ATHENS, Ohio — Adam Kody,operations director at ACEnet, a locally-run economic development organization, is set to become the organization’s new executive director Sept. 1.
The Ohio University alumnus who first joined the entrepreneur support network in 2016, 36-year-old Kody will succeed longtime leader Larry Fisher after 24 years at the helm.
ACEnet, established in 1985, provides workforce development resources and peer-to-peer assistance for scores of local entrepreneurs and small businesses in the region, connecting them to partners throughout Appalachia.
“I don’t know if ACEnet would’ve existed for the last 40 plus years if it wasn’t in a place like Athens,” Kody, who began his tenure there by aiding local food vendors, told the Independent. “Athens is this amazing community that really embraces local businesses.”
Across five buildings on two campuses, in Athens and Nelsonville, ACEnet simultaneously supports 80 to 100 entrepreneurs, and the majority are food-related businesses, said Kody. Program director Leslie Schaller noted that ACEnet also works on regional projects in northeastern Ohio and in nearby states. Kody told the Independent that ACEnet collaborates with nonprofit partners — like Grow Ohio Valley in Wheeling, West Virginia and Appalachian Sustainable Development in rural Virginia — to assist in peer learning.
“I think it’s really exciting to see this next generation of leadership emerge at ACEnet,” Schaller said, describing Kody as a “servant leader” deeply committed to the area. “I think what we’ve seen in the last 41 years is this opportunity for ACEnet to always attract new leaders within the region.”
Schaller, an ACEnet veteran who has been involved with the group since its inception, is bullish on Appalachia, praising the region as an innovative business hub that persists despite the challenges. This is a region worth the investments, she argues.
“There’s incredible resilience against many odds within our rural communities,” Schaller said. “We just need to tell our story better.”
Still, Kody described interlocking barriers faced by regional startups and local business owners navigating both a lack of available resources and challenges determining what resources are accessible.
“We’re working with a lot of rural entrepreneurs who face limited access to capital. I think infrastructure continues to be a barrier,” he said, adding that identifying workers is also a challenge. But resources do exist in the region, and ACEnet works to steer entrepreneurs towards a diverse system of local support. Some challenges, Kody said, can be solved by collaboration between businesses.
“Our role is as a connector. We can’t solve all of those problems, but what we can do is help entrepreneurs navigate them. I think that’s our greatest strength,” he said.
