Columbia Gas announces jobs growth fund

The Columbia Gas of Ohio Jobs Growth Fund Program represents a $1.55 million grant program, the company announced recently.

The funds provide financial assistance to new and existing companies that create new jobs within COH’s service territory.  The grant awards will range from $50,000 to $250,000. COH will fund two to four industry and regionally diverse projects per year. The funds will be awarded through April of 2012.

Examples of the types of operation that will be considered for funding include back office, distribution, agriculture and manufacturing. Retail will not be considered.  The grants are designed to assist small businesses, which are defined as having less than 50 employees.  Projects must create at least 10 new jobs and wages must be greater than or equal to 175 percent of the federal minimum wage. Businesses must be in existence for three years.

For more information, contact Darnita Bradley at Columbia, (614) 460-4615 or Donna Hrezo at Progress Alliance, (740) 283-2476.

Breakfast series is coming in September

The first Be Jefferson County Proud Breakfast Series officially will begin in September.

Sponsored primarily by Progress Alliance, the series will run through May on the second Wednesday of each month. The start time is 8 a.m. and the programs will be held at Bella Hall, part of the EM-Media Center on Sunset Boulevard in Steubenville.

“The purpose of this series is quite simple—we want to showcase county businesses and industries that are growing, developing new products and making products,” said Ed Looman, executive director of Progress Alliance. “From top to bottom, we have loads of unique stories to tell. Our series is designed to present these stories.”

Looman noted additional information will be made available once all speaking slots have been filled.

Other sponsors of this series include:  the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, The Herald Star, WTOV-9, Priority Communications (106.3 The River and WEIR) and Key Radio Marketing (Froggy 103).

All systems are go for Bridge Invitational

Friday is the deadline for entering the fourth annual Bridge Invitational Golf Classic. The event is scheduled for Aug. 6 at the Steubenville Country Club.

The 2010 event is being billed as the Jefferson County Corporate Challenge.  The corporate team with the lowest score in the four-person scramble will win the opportunity to proudly display the brand new Bridge Invitational traveling trophy.

Sponsors for the Progress Alliance outing include:  Apex Environmental Services, New Horizons, the Steubenville Electrical LMCC, Sodexo, DPS Penn, The Herald Star, Choice Brands, Wildfire Motors, The Laurels of Steubenville, H&H Artworks, Tri-State Financial Services and Wal-Mart Distribution Center 7017.

The cost to enter a four-person team is $600. Several tee/green sponsorship opportunities remain available.  The event starts with registration at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start to follow at 10 a.m.

Wildfire Motors is donating “his and her’s” scooters as a special prize for anyone recording a hole in one on the second hole at the country club.

For more information, contact Ed Looman at (740) 283-2476 or via e-mail at elooman@progressalliance.com.

Corridor committee will meet in Coshocton

The Columbus-Pittsburgh Corridor Steering Committee will meet Friday in Coshocton.

The group, working through representatives along a seven-county corridor stretching from Franklin to Jefferson counties, is seeking completion of a four-lane direct link between the two cities.

A feasibility study on a 28-mile section through Harrison County is to be released this fall.

The group will meet at the Central Ohio Technical College in the historic Roscoe Village section of Coshocton. Friday’s meeting starts at 10 a.m.

Ed Looman, executive director of Progress Alliance, serves as co-chairman of the highway committee. Local Realtor Anthony Guida is the other Jefferson County representative.

Tribute night is planned at the Fort

Tonight is Tribute Night at the Historic Fort Steuben in downtown Steubenville.

Aftermath, a band specializing in songs and bands from the 1960s, will be the featured performer.  From the Byrds to the Beatles, Hollies, Rolling Stones and Turtles, Aftermath brings to life the music of the 1960s.

The concert will begin at 7 p.m.

Celtic Night is planned for Thursday, Aug. 5.

Stimulus projects creating jobs in Ohio

During the same month that President Obama visited Ohio to mark the start of the nation’s 10,000^th road project paid for by the Recovery Act, more than 8,000 construction workers had jobs on Ohio’s stimulus-funded transportation projects in June, according to preliminary figures collected by the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Monthly reports from Ohio’s contractors show that 8,335 workers were paid with stimulus funds last month - mostly working on highway, bridge and pedestrian/bicycle construction projects across the state. That’s a 19 percent increase from the month before, when contractors reported nearly 7,000 jobs in May.

Those same June reports also show that construction workers clocked in 332,448 hours on the job and earned nearly $10.5 million in paychecks in a single month.

These new job figures add to the thousands of jobs already created and retained by Ohio’s transportation stimulus investments. Since the start of the Recovery Act, Ohio workers on stimulus-funded transportation projects have earned more than $52 million, clocking in 1.9 million hours on the job.

From June through September, ODOT anticipates more than $40 million in paychecks will be earned by these laborers and workers, as the summer construction season intensifies on these stimulus-funded projects across the state.