ACEnet News Story Archive

April 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of ACEnet’s Food Venture Center in Athens, Ohio. The facility was one of the first rural, kitchen incubators to open in the U.S. Staff and tenants celebrated the grand opening by breaking a loaf of Crumbs Bakery’s Challah Bread. The planning, site selection and building renovation had been a long time in the making. That lead time allowed us to hit the ground running and the ... Read More

Apply for an Appalachian Wood Craft Scholarship!

Are you a woodworking enthusiast looking to turn your passion into a profession?

Perhaps you’re ready for a career change or a fresh start and would like to develop the skills required to utilize a natural asset of Appalachian Ohio – our native oak, hickory, black walnut, and other trees – to make and sell wood products in a profitable, sustainable way.

Thanks to Rural Action, the Appalachian Center for Economic ... Read More

On March 16th, ACEnet hosted The Road to Reentry: Community Forum – Reentry information for those released between March 17 – Dec 31, 2021: What to expect when your family member gets home.

The Zoom event recording is accessible below, along with additional reentry resources. You’ll learn about the Athens County Reentry Program, ODRC reentry process, reentry processes inside prison, OMHAS (Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services) services and their connections with reentry, hear ... Read More

Ohio All-Counties Relief

Governor DeWine recently announced $429.5M of CARES Act Funding to benefit Ohio Small Businesses, Bars, and Restaurants. Of funding announced, $125M will be allocated toward small business assistance and $37.5M will be allocated for bars and restaurant assistance.

The Ohio Development Services Agency will administer these grant funds.

Each county in Ohio has been allocated funds to award fifty $10,000 grants in the first 3 weeks, and grants will be awarded on a first-come/first-served basis, ... Read More

ACEnet facilities, including the Food Ventures Center in Athens & the Food & Farm Enterprise Center in Nelsonville are and will remain open until further notice. ACEnet staff is available (remotely) for our various business counseling services. Please email your needs to LeslieS@acenetworks.org and you will be connected with a staff member who can assist you. We will continue to update this page with Covid-19 Relief Resources for Small Businesses, Individuals & Nonprofits as they become ... Read More

GROWING GREEN 2020: Investing in Conservation and Local Food Conference

Friday-Sunday, March 13th-15th, Yellow Springs, Ohio

Come to Growing Green 2020 to hear from climate experts and farmers about the impacts of climate change and what can be done to overcome these challenges, regional successes in food systems and Farm-to-School activities, funding and support for farmers to implement conservation practices, and discussions on strengthening our local food system and healing the climate using healthy soil. Hosted by ... Read More

[ATHENS, Ohio] — ACEnet was awarded a $6,000 grant from Farm Aid to assist Appalachia Ohio farmers in accessing the financial resources, processing infrastructure, and marketing skills to diversify their farms into profitable businesses that support sustainable livelihoods. This is ACEnet’s 7th grant from Farm Aid.

This grant will increase ACEnet’s Food Ventures staff’s capacity to provide livestock and specialty crop farmers in Appalachia Ohio the resources and assistance they need to reach new market opportunities. ... Read More

Share your ideas! Join ACEnet, Project for Public Spaces & the Athens Farmers Market for a public workshop to discuss future site plans for the Athens Farmers Market. Thanks to a federal grant from the USDA, the Athens Farmers Market may have a permanent home. The City of Athens and ACEnet seek community input for the development of a ten acre plot of land on the Community Center property.

As part of the grant, a national ... Read More

Check out our new 3-part blog series – Running a Small Business in Southeast Ohio takes Hard Work in our Community Updates section!

Meet the entrepreneurs & hear their stories; blog series kicks off with Glouster’s Gina Gabriel and Congress Run Greenhouse (1/3).

Part 2 of our blog series introduces you to Perry County’s Henry Jochem and Primaterra Farm  (2/3).

The third and final part of our blog series introduces you to Jackson County’s Derrick & Elise Allison ... Read More

Are you looking for affordable office space or warehouse space? ACEnet has some openings in both our Athens & Nelsonville facilities! Check out our Available Rental Space page for more info & virtual tours.