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Growing Connected Businesses

The PORTS corridor is generating one of the most significant concentrations of industrial investment Southern Ohio has ever seen. ASCEND is the regional business alliance network that allows every company — from sole proprietors to multinational developers — to compete, grow, and shape what comes next.

THE VALUE PROPOSITION

What ASCEND delivers for your business.

Membership in ASCEND is an investment in the regional platform that creates returns no individual company could generate alone.

Community Benefit Platform

Community Benefit Platform

Large public and private investments increasingly require community benefit commitments. ASCEND gives you a trusted regional platform to deliver those commitments through established partners.

Executive Engagement

Executive Engagement

Industry councils, executive roundtables, and invitation-only strategic convenings put you in rooms with the leaders and decision-makers shaping Southern Ohio's economic future.

Workforce Coordination

Workforce Coordination

Connect directly with ASCEND Academy's employer councils to shape training, forecast labor demand, develop internship pipelines, and access a coordinated regional talent system.

Supplier Network & Business Visibility

Supplier Network & Business Visibility

Get your capabilities in front of the right buyers. Your business profile in the regional supplier directory, recognition in the annual impact report, and access to procurement events where buyers and suppliers connect.

Site Selection & Development

Site Selection & Development

Access regional site data, available land, existing facilities, and development resources. ASCEND works alongside county EDOs and state partners to connect businesses with shovel-ready opportunities across the PORTS corridor.

Regional Intelligence

Regional Intelligence

Quarterly business briefings. Labor market data. Emerging project awareness. Infrastructure planning visibility. Know what's coming before it arrives.

A seat at the table for every business.

ASCEND's membership commitment is designed to be accessible to businesses of all sizes and scales, growing to match each entity's investment and impact of the region's largest stakeholders.

  • Community Business

    350$
    Every year
    Sole proprietors, microbusinesses, small service firms. Stay informed, visible, and connected.
     

  • Business Member

    1,000$
    Every year
    Established small businesses and regional suppliers. Build your PORTS corridor presence.
     

  • Growth Member

    2,500$
    Every year
    Growth firms, contractors, professional services. Move from awareness to opportunity.
     
  • Best Value

    Executive Member

    5,000$
    Every year
    Larger local firms, PORTS-adjacent employers. Executive-level engagement and regional planning access.
     

  • Strategic Partner

    10,000$
    Every year
    Major employers and mid-scale incoming firms. Structured intelligence, stewardship, and co-design.
     

  • Anchor Investor

    25,000$
    Every year
    Banks, utilities, manufacturers, major contractors. Shape business conditions and workforce response.
     

  • Principal Investor

    50,000$
    Every year
    Large employers, prime contractors, major developers. Lead integration of capital and regional strategy.
     

  • Catalytic Investor

    100,000$
    Every year
    Transformational developers, infrastructure investors. Make the regional operating platform possible.
     
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