is needed.
1. ARC assistance and Federal Highway Trust Funds are needed to complete the limited access Appalachian Highway Corridors B and C through southern Ohio (limited access from Columbus to the Ironton area).
2. Funding for industrial park development and infrastructure.
3. Funding for the planning and development of business incubator facilities and services.
4. Assistance in increasing the region's access to equity and venture capital for new business start-ups and expansions.
5. Funding is still needed for poor communities to be able to extend safe and reliable drinking water to many residents.
6. Funds are needed to assist small communities build new wastewater treatment systems or to upgrade seriously inadequate systems.
7. Since many communities do not have the financial resources to even assess their basic infrastructure needs, OVRDC urges that ARC set aside planning funds for grants to distressed counties and communities to undertake such feasibility studies.
8. Assistance and funds are needed to improve the basic electronic infrastructure to the region, as well as improve the region's access to the internet and video conferencing and distance learning.
9. It is recommended that the current 30% set-aside in ARC's budget for distressed counties be increased because of the extent of the need.
OVRDC and I would like to thank you Senator Voinovich and the members of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure for giving us the opportunity to discuss the importance of recent and continued ARC assistance to the southern Ohio area.
TABLE I
OVRDC Region
Overview of ARC Distressed County Projects
1996 - 1999
Combined Statistics for All Projects By Year
Fiscal Year
ARC Funds
Funds Leveraged
Total Project Cost
Estimated No. of New Residents Served
1996
$1,644,749
$8,273,669
$9,918,418
80
1997
$1,193,620
$5,206,710
$6,400,330
410
1998
$1,164,603
$4,610,100
$5,774,703
1286
1999
$1,474,020
$9,602,200
$11,076,220
846
Statistics on Selected Projects
Project Name
No. Served
Linear Feet
ARC Funds
Funds Leveraged
Fiscal Year
Pike Lake Road Waterline
25 households
10,500
$136,000
$34,000
1998
Walls Road Waterline
25 households
10,300
$67,200
$16,800
1997
Lucasville Phase 4 Sewer
90 households
11,000
$200,000
$375,000
1997
West Ports. Phase 7 WWT
290 customers
26,000
$200,000
$1,017,000
1996
County Road 8 Waterline
52 households
25,000
$200,000
$52,150
1997
TABLE II
OVRDC Region
Overview of ARC Area Development Projects
1996 - 1999
Combined Statistics for All Projects By Year
Fiscal Year
Jobs Created
Jobs Retained
Other $ Leveraged/ARC $
Cost/Job
ARC $/Job
1996
1018
904
7
4409
546
1997
25
0
3
28000
8000
1998
905
0
4
4277
839
1999
190
730
3
3645
982
Statistics on Selected Projects
Project Name
Jobs Created
Jobs Retained
ARC Funds
Funds Leveraged
Private Investment
Fiscal Year
Zahn's Corner Ind. Park
100
n/a
$400,000
$1,960,694
1998
Gallia County Ind. Park
58
n/a
$250,000
$1,930,000
1996
New Boston Ind. Park Rail
100
224
$300,000
$199,000
$15,000,000
1996
Wards Corner Access Road
693
367
$250,000
$785,000
$67,500,000
1996
S. R. 93 Alt. Ind. Park
420
n/a
$132,200
$794,320
$975,000
1998
TABLE III
OVRDC Region
Overview of ARC Revolving Loan Fund Projects
1986 - 2000
OVRDC ARC RLF History, Combined Statistics for All Loans
Number of Loans
24
Total RLF Dollars Loaned
$1,623,089.20
Jobs Created
138
Jobs Retained
859
Private Funds Leveraged
$5,143,545.00
RLF Dollars Per Job
$1,627.97
Projects Receiving ARC Loans by Business Status
Types
Number
Percent
Startups
8
24%
Retention
2
10%
Expansions
14
66%
Total
24
100%
Businesses Receiving ARC Loans by Business Type
Types
Number
Percent
Industrial
7
41%
Commercial
8
28%
Service
9
31%
Total
24
100%
ARC PROJECT PROFILE
Grantee: U. S. Grant Career Center, Clermont County
Use of funds: Video Conference Equipment and Computers
ARC Funds = $146,015 (FY 1996)
State of Ohio = $106,491
Applicant = $102,464
Total = $354,970
Grant Career Center's Keith W. Boys Business and Industry Conference Center serves Clermont County as well as Brown and Adams Counties. The purpose of the facility is to bring educational instruction for both high school and adult students and business, industry, and government in the following areas: management, human resources, customer service and sales training, communications, small business and financial planning, entrepreneurship, and employability. This system enables full access to the information highway through an interactive audio, video, and data network in Clermont County and surrounding Western Ohio Appalachian counties.
The Grant Career Center satellite down-linked audio-video conference center and 25 station computer resource lab help in remediation for students needing to pass the 9th grade proficiency test with customized software training. The conference center and computer lab are linked to share information. Educational access opportunities have been maximized with great success for students and business.
Listed below are users/uses (not inclusive) of the video conference center.
Ohio School Net Video Conference
Bethel-Tate High School Employees Computer Training
United Way System Use
HUD Meeting, Congressman Rob Portman
OVRDC Interactive Video Conference with Congressman Rob Portman and ARC Co-chairman Jesse White in Washington D.C. and vocational students from the region
Clermont County Sheriff's Department Staff Computer Training
Clermont County Educational Service Center System Use
U. S. Precision Lens Video Conferences
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Stratton Video Conference and Grant Social Studies Students
Interactive Video Conference with Fernald Plant, Grant, and Anderson High School Students as experiments were done and discussed.
Interactive Video Conference with Newport Aquarium and approx. 75 other schools in Ohio regarding the "Jason Project".
OVRDC Video Conference with Northern Ireland.