(The Center Square) – Nearly $100 million of taxpayer funds is headed toward five areas to promote economic development.
Gov. Mike DeWine recently announced $92 million from the All Ohio Future Fund is expected to be used in Gallia, Guernsey, Muskingum and Pickaway counties for infrastructure improvements to prepare for future development.
“When major corporations are looking to move or expand, they need shovel-ready property,” DeWine said. “We’re proactively preparing these sites with the necessary infrastructure to make Ohio more competitive with other states and more likely to win projects that bring hundreds to thousands of new jobs.”
The bulk of the money, $86 million, heads to the Pickaway County Port Authority in support of the recent announcement of Anduril Industries’ plan to build a manufacturing site near Rickenbacker International Airport.
It’s the largest single job creation and new payroll project in the state’s history and includes a $9 million capital investment and projects 8,500 direct and indirect jobs in the next 10 years. The build-out of the facility is planned to begin immediately after state and local approvals. Manufacturing is expected to start in July 2026.
The state also approved $450 million in tax breaks for the project. DeWine said early Pickaway County had asked for $70 million from the All Ohio Future Fund.
The Pickaway County Port Authority is expected to use the money for utility and roadwork at the site. Also, a public airport taxiway will be built at the airport.
A second 286-acre site, along State Route 762 and a quarter-mile from the intersection with U.S. Route 23, will use $16 million to extend a regional sanitary sewer line with a capacity of 28.5 million gallons per day.
In Guernsey County, $1.48 million is expected to help build a water and wastewater extension and roadwork for a 44-acre site in the Cambridge Industrial Corridor.
The Zanesville Muskingum County Port Authority plans to use $3.7 million for site prep and a sewer extension at the National Road Business Park, and the Gallia County Community Improvement Corporation will receive $1 million for site prep and roadwork for a 77-acre site in Bidwell.
