Vorys Advisors frequently works with both public entities and private businesses to structure, secure, implement and maintain state and local economic development incentives in Ohio. Our practice has a particularly strong focus in the region overlying the Utica and Marcellus shale plays. Lou Gentile, a principal with Vorys Advisors, represented a portion of Ohio’s shale territory when he was a member of the Ohio House and the Ohio Senate. He understands the region’s political, economic and cultural perspectives in ways that can be indispensable to private developers, local governments or institutions of higher education seeking to foster long-term, sustainable economic development initiatives.
Our work in this area includes:
- Private Development Projects. We utilize our relationships and institutional knowledge to help developers assess the availability of public incentives for projects throughout Ohio. We can work to secure government grants, low interest loans and other economic incentives, like new market tax credits. Often, these private developers work with county, municipal, village or township officials. Vorys Advisors has worked closely with local government figures around the state, and can help manage the often-times delicate relationship between private developers and local government. Our team also provides technical assistance in the sometimes cumbersome process of writing and submitting grant proposals.
- Public Development Projects. Vorys Advisors has been instrumental in providing guidance to political subdivisions as they work to create an environment that fosters robust and sustainable economic development. We realize that the long-term economic prosperity of every community will center on the build-out and maintenance of vital infrastructure, including water and wastewater treatment and delivery systems; industrial parks, roads and bridges; and broadband access. We advise local governments on enacting tax-increment financing districts (TIFs), bond financing, and creating joint economic development districts (JEDDs). We have worked with counties, municipalities, villages, townships and educational institutions in establishing creative and effective funding streams for community development projects.