Athens, Ohio, is a rural college town with a robust history of collaboration and a strong foundation of asset-based development, located in one of Ohio’s poorest counties in the economically distressed region of Southeast Ohio. Rural Action and the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet) have led efforts to create an entrepreneurial approach to economic development in the region for three decades. Rural Action focuses on developing assets in diverse economic sectors in Appalachian Ohio, putting equal emphasis on people, planet, and profit. ACEnet supports worker ownership, builds networks, and connects entrepreneurs to each other and new markets through sector value chains. The entrepreneurial ecosystem evolved around ACEnet’s Food Ventures Center, which opened in Athens in 1996 to support local food entrepreneurs. In the mid-2000s, the Regional Flavor movement helped local businesses expand to serve rural and urban markets across Southeast Ohio through branded tourism strategies such as Brewed on the Bikeway, the 30 Mile Meal, and Ohio’s Winding Road. Rural Action helped agri-entrepreneurs tap new markets through its social enterprise, the Chesterhill Produce Auction. With new partners in the public and private sectors, the ecosystem has evolved into a multidimensional system serving a wide range of entrepreneurs and communities across a multicounty area. The partnership between Rural Action and ACEnet has grown to include food access work, through the Appalachian Accessible Food Network, and support of tourism and outdoor recreation entrepreneurs. At the region’s core is a strong culture of peer networks and a deep commitment to community-driven, asset-based development.

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