Buckeye Hills Career Center Receives $10.5 Million For Expansion

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(Southeast Ohio) – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) have announced more than $88 million in funding to help nearly a dozen Appalachian school districts improve public health and enhance workforce development in their areas.

Among schools to be awarded funds is the Buckeye Hills Career Center Gallia-Jackson-Vinton Joint Vocational School District in Gallia County. Buckeye Hills Career Center will be receiving $10.5 million for a 17,326 square foot expansion to the existing building that will create a health services center for medical, dental, and behavioral health, expand workforce development including dedicated workforce search space, and add new classroom, dental lab, and computer lab space.

OFCC is awarding the funds as part of the Appalachian Community Innovation Centers Program, which was created in partnership with the Ohio General Assembly. The goal of the program is to create full-service centers for public education, community health services, and career development in Appalachia Ohio. 

“This is part of our continued commitment to Ohio’s traditionally underserved Appalachian communities,” said Governor DeWine. “No matter where you live in Ohio, everyone deserves access to high-quality education and healthcare resources, and these new centers will play an important role in the transformational change we’re beginning to see in this region.” 

Funding will cover expenses related to the construction of four new school-based community wellness, education, and career development centers in Mahoning, Jefferson, Noble, and Brown counties. Seven existing school-district sites will be renovated or expanded to provide services in Belmont, Carroll, Lawrence, Gallia, Perry, Trumbull, and Clermont counties. 

Each center will provide programming and services which could include in-demand job training; Ohio Means Jobs support; classrooms and computer labs; walk-in health and mental health clinics; on-site dental services; and wellness, physical health, and training space.

The new centers will be open to any Ohioan who needs assistance, including those living outside the school districts receiving the awards. 

“This is another way we are investing in innovation, education, workforce, and communities in Appalachia, boosting economic growth for the region so that the people living there can have a better quality of life and brighter future,” said Lt. Governor Jon Husted.

Administered by OFCC with support from the Ohio Office of Budget and Management, the Appalachian Community Innovation Centers Program aligns with Governor DeWine’s Appalachian Community Grant Program, which recently awarded $500 million to support downtown and riverfront revitalization, community health, and economic development in Ohio’s 32 Appalachian counties.