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Youngstown State University is receiving $1.5 million and Niles is getting a $402,500 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.
The ARC funding comes through the federal Partnership for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) initiative to help address coal-related job loss in the Appalachian region.
Both Mahoning and Trumbull counties were added to the ARC jurisdiction in 2008 as part of a congressional bill that allows them to qualify for federal economic development funding, job training and money for manufacturing.
The two grants were announced Tuesday by state officials. In all, five projects in Ohio received a total of $6,002,500 from the POWER initiative.
YSU will use the $1.5 million grant to create a connected infrastructure lab at the YSU Excellence Training Center, a regional hub for advanced manufacturing.
The project will develop short-term, hands-on credentialed training in ares to support connected infrastructure deployment and maintenance, asset monitoring and data collection.
The project will serve 165 students with workforce training over a three-year period.
NILES GRANT
The Niles grant of $402,500 is to construct new electrical infrastructure and upgrade distribution capacity. The project will serve seven businesses, construct 1,200 linear feet of new electrical pole lines and attract an estimated $20 million in leveraged private investment over three years, according to the Ohio Department of Development.
The DOD wrote the project will address economic disruptions caused by the closure of the Niles Generating Station coal-fired power plant by modernizing outdated infrastructure and enabling new manufacturing investment with job creation.
The generation station - also called the Ohio Edison Power Plant on Belmont Avenue in Weathersfield, a short distance from Niles - shut down in 2013. The coal-fired plant was built in 1953 and was then operated by FirstEnergy, GenOn and finally NRG.
The plant's 400-foot main smokestack was brought down in May 2021 with two 300-foot smokestacks taken down in March 2022. A month later, the main 12-story brick former coal-fired plant building was demolished.
Gov. Mike DeWine said: "For generations, the hardworking people of Appalachia have helped power both Ohio and the nation as a whole - building strong communities around industries that were essential to our growth. As our economy continues to evolve, we have a responsibility to ensure we're investing in those same communities and the people who call them home."