By 1808Delaware
As Central Ohio continues to add people, jobs, and pressure on infrastructure, local governments are increasingly being asked to do more with limited staff and funding. This month, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission is rolling out a new service designed to help communities navigate that challenge.
The Local Economic Assistance Program, known as LEAP, is a direct technical assistance offering aimed at helping local governments, including those in the 1808Delaware coverage area, move economic development projects from ideas to funded reality. The focus is practical: identifying the right resources, positioning projects competitively, and improving the odds of securing state and federal dollars.
What LEAP Is Designed to Do
LEAP is not a one-size-fits-all program. Instead, it offers hands-on support tailored to the needs of individual communities while keeping projects aligned with regional priorities. MORPC’s Economic Development office will work directly with participating local governments on project development, grant strategy, application support, and advocacy.
According to Padmini Roy-Dixon, MORPC’s Economic Development Director and Regional Innovation Officer, the goal is to help communities strengthen their economic foundations in ways that translate into real-world outcomes. Economic development matters, she noted, because it drives job creation, strengthens tax bases that support public services, improves infrastructure, and raises overall quality of life. LEAP is intended to give communities the expertise needed to compete in a crowded funding environment.
Focus Areas That Reflect Real Needs
The program concentrates on five areas where many local governments face persistent challenges:
- Economic development initiatives
- Infrastructure projects
- Water resources
- Brownfield redevelopment
- Disaster relief efforts
These categories reflect both long-term growth pressures and short-term vulnerabilities that communities across Central Ohio are already confronting.
LEAP is also structured around three service tiers, allowing communities to request help based on the scope and complexity of a project. A small request might only need an hour of guidance. A major grant application could involve deeper, ongoing support.
Base Tier: Getting Oriented
Base Tier services are provided at no cost to MORPC member communities, up to one hour per request. This level is meant to help local governments get their bearings and make early strategic decisions.
Services include guidance on funding opportunities, introductions to key regional partners, facilitated conversations with state and federal agencies, letters confirming alignment with regional economic strategies, and advocacy for Competitive Advantage Projects. Communities also receive information through MORPC’s Drive Investment Newsletter to stay current on development priorities and resources.
Advanced Tier: Preparing to Compete
Advanced Tier services step in when a community is preparing to pursue a specific funding opportunity. This includes help breaking down Notices of Funding Opportunity, determining eligibility, facilitating stakeholder meetings, and planning grant strategies.
MORPC can also assist with gathering letters of support and help communities navigate SAM.gov, including obtaining a Unique Entity Identifier required for federal grant applications. This tier is particularly useful for communities with limited grant-writing experience or staff capacity.
Premium Tier: From Draft to Submission
The Premium Tier offers the most intensive support. At this level, MORPC helps structure a compliant and competitive project scope, provides templates for grant narratives and budgets, reviews applications with detailed feedback, and can even submit applications on a community’s behalf through federal grant portals. This tier is designed for high-stakes projects where the cost of a weak application could mean missing out on substantial funding.
What LEAP Is Not
MORPC is clear about the program’s boundaries. LEAP does not replace legal counsel, engineers, or other professional consultants. Instead, it fills a different gap: helping communities frame projects correctly, align them with funding priorities, and present them clearly and competitively.
Who Can Participate
LEAP is available to local governments and eligible organizations across MORPC’s 15-county region. Communities can request services at one or multiple tiers, depending on their needs and the stage of their project. For communities feeling stretched by growth pressures, infrastructure demands, or the complexity of grant funding, LEAP offers something many local governments lack: experienced guidance without having to build that capacity from scratch.
More information, including how to request services, is available through MORPC’s Local Economic Assistance Program pages and the LEAP request portal.
