Progress Alliance hires first project manager

Joanna Styczenski will join the Progress Alliance staff in early June as the organization’s first project manager.

Styczenski, a native of Mississippi, will receive her degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing from the Franciscan University of Steubenville on May 9.

She was selected from a pool of more than 50 applicants. Styczenski has been working with the organization since last fall through the Students in Free Enterprise Chapter at Franciscan. She was actively involved in the planning process for the first Best of Jefferson County Awards Dinner.

“We look forward to having Joanna join our staff,” said Ed Looman, executive director of Progress Alliance. “She has the necessary talent to help us continue to move forward. It was obvious during the interview process that she has indeed become Jefferson County Proud since coming here to further her education. We are proud to say we have been able to retain a FUS graduate.”

Valley Weaponry receives help through RLF program

Valley Weaponry, 432 Main St. in Wintersville, is the latest Jefferson County business to receive assistance through the Revolving Loan Fund, administered by the Community Improvement Corporation.

The loan process was finalized late last week during a signing ceremony at the business. Steve Kuruc and Ken Swickard opened the doors at their business several weeks ago. Valley Weaponry sells tactical weapons, ammunition, clothing and supplies to qualified individuals and area law enforcement departments. The company also markets and sells fully-automatic weapons.

“Our revolving loan fund has money available to help local businesses expand, grow or locate in Jefferson County,” said Ruth Casey, the RLF administrator. “We are extremely happy to have played a role in getting this new Wintersville business started.”

Since its inception in the late 1990s, the program has made $757,000 worth of loans.  For more information about the program, contact Casey at (740) 283-2476.

Meeks named to key college post

Laura Meeks, president of the Jefferson Community College, has been named to a key position in the further development of a regional community college system that encompasses Jefferson, Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

She will serve as assistant to the chancellor for the development of community college education in the Eastern Ohio/Mahoning Valley region through the beginning of July. The system has been using the working name of Eastern Gateway Community College. Her appointment was announced this week by Chancellor Eric Fingerhut of the Ohio Board of Regents.

“We are excited to be a formal partner in the development of the community college for this region,” Meeks said. “We are currently working with the career centers in all three counties to share student placement testing, advising and other resources that will enable us to delivery respiratory therapy and other programs in the valley.”

The JCC board of trustees passed a resolution in March of 2008 to become a formal partner in a regional community college plan.

Connecting Appalachia consultants coming to county

Two representatives from Reid Consulting, based in Athens, will be in Jefferson County on April 29 to provide details on Connecting Appalachia, a project designed to bring robust broadband access to all of Ohio’s Appalachian counties.

The informational workshop is being co-sponsored by Progress Alliance and the Jefferson County Regional Planning Commission. The April 29 event will begin at 2 p.m. in Rooms 111 and 113 of Jefferson Community College’s Pugliese Training Center.

Tom Reid, president of the consulting firm, and Kim Gaffney Corriher, field liaison, will address local residents and elected officials on this important new initiative. Connecting Appalachia is the brainchild of U.S. Rep. Zach Space, the Democratic representative for Ohio’s 18^th District.

Connecting Appalachia actually is a combination of four projects:  expanding the Southern Ohio Healthcare Network, constructing wireless broadband towers to provide consumer access in rural Ohio, linking industrial parks directly to the SOHCN and getting funds to purchase telemedicine equipment.

Mucci serving OMEGA as secretary

Steubenville Mayor Domenick Mucci was elected secretary of the OMEGA board during the organization’s annual meeting held last week at the Cambridge Country Club.

More than 100 people attended the meeting and heard a speech from Larry Long, executive director of the Ohio County Commissioners Association. Penny Traina, a commissioner in Columbiana County, is the new OMEGA board president.

Based in Cambridge, OMEGA is a collaborative body of member governments that serves as a facilitator between state and federal government agencies, and local entities to provide opportunities in economic and community development.

State agencies hold celebration in Toronto

In celebration of Clean Ohio Week and Earth Day, the Ohio Department of Development and the Ohio EPA visited Toronto last week to recognize an environmental success story at the former Hancock Manufacturing Co. facility.

“As Ohio suffers the loss of jobs in this difficult economy, it’s wonderful to know there are people in state government working to make things better by putting Ohioans back to work, even in small towns like Toronto,” said Toronto Mayor John Geddis.

Following the recent state-funded installation and successful operation of soil and ground water cleanup equipment, Bulldog Rack Co. started to move in and operate equipment last month on the seven-acre site which has been unoccupied since Hancock shut down in 2003.

Bulldog Rack already has put five people to work at the Toronto site and intends to create at least 20 new jobs in the coming months.

ODOT embarks on historic 2009 season

With $149 million in transportation infrastructure investments planned for eastern Ohio this year, ODOT District 11 recently launched its 2009 construction season, highlighted by more than 90 projects in the seven-county region.

More than $1.9 billion will be spent this year on Ohio’s transportation system, the largest investment in state history, on more than 650 roadway and bridge projects in each region of the state.

“Eastern Ohio’s season will include 252 miles of resurfacing, 43 bridge or culvert replacements, and dozens of other major investments, ranging from new interchange and roadway construction and safety improvements to multi-modal projects along our waterways,” said Richard Bible, deputy director for District 11.

Small business finance seminar coming soon

The Stark Development Board Finance Corporation and the Ohio Small Business Development Center at Kent State University Tuscarawas Campus are once again conducting a series of small business finance seminars.

The 2009 seminar is being called Business Growth Summit:  Financial Programs. It will focus on available programs to assist small businesses in the current economic times. Instead of one annual meeting, the organizations will offer this program in six different locations on six different dates. The purpose of the revised format is to provide additional convenience to their partners.

Jefferson County will host one of the programs on Friday, May 22. It will run from 8-10 a.m. in the Jefferson Community College. For more information, or to make a reservation, contact Deanna Spencer at Kent State Tuscarawas, (330) 308.7522 or via e-mail at dmspence@kent.edu.