Ohio Expands Eligibility Footprint for Rural Industrial Park Loan Program

The state of Ohio, through adoption of the biennial budget, approved new language to expand the eligibility criteria, along with renewed funding, for one of Ohio Development Services Agency’s highly subscribed industrial development programs. The Rural Industrial Park Loan Program (RIPL) promotes economic development across rural areas in the state. The program provides low-interest loans to assist with financing the development and improvement of industrial parks and related off-site public infrastructure improvements and has been an extremely attractive tool in encouraging industrial development in rural communities.  The current state operating budget enacted recently expands eligibility for loans from the RIPL to include projects that are located in any rural area, meaning any Ohio county that is not designated as part of a Metropolitan Statistical Area by the U.S. Office of Budget and Management, in addition to those located in distressed, labor surplus, or situational distress areas under continuing law.  Under the expanded definition of “rural,” 48 Ohio counties are now eligible for the RIPL program. The bill provides $15,000,000 in each fiscal year for this purpose.

A Program Guidelines Summary for the Rural Industrial Park Loan Program includes:  The Rural Industrial Park Loan Program (“RIPL”) promotes economic development in eligible rural areas and promotes the economic welfare of the State by providing low-interest direct loans to assist eligible applicants in financing the development and improvement of industrial parks and related off-site public infrastructure improvements.

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