Dale Hileman Legacy Fund announces 2024 grant recipients

Funding awarded to projects investing in eastern Ohio students, promoting economic development and growth

NELSONVILLE, Ohio – The Dale Hileman Legacy Fund at the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO) has awarded three grants, totaling more than $2,500, to support projects that are investing in eastern Ohio students while promoting economic development and growth.

“We are honored to award this funding as a continuation of Dale’s unwavering commitment to eastern Ohio,” said Jim Schoch, executive director of the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance. “Each of these grants is an investment not only in the young people of our region but also in the skilled workforce needed by our communities’ employers.”

The 2024 Dale Hileman Legacy Fund grant recipients are:

• The Columbiana County Educational Service Center received funding to support a Summer Manufacturing Camp, held in collaboration with the Columbiana County Business Advisory Council and 11 local school districts. During the five-day camp, middle school students will engage in hands-on curriculum on robotics and code development and tour local manufacturers to see the skills they are learning in action. The grant is funding supplies for the camp and robotics kits for students to take home and continue their learning.
• The Dennison Railroad Depot Museum in Tuscarawas County received funding to support a partnership with Claymont High School that provides summer jobs to low-income students interested in history as well as other entrepreneurial areas such as cooking, marketing, business and event planning. The program provides students an opportunity to earn a paycheck while gaining work experience and exploring potential future careers. The grant is helping with the purchase of computer stations for the students.
• Nelsonville-York High School in Athens County received funding to purchase a new oscillating spindle sander for its woodshop. The woodshop educates students on becoming young entrepreneurs, providing them a specialized skillset and empowering them to establish working relationships with local businesses in the production of their goods.

The Dale Hileman Legacy Fund, created with support from the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance (EODA), supports a cause that was close to Hileman’s heart – economic development and growth – and organizations within EODA’s service area. The service area covers Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Jefferson, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Tuscarawas and Washington counties.

A native of Columbiana County, Hileman’s legacy includes a lifetime of service to eastern Ohio. He worked for Columbia Gas of Ohio for 40 years, serving Carrollton, Jackson and Cambridge in Appalachian Ohio, and helped establish EODA to promote economic development and growth in eastern Ohio. In retirement, he remained committed to improving quality of life in the region and to promoting his community of Cambridge in Guernsey County, where he shared his final years with his wife, Evelyn.

This year’s grant recipients were celebrated at EODA’s Annual Meeting on April 26 at the Carlisle Village Inn in Walnut Creek.

For more information about the Dale Hileman Legacy Fund, FAO and how you can support or create opportunities throughout the region, visit www.AppalachianOhio.org, email info@ffao.org or call 740.753.1111.