STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — The Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission is spearheading a new initiative to work more closely with local governments on both sides of the river for community revitalization efforts.

The commission has secured a coalition grant worth $1.2 million, with commissioners in Brooke and Jefferson counties named as partners in the fund. This initiative aims to explore economic development ideas.

“As part of that agreement it’s how we select our projects areas that we’re going to access and areas that we want to develop and also to have the Business Development Corporation working as their agent,” said Mike Paprocki, executive director of the BHJ Planning Commission,

The properties under consideration span several locations across the three counties covered by the BHJ.

“We’ve agreed that there will be three sites in Brooke County that, at a minimum, this is what we will assess or plan towards redevelopment and also we will do the same in Hancock County and also in Jefferson County.”