Upper Sandusky, Ohio, May 6, 2026 — AEP Ohio has announced the Wyandot County Office of Economic Development (WCOED) as one of 18 community economic development organizations across Ohio to receive a Local Economic Advancement Program (LEAP) grant.
In 2026, AEP Ohio is distributing more than $461,000 through the LEAP program to help organizations across its service territory plan their local economies’ futures, prepare local industrial sites for new businesses and support creative ways to introduce their communities to existing and prospective employers.
“These recipients are helping make their communities better places to live and work, and as a proud member of the communities we serve, we’re honored to support the important work of our neighbors,” said Zach Miller, director of economic development for AEP Ohio.
The WCOED applied on behalf of a consortium of four local economic development organizations representing Wyandot, Crawford, Richland, and Ashland Counties.
The $15,000 LEAP grant award will support the creation and implementation of a new Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for the 4-county region in north central Ohio. The CEDS will be facilitated by the Center for Regional Development (CRD) at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), who provided the same region’s previous CEDS completed in 2021.
The purpose of a CEDS is to create an overarching plan to facilitate job creation and diversification of the local economy through the exploration of common opportunities and threats. Possessing a current CEDS is also a prerequisite to access funds available through the U.S. Economic Development Administration. These grant funds can be used to support the goals and strategies identified in the CEDS.
Moreover, the CEDS takes local economic development stakeholders through a throughout planning and idea generation process, taking a deep dive into local and regional assets and identifying a strategy to best utilize those assets over the next 5+ years.
Seventeen other local economic development organizations also will receive a LEAP grant this year:
- Cambridge Guernsey County Community Improvement Corporation
- City of Canton
- Holmes County Economic Development Council
- Jackson County Economic Development Partnership
- Jefferson County Port Authority
- Lancaster Port Authority
- Lawrence Economic Development Corporation
- Ohio Southeast Economic Development
- Regional Growth Partnership
- Team NEO
- Tuscarawas County Economic Development Corporation
- University of Rio Grande
- Wayne County Economic Development Council
- Defiance County Community Improvement Corporation
- Mid-Ohio Development Exchange
- Paulding County Community Improvement Corporation
- Sandusky County Economic Development Corporation
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