Holmes County touts growth, development opportunities at regional meeting

Holmes County official Mark Leininger used the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance's annual meeting at Carlisle Inn in Walnut Creek to make a familiar case: Holmes County's economy is still expanding, and the county is trying to turn that momentum into projects residents can see. The 16-county regional group brought together leaders from across Appalachian Ohio for networking, a Taste of Holmes County and an Amish-style luncheon, giving county officials a chance to pitch the area to partners and potential investors.

The pitch rests on a hard-to-ignore economic base. A January 2024 Statehouse News Bureau report said about half of Holmes County's residents are Amish, and many are small-business owners or work in manufacturing. That matters in a county where manufacturing made up 36.6% of annual employment in 2019, far ahead of retail trade at 12.0% and construction at 11.1%, according to an Ohio Economic Profile. Holmes County Economic Development Council, formed in 2004, has long framed that mix of family-owned firms, manufacturing and Plain-community entrepreneurship as the backbone of local growth.

The question now is how much of that pitch will translate into concrete changes in the next year or two. The county's comprehensive plan, first presented to commissioners in February 2023, was tied to an Appalachian Community Grant application at a moment when Ohio's new grant program was opening up $500 million in ARPA money under House Bill 377. The first round awarded $50 million for four major projects across more than a dozen Appalachian Ohio counties, making the competition fierce and the stakes high for counties trying to secure infrastructure and development dollars.

On the ground, there are some signs of movement. Walnut Creek Foods was planning a 12,700-square-foot distribution-center addition and nine new full-time jobs in 2023, and other Holmes County companies have landed enterprise-zone tax deals for expansions and hiring. But the county's broader growth story still has to contend with the capacity behind it: U.S. Census Bureau estimates put the population at 44,668 in July 2024 and 44,970 in July 2025, up from 44,223 in the 2020 Census, while the county had 14,563 housing units, a 79.0% owner-occupied rate and a median gross rent of $816. That mix points to a county with steady demand, tight housing and a workforce that will have to keep pace if Holmes County wants to turn economic optimism into visible progress.