PIKETON, Ohio — Southern Ohio communities around the U.S. Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Pike County are getting a new, coordinated push to prepare for growth, as Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service and the national planning firm Planning NEXT launch a regional planning initiative funded through a U.S. Department of Energy grant, according to a community announcement reported by the Chillicothe Gazette.
The effort, run through the university’s PORTSfuture Program, will focus on preparing communities for growth through coordinated planning for housing, workforce and infrastructure needs, the Gazette reported. Planning NEXT will lead a community-driven process intended to create a shared vision for long-term growth, identify priority projects and policies, and help local leaders pursue state and federal funding.
"The PORTSfuture Program is rooted in expanding community stakeholder engagement through outreach efforts and partnerships that foster long-term economic vitality," PORTSfuture Director Stephanie Howe said in the announcement reported by the Chillicothe Gazette. "Planning NEXT represents a natural progression of this effort to turn years of community insights into real-world readiness."
Ohio University has worked in the region through PORTSfuture since 2010, supporting community engagement and planning related to the reuse of the Portsmouth Site, the former gaseous diffusion plant near Piketon whose cleanup and redevelopment have shaped the area’s economy for decades. The new initiative is aimed at what comes next: making sure housing, workers and infrastructure are ready if redevelopment and new investment bring growth.
"When this work is done, communities around the Portsmouth Site will have a unified plan with clear priorities — the strongest case a region can make for the assistance it needs," Planning NEXT Principal Jamie Greene said in the announcement. The firm previously led the FRAMEWORK initiative in Licking County following Intel’s semiconductor development, aligning policies among 15 local jurisdictions, according to the announcement.
The Energy Department’s local leadership is backing the approach. "Ohio University has been a trusted partner in this region, and Planning NEXT has a proven track record of helping communities prepare for transformational growth," Portsmouth Paducah Project Office Acting Manager Erik Olds said in the announcement reported by the Gazette. "DOE is proud to support this work to ensure local communities maximize benefits and manage growth effectively."
For residents across Pike County and the surrounding southern Ohio counties, the practical questions are the familiar ones that follow any large site’s second act: where new workers would live, whether local infrastructure can carry new development, and how small communities compete for the state and federal dollars that turn plans into projects. A single regional plan, the partners argue, gives those communities a stronger hand than each town applying alone.
Community engagement opportunities and additional information about the regional planning effort are expected to be announced in the coming months, according to the announcement. That schedule makes the initiative a story to watch into 2027, as the region works out its priority list for housing, workforce and infrastructure around one of Ohio’s largest federal sites.