We help people start, grow and locate businesses in Belmont County, Ohio, and we help our towns plan what comes next. The Community Improvement Corporation of Belmont County is a non-profit that has worked on economic development here since 1962.

Call 740-695-9678 Email Crystal Lorimor

How can we help you?

  • I want to start or grow a business

    Tell us your idea or what is holding your business back. We will visit you, connect you with the Small Business Development Center and other partners, and help you find space.

  • I am looking for a site or building

    Properties, utilities, zoning contacts and workforce facts for anyone choosing a location in Belmont County.

  • I care about my town

    We work with villages on Vision Plans, brownfield cleanup and youth programs through Create Our Future.

What we did in 2025

  • 108 businesses and entrepreneurs given technical help over a three-year grant with ECDI, ended September 2025
  • $89,000+ in planning, engineering and brownfield services brought to our communities and businesses in 2025
  • $1 million in brownfield cleanup on two Land Bank projects we assisted
  • Only one in Ohio to receive the 2025 US EPA Rural Economy for Rural Communities grant, for Barnesville and Powhatan Point

Read the 2025 Annual Report (PDF)

The Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) of Belmont County, Ohio, is a non-profit corporation that has been dedicated to economic development since 1962.

Today, we focus on helping communities plan and re-imagine their towns while helping re-build the small business and entrepreneur ecosystem that is the backbone of our county.

Our mission:  to create, advance, encourage, and promote industrial, economic, commercial, research, workforce capacity, and civic development.

Belmont County, Ohio:

  • is the center of eastern Ohio, sharing development in the Upper Ohio River Valley with Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
  • has I-70 running through the county east and west while our neighbors to each side have I-77 and I-79 running north and south to major markets including Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., Indianapolis, St. Louis, Atlanta, Charleston, Cleveland, Detroit and Buffalo – all within a 500 mile drive.
  • has a rich history of small businesses and entrepreneurs, with several of our businesses being over 90 years old.

 

A video about the CIC

Bellaire Community Survey

Partners

  • Captina Conservancy
  • First Microloan of West Virginia
  • Ohio Small Business Development Centers
  • TechGrowth Ohio
  • Ohio University Eastern
  • Youngstown Business Incubator
  • Ohio APEX Accelerator, Ohio University
  • Ohio University Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service
  • Ohio Hills Health Centers
  • Economic and Community Development Institute

Sponsors

  • EQT
  • PNC Bank

Questions people ask us

Read the answers, or call and ask. We will point you to the right place.

Slider photos: Belmont County Courthouse by Thomas from Philadelphia Area, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0. Shaeffer-Campbell Covered Bridge by Bwsmith84, CC BY 3.0. Both via Wikimedia Commons.