Downtown Development Grants

Strategic Grants That Strengthen Barberton

Barberton Community Foundation operates several strategic grants designed to strengthen the city’s long-term economic vitality.

These grant priorities include:

Supporting downtown revitalization
Investing in Barberton residents and workforce development
Encouraging strategic development projects
Building partnerships that attract new investment to the community

Each of the following grants are an outgrowth of that work, and have been built through collaboration with local partners and regional organizations.

Downtown Revitalization

Barberton Is Back: This grant supports the ongoing revitalization of Barberton’s downtown by helping building owners and entrepreneurs invest in new businesses and building improvements. It encompasses two different funding mechanisms.

Growing Downtown Barberton

Coordinated by Main Street Barberton in partnership with Barberton Community Foundation, the City of Barberton, and Barberton Community Development Corporation.

It encourages reinvestment in historic downtown properties and works to attract new retail, restaurant, and entertainment options by providing additional funds for building owners or tenants who are investing in properties within Main Street Barberton’s downtown footprint. Funding can support projects such as:

Structural building repairs
Façade restoration
Energy efficiency upgrades
Safety improvements
Interior renovations that enable new business uses

The first granting cycle for the program was in 2025, with seven distinct projects receiving a total of more than $350,000. Many of these projects are already open or under construction, contributing to a growing sense of energy and investment in Barberton’s downtown.

Downtown Building Rehabilitation

Funded by Barberton Community Foundation and administered by the Barberton Community Development Corp.

Provides a single matching grant of up to $125,000 to address deferred maintenance and promote the reuse of commercial or mixed-use properties within the Main Street Barberton service area. Priority is given to projects that restore historically significant buildings, align with Barberton’s evolving master plan and leverage additional investment such as state or federal tax credits.

The initial grant under this funding mechanism was planned for the 2026 granting cycle.

Workforce Development

The DEPOT Workforce Training Campus: One of the Foundation’s most ambitious initiatives is the development of The DEPOT, a proposed workforce training campus designed to connect Barberton residents with high-demand career pathways.

The DEPOT site consists of roughly nine acres of land near downtown Barberton and directly across from BWXT, the city’s largest employer and a major supplier to the national defense industry. The site will be developed in phases to create a national destination for advanced workforce training.

Phase One is the new construction of a 60,000 square-foot National Defense Workforce Training Center that will support BWXT workforce needs while providing Department of Defense–certified training programs for the broader defense manufacturing sector.

Workers from across the country could travel to Barberton to receive specialized training tied to national initiatives such as the Build Submarines workforce program and the expansion of the U.S. maritime industrial base.

Future Phases are expected to include some or all of the following:

Repurposing or replacing an existing 127,000-square-foot building for additional workforce training programs in adjacent sectors such as polymer manufacturing or advanced industrial technologies.
A hotel facility to support enrollees for training programs and other visitors.
An early learning campus that would provide childcare and preschool for children of employees and those participating in training programs.

DEPOT represents potential investment of $50–60 million, positioning Barberton as a regional center for workforce training and career development.

In 2022, the Foundation acquired the property as part of a public-private partnership with the City of Barberton to support long-term economic development. The following year, the Ohio Department of Transportation awarded a $350,000 grant for transportation improvements related to the site. The parcel is now under contract for the construction of 130-140 single-family homes to ease the growing shortage of quality housing in Barberton and across Summit County.

The project continues to evolve through collaboration between the Foundation, the City of Barberton and regional economic development partners.

Community Investment

Program-Related Investments (PRI): Barberton Community Foundation deploys a portion of its investment portfolio through investments that pull double-duty: They are aligned with the Foundation's strategic priorities and have potential to generate a financial return, which can then be reinvested for future community initiatives.

PRI funding can support a wide range of projects, including:

Community development initiatives
Economic development projects
Strategic partnerships with local organizations
Investments that strengthen Barberton’s economic ecosystem

To date, the Foundation has committed approximately $6.4 million in PRI, with more than $5.5 million already deployed into projects that support Barberton’s long-term development.

The Foundation is developing clearer investment criteria that ensure these investments deliver both strong community impact and responsible stewardship of the Foundation’s resources.

Partnerships That Drive Impact

None of these efforts operate in isolation. As a funder, Barberton Community Foundation works closely with partners across the public, nonprofit and private sectors to ensure that investments are aligned with the city’s long-term goals.

Key partners include:
- City of Barberton
- Main Street Barberton
- Barberton Community Development Corporation
- Summit County economic development partners
- Local employers and workforce training organizations

Through these partnerships, the Foundation seeks to help Barberton grow as a place where businesses invest, workers build careers and residents benefit from a strong local economy.