photo by: Eric Ayres

Jodi Adams, executive director of Grow Ohio Valley, poses in The Public Market, which GrowOV operates on Main Street in downtown Wheeling. Despite cuts to federal funding that impact the nonprofit’s workforce, GrowOV will be forced to make some changes to its production operations, but it is expected to continue to thrive and grow in the community.

WHEELING — Grow Ohio Valley will undoubtedly be seeing some changes in the future, but the organization’s strong roots in the community are expected to help the nonprofit navigate through recent challenges in the wake of sweeping cuts in federal funding.

The Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency in recent weeks has targeted grants and programs that have clouded the future for GrowOV in many ways. The immediate and long-term impacts of the cuts have left GrowOV somewhat in a state of flux, as the nationwide termination of the AmeriCorps program will significantly impact a portion of the local agency’s workforce.

Word of the cuts came quickly, and they were announced not only at a time when GrowOV is moving head-first into growing season but also came at a time when the organization was undergoing a transition in leadership.

Previous GrowOV Executive Director Jason Koegler this past week stepped down from the position to take a new position at Bethany College.

Former GrowOV Chief Operating Officer Jodi Adams was named the new executive director and took over the position Thursday – right when concern about the impact of the cuts was rippling through the community.

“We’re going to have to change the way that we operate – scale back in the coming years,” Adams said on Friday. “This might force us to evolve a bit, but that’s OK. You have to change.”

Adams explained that Americorps members have played a huge role in GrowOV’s operations.

“They are the majority of our workforce on the farms,” she said. “So that is going to have a big negative impact on farm production. We produce about 7,300 pounds of produce a year that we either sell at the market, include in CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares, sell to Ohio County Schools or to local restaurants – and maybe some others wholesale.”

GrowOV has operated urban farm locations and greenhouses in the Wheeling area and has grown its programs centered around locally owned and sourced food systems over the past decade. For its growing operations on the farm, GrowOV has two individuals who are employees, and everyone else has been AmeriCorps workers paid through the federal funding stream that has been terminated.

Adams said they are working with community members to pull funding together to keep farming and related operations running as normally as possible into the next month or two. But long-term goals may likely change.

“What we are doing is trying to pull some funds together for them to stay on even temporarily, so at least they can have a bit of a runway, because this was abrupt,” Adams said.

Grow OV had already held back on recruiting AmeriCorps workers when other federal programs began falling onto the chopping block. The Patrick Leahy Farm to School grant program was also terminated, which impacted education initiatives that GrowOV had envisioned in the future. A USDA grant that focuses mainly on farming has been “frozen” for more than 90 days now, Adams noted, so GrowOV was already bracing for turbulence and potential changes.

“I really didn’t think this would happen to AmeriCorps, though,” Adams noted, stating that the reason given by DOGE for slamming the brakes on grants was “lack of alignment with federal goals.”

One AmeriCorps worker had been dedicated to GrowOV’s Backyard Gardeners program, which helps about 35 people build or maintain garden spaces in their own backyards.

“It’s such a support to the community,” she said. “And it’s just gone. It doesn’t make any financial sense because the return on investment is so much greater that you can ever imagine or that you’re ever going to get from your typical employee. I’m not sure where the ‘lack of alignment’ comes from.”

As of Friday, two of five AmeriCorps workers were still on board as GrowOV officials and supporters have continued to try to piece together a plan to get through the coming months in terms of production at the greenhouses and on the farms. Adams said GrowOV has a production plan for the year, and they’re trying to stay in line with many of their goals.

“Here we are at the beginning of May,” she said. “Things are planted. It’s growing season. The plan is underway. Do we just let those plants die off? Or do we figure out how to patch some things together for May?”

While the farming and educational outreach aspects of GrowOV may need to be reimagined with these challenges, other operations and plans for the future are not expected to be impacted – at least not directly impacted – by the recent cuts.

The Public Market sits on the lower level of the Intermodal Transportation Center on Main Street in downtown Wheeling. It offers local food, and its selection of produce coming from GrowOV farms sites may be impacted.

“Other than that, the Public Market doesn’t have any AmeriCorps workforce, and the Public Market is almost self-sustaining with their sales,” Adams explained, noting that kitchen manager James Walter has “a following” of local customers who look forward to his many culinary creations.

GrowOV currently pays only $150 a month in rent to the city, and that lease is currently set for renewal. They share the lower level space with the Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau, and GrowOV has invested a significant amount of money into the space to operate the kitchen.

The Public Market is an asset to the city offering “good, healthy food that people love,” and everyone is welcome there, Adams noted.

Another venture of GrowOV that is not expected to be directly impacted by the cuts is the Food Hub that is designed to be a core part of the multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan for the historic 1400 Block Revitalization on Market Street.

“None of the federal changes and DOGE cuts impact any of our funding sources,” said Jim Abrose, president of Tipping Point, which has helped quarterback the 1400 Block Revitalization project. “We have several strategic partnerships that we are working with in addition to GrowOV that we hope to announce in the coming weeks. The goal is to have all of the partner organizations share resources and have the street level commercial spaces function like an ecosystem to ensure that no organization is over-taxed with resources to deliver transformative economic development.

“These relationships have taken some time to develop, and we are going to be finalizing these agreements as a part of financial closing.”

The Ohio Valley Food and Innovation Hub is expected to represent a $15 million investment in downtown Wheeling, and GrowOV is expected to be at the heart of it.

“Tipping Point has been so supportive,” Adams said. “They are truly dedicated to Wheeling, and they’ve doubled down on support for us. They’ve been great. We owe a lot to them.”

Adams is no stranger to challenges at GrowOV. She came on board as market manager at Public Market in January of 2020 – right before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.

“COVID hit, and we were greatly impacted,” she said. “But we pivoted quickly. We focused on SNAP, curbside delivery and shopping with customers one-on-one when they were outside the store.”

That ability to pivot has proven GrowOV’s resilience and its ability to adapt to change when needed.

“For Grow Ohio Valley, we’re not going to have as much farm production on our sites and be able to do as much as we wanted to do in the Food Hub,” Adams said. “It just might look a little different. In a way, it’s kind of going back to our roots a little bit.”

Adams said they will have to examine their leadership and farm teams moving forward.

“Those teams will need to scale down a little bit and look a little bit different,” Adams said. “I think it’s going to be a great time to examine production on the farms while being really excited about the Public Market. They had their best quarter since opening in quarter one. That’s huge, and the Streetscape looks beautiful.”

Those at GrowOV are currently looking forward to their big annual plant sale next weekend – on the Saturday before Mother’s Day, Adams noted, adding that with continued support, they will face all challenges that lie ahead.

“We do have very deep roots in the community,” she said.