The recent oil and gas boom has brought good times to Carrollton’s downtown restaurants and its sole hotel, the Days Inn on Canton Road.
“The Days Inn has been full all year, between people doing abstracting for leases and actual drillers,” said Amy Rutledge, director of the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce.
In fact, Glenn Enslen, the county’s economic development director, was told by some of the oil and gas people that Carrollton doesn’t have enough hotel space, she said. Hotels in New Philadelphia and Canton have taken the overflow.
Restaurants are seeing an increase in business, as well.
“There are lots of people in the courthouse doing record searches, and they’re eating in our downtown area,” Rutledge said. “Our restaurants have enjoyed a better season than they would normally enjoy.”
The county also has six bed-and-breakfasts, all of which have seen a 25 percent increase in business over last year, which helps county coffers through its bed tax. But she said this boost still is not enough to make up for the loss in bed-tax revenue from the Atwood Lake Resort and Conference Center near Dellroy, which closed last year.
“It’s not going to offset what we lost from the lodge, but it’s helping somewhat,” Rutledge said.
Oil and gas exploration is currently centered in central to eastern Carroll County, said Commissioner Tom Wheaton, who noted that the scramble to sign leases is not just limited to this part of Ohio. He said his brother in Medina County got a mailing from an oil and gas company, though he owns just three acres.
“They’re looking all over eastern Ohio,” he said.
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