Welcome to Regional Flavor!

A new kind of economy is emerging in Appalachia, Ohio based on our creative industries, product innovation and a sense of place. What is ACEnet’s role in developing Regional Flavor initiatives? How does an area populated by locally-operated businesses build a sense that it is a distinct and dynamic region? We hope share with your the story of Appalachia Ohio’s pathways to a Regional Flavor collaborative on the Appalachia Ohio -- Regional Flavor blog.

A number of years ago, several organizations—ACEnet, Rural Action, the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, the Ohio Arts Council, the Ohio University Voinovich Center, and People for Adams County Tomorrow formed the Appalachian Ohio Regional Investment Coalition (AORIC) to explore this shift from local entrepreneurship to a dynamic regional economy.

June Holley, founder of ACEnet explains “we designed a strategy called Regional Flavor. The idea was to link food entrepreneurs with artisans and entrepreneurs in tourism-related businesses through a meta-cluster, with the hope that they would—through dozens of collaborative projects—develop a distinctive and attractive sense of the region. AORIC saw Regional Flavor emerging from the area’s natural and heritage assets: the beautiful parks and recreational amenities, the many musical venues, the rich history related to the Underground Railroad and the coal fields, and the work of skilled artisans using local woods.”

ACEnet pioneered Regional Flavor by working with local food and farm entrepreneurs to add value to the region’s agricultural assets and provide the markets and infrastructure necessary for these types of business to grow. The three keys to successful Regional Flavor initiatives includes: weaving networks, encouraging innovation, and involving many groups in collaborative efforts. As the success of the Food Ventures network grew---rebuilding a more prosperous and democratic local food system---other clusters of entrepreneurs and resource collaborators emerged to expand economic opportunities in the artisan, wood, hospitality and tourism sectors.