Athens County Economic Development Council

🫱🏽‍🫲🏼Partnerships & Community Impact

Check out Dana Vingris, SOPEC's Director of Grants and Development, speaking on a panel about Brightfields and Ohio’s Priority Investment Areas Program at the 2026 Ohio Brownfields Conference! She joined Mollie Fitzgerald, Executive Director of the Athens County Economic Development Council and Matthew Popkin, Panel Moderator and Manager of the Brightfields Accelerator.

Across the United States, over 624 brownfield and other previously disturbed sites have been reused to host renewable energy projects. “Brightfields” (renewable energy projects on brownfields) can breathe new life into otherwise neglected and abandoned sites, reuse existing infrastructure, generate local revenue, and support new jobs.