Kent State gets $225,000 grant to assist rural areas

KENT, Ohio — Kent State University will receive a $225,000 economic development grant from the USDA to assist businesses in rural Ohio communities.

Kent State and 35 other organizations in 26 states and the District of Columbia were selected for grants to help rural cooperatives and small businesses expand, create jobs and strengthen their capacity to serve rural citizens and communities.

Purpose

Kent State’s grant will be used to provide assistance to small communities by transitioning small businesses to worker-owned cooperatives. Kent State’s Ohio Employee Ownership Center, recognized as a Cooperative Development Center by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will administer the grant.

The OEOC, a non-profit outreach center of Kent State, supports the development of business across Ohio and around the world by its proven efforts to save jobs, create wealth and grow the economy.

The other Ohio organizations among the grant recipients are the National Network of Forest Practitioners in Athens and the Ohio State University Research Foundation. The grants are being provided through USDA Rural Development’s Rural Cooperative Development Grant program.