COLUMBUS, Ohio — In October 2024, Governor Mike DeWine announced eight projects across Ohio, including Adena Local School District’s “Adena Works: Empowering Tomorrow’s Makers,” which was awarded $40,000 by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).
The Adena Works project will bring together a coalition of stakeholders to address “STEM workforce development and training needs of at-risk populations, including underserved, unemployed, substance-use-disorder–impacted, veterans, nontraditional, youth, and homeless populations.” Through this initiative, Adena will create a needs assessment to “identify local skill gaps, business needs, and workforce and training needs,” develop a sustainability plan to explore “cost efficiencies, leveraging resources, and training demands for a skilled labor workforce,” and establish a strategic plan for future workforce training and a manufacturing lab.
The ARC grant program, as summarized by the Ohio Department of Development, is designed to help communities “build on local resources to strengthen the workforce, support economic growth, and provide more opportunities for all residents.”
For detailed questions about the Adena Works project, community members should contact the Adena Local School District directly, while general questions about the grant program can be directed to Mason Waldvogel, deputy chief of Media Relations for the Department of Development, at [email protected].