APPALACHIAN REGIONAL COMMISSION

POWER AWARDS, FEBRUARY 2019

A complete list of all ARC POWER awards is available at www.arc.gov/power

ALABAMA

$1,459,335 ARC grant to West Alabama Works (WAW) in Tuscaloosa, AL, for the POWER2 Expand

Initiative. In partnership with the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce, West Alabama Works (the

regional workforce council) will deliver training and reemployment opportunities to residents in 10 coalimpacted counties of Central Alabama (Bibb, Fayette, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar, Marion, Pickens, Shelby,

Tuscaloosa, and Walker). In addition to connecting high school students and adults with industry-driven

credentials, the project will strategically connect unemployed and underemployed individuals with adult

basic education and advanced training opportunities. This will enable them to obtain the necessary

credentials to earn a livable wage. The training programs include General Education Development (GED),

Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE), high school diploma, as well as short- and long-term, postsecondary training. The project builds on WAW’s strong partnership with local industries. The project will

improve 1,615 workers/trainees, connect 1020 individuals with employment, and equip 859 individuals

with industry-recognized credentials. Additional support for the project is being provided by the

Alabama Department of Commerce and Cengage Learning. 

KENTUCKY

$1,677,529 ARC grant to The Fletcher Group in Lexington, KY, for the Recovery, Hope, Opportunity and

Resiliency program (RHOAR), which will address the challenges of unemployment and opioid use in

Eastern Kentucky by establishing new addiction recovery programs. The RHOAR initiative will expand

economic development through workforce development, social enterprises, and entrepreneurship in

collaboration with educational institutions to provide meaningful employment for those recovering from

substance use disorders. The Fletcher Group will partner with the Kentucky Community and Technical

College System, Fahe (another POWER grantee), Kentucky Housing Corporation, Recovery Kentucky,

Operation Unite, and others to identify information and criteria needed to complete the "tool kit" that

will be utilized throughout the programs, as well areas to place new facilities. The project will serve 300

individuals in recovery and will leverage $24 million in private capital and up to $4.8 million annually in

other funding.

$1,500,000 ARC grant to the East Kentucky Advanced Manufacturing Institute, Inc. in Paintsville, KY, for

the eKAMI Workforce Development Program. Through eKAMI’s basic program dislocated, unemployed,

and underemployed adults receive training in the CNC machining industry leading to certifications on

Haas equipment. The project will expand the existing eKAMI programming to include support of a ninePage 1 / February 2019
month Young Adult Advanced Manufacturing Technology Program for those out of school and new to

the workforce and support of the High School Advanced Manufacturing Technology Program, providing

a career path for current high school students. The expansion will also include initiation of an Advanced

Manufacturing Technology Teacher Training Program for high school career and technical education

instructors, initiation of a Correctional Facility Workforce Development Pilot Program, and expansion of

eKAMI's signature 16-week Adult Training Program for those unemployed and underemployed who have

work experience in other careers. 

$1,463,927 ARC grant to Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in Richmond, KY, for the Kentucky's

Appalachia Aviation Maintenance Technician Training project. In partnership with two community

colleges and regional airports, EKU will create an aviation maintenance technician program at multiple

campuses in Eastern Kentucky. Identifying a growing employment sector, the project responds to the

need for economic diversification, job creation, and workforce development within Kentucky's

Appalachian counties. Each aviation maintenance technician cohort will begin training in classrooms at

the Richmond EKU campus and two of Eastern Kentucky University’s regional campuses, Hazard

Community & Technical College and Big Sandy Community & Technical College. Each is strategically

chosen for its proximity to a partnering regional airport. Once trainees fulfill basic coursework

requirements inside the traditional classroom setting, the training will move to the regional airports for

hands-on work training. The program will yield industry-recognized certification and will serve 86

workers/trainees, all of whom will be certified and employed as aviation maintenance technicians. 

$1,461,078 ARC grant to Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP) in Hazard,

KY, for the Eastern Kentucky Addiction Recovery & Training Program (eKART). EKCEP is partnering with

Sullivan University and Addiction Recovery Care to implement the eKART program, which will bridge the

gap between addiction recovery and productive participation in the workforce for individuals in recovery.

The program will provide valuable career training and supportive services, as well as cultivate secondchance job opportunities. This project will provide regional businesses with information on ways to

provide a supportive environment for employees in recovery, increasing the opportunities for work-based

training and apprenticeships, while also partnering with treatment providers to identify and recruit

recovering individuals appropriate for those opportunities. Sullivan University, which is successfully

training individuals in recovery to become Peer Support Specialists, will enable participants to return to

the workforce in jobs where they can help other individuals enter and complete recovery. The project will

train 65 new peer support specialists and at least 125 individuals in recovery will re-enter the Eastern

Kentucky workforce. Sixty-three businesses will be certified as recovery-friendly workplaces. Additional

funding is provided by the Kentucky Department of Behavioral, Developmental, and Intellectual

Disabilities and Kentucky Opioid Response Effort.

$1,301,983 ARC grant to Southeast Kentucky Economic Development Corporation (SKED) in Somerset,

KY, to expand the reach and capacity of the Supplier Education and Economic Development (SEED)

Program. The project’s training and support services will improve the competitiveness of manufacturing

companies in coal-impacted counties of Eastern Kentucky and will help them acquire the competence

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addition with training and support services to re-enter the workforce. Through paid, on-the-job training

opportunities in the residential construction industry, Hope Building participants will develop a positive

work history and gain valuable certifications while earning wages from on-the-job training. Trainees will

be supported by EKCEP as they search for permanent job placement and will receive counseling and

support services from HHRC or PCDC. Hope Building will benefit the regional economy by creating

workforce housing in an area where the demand for new, modest housing exceeds the current housing

supply. After homes are constructed and sold by HDA, the proceeds will be reinvested in the program.

Over three years approximately 25 participants will receive training, counseling, and related services and

build 15 units of workforce housing.

$76,000 ARC grant to the Lewis County Fiscal Court in Vanceburg, KY, for the Lewis County Broadband

Strategic Plan and Feasibility Study. Lewis County, like most of Eastern Kentucky, does not have

adequate broadband coverage. The project conduct a feasibility study and craft a strategic plan to assist

the county in creating a phased broadband implementation plan that can be used as a roadmap for

action. The study will determine what broadband assets and resources currently exist in the county and

determine what broadband bandwidth the community needs to foster economic growth. 

$50,000 ARC grant to the Carr Creek Alumni Association in Littcarr, KY, for The Magic of Carr Creek: A

Community Revitalization Project. Designed to maximize the economic impact of over 690,000 annual

visitors to Carr Creek Lake, the project will examine the conversion of a former high school into a multiuse facility. The project will conduct an economic feasibility/market demand study, develop a regional

strategic agenda for tourism, and conduct community engagement and partnership development efforts.

Project partners include the tourism offices of Letcher, Knott, and Perry counties. 

NEW YORK

$60,000 ARC grant to the city of Dunkirk, NY, for the Dunkirk/Chautauqua County Power Plant

Redevelopment Alternatives and Feasibility Analysis project. The city of Dunkirk will conduct a

redevelopment and feasibility analysis for the NRG Power Plant site, the location of a closed coal-fired

power plant. The site consists of 75.9 acres of land located at Dunkirk Harbor on the City's Lake Erie

waterfront. NRG has announced that the company will abandon the site, resulting in lost jobs and

reduced tax revenue. The feasibility analysis will guide the redevelopment of the site into a productive

and tax-generating property. The scope of the work includes an assessment of the assets and liabilities

of the site, market analysis, reuse strategy alternatives, and recommended actions. 

NORTH CAROLINA

$98,300 ARC grant to The Industrial Commons in Morganton, NC, for Capturing Emerging Markets

Through the Creation of a Textile and Furniture Circular Economy, a feasibility study of creating a closed

circle economy network in Western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina that aggregates textile

and furniture waste and transforms it into new, marketable products that go back into the supply chain.

The study will identify and map manufacturers in two regions and conduct 100 waste stream audits to

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understand the content and volume of their waste. The study will also produce a business plan and

proformas that define the financial viability of operating a sorting and aggregation facility (the one

component missing to create the loop), and provide an understanding of the job creation and investment

impacts that could result from such a model. 

$98,273 ARC grant to the North Carolina Department of Information Technology in Raleigh, NC, for the

Broadband Feasibility Study for Telehealth Deployment in Western North Carolina project. The feasibility

study will investigate telehealth programs and assess broadband capabilities for 20 counties in

Appalachian North Carolina. The study will examine existing telehealth programs to gauge their

efficiency and will conduct an analysis of the broadband infrastructure required to effectively support

telehealth applications. 

OHIO

$49,000 ARC grant to the Vinton County Commissioners in McArthur, OH, for the Broadband

Infrastructure Improvement Project. The project will produce a broadband feasibility study for Meigs and

Vinton counties in Southeast Ohio. Both counties are interested in expanding the broadband footprint in

their region and the results of this study will provide information needed for specific plans to build the

necessary infrastructure (both fiber and towers) needed for that expansion. The study will concentrate

on a complete inventory of existing assets, the development of a partner plan, a model for network

design, and an analysis of fiber and tower costs.

PENNSYLVANIA

$1,100,000 ARC grant to Clarion University in Clarion, PA, for the Northwest Pennsylvania Diversifying

the Regional Economy project. The project offers training opportunities to reinvigorate the regional

economy and prepare for the emerging petrochemical industry by developing highly skilled secondary

education pre-apprenticeship programs, offering certification of employer-demanded apprenticeships,

creating career-ladder training in targeted industry clusters, identifying customized training needs to

upgrade the existing workforce, and implementing entrepreneurial training leading to job growth. By the

conclusion of the project, 150 high school students will have obtained employment or enrolled in further

education or training, 75 workers/trainees will have enhanced their position or found new employment,

and 30 adult participants will have completed entrepreneurship training and started at least four

businesses. 

$1,014,730 ARC grant to Youngsville Television Corporation in Youngsville, PA, for the Northwest

Pennsylvania Regional Broadband Deployment Initiative. The project will provide broadband services to

unserved and under-served areas in the northwest region of Pennsylvania. Using a combination of wired

and wireless systems, the project will deploy broadband service to business districts in Crawford and

Warren counties, partnering with the municipalities’ Volunteer Fire Departments. The Volunteer Fire

Departments will serve as anchor institutions, housing the equipment and hardware needed to support

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the regional wired and wireless broadband deployment. For serving as the anchor institutions, each fire

department will be afforded broadband connectivity at no cost for the life of the fiber network. Given the

large potential impact broadband access may have on the economic development and revitalization of

Northwest Pennsylvania, the project will open the doors to a variety of possibilities for diversifying the

regional economy, which as suffered from the decline of the coal industry.

$60,000 ARC grant to the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission

in Ridgway, PA, for the development of a Regional Freight and Mobility Strategic Plan for the six-county

region of Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, and Potter counties in North Central Pennsylvania.

The coal downturn has greatly impacted North Central Pennsylvania, leading to loss of high paying jobs

and a declining tax base, as well as supply chain and infrastructure issues. Developed in partnership with

the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, the plan will

help impacted communities better understand the freight challenges they face as a result of the coal

decline, inventory existing infrastructure and freight assets across transportation modes, and develop

strategies to optimize the freight network in support of industry diversification and economic growth. 

TENNESSEE

$2,147,125 ARC grant to Duck River Electric Membership Corporation (DREMC) in Shelbyville, TN, for its

East Loop and Smart Grid Fiber Communication project. The project will deploy smart grid improvements

that form the backbone of a gigabit-speed fiber retail broadband network. The project will enable

DREMC's Internet service provider (ISP) partners to provide affordable broadband access to 1,202

businesses and 2,876 households in Franklin, Coffee, and Marion Counties, resulting in the creation of 103

new jobs.

$577,840 ARC grant to the Appalachian Investors Alliance in Knoxville, TN, for the Angel Investing in

Coal Communities program. Building on a prior POWER grant, the project will develop new Angel

Investment Funds serving coal-impacted communities in Appalachia and provide technical and

investment support to existing funds. The project will create four new angel funds in the Appalachian

region, each capitalized with between $500,000 and $2 million of private financing. Additionally it will

provide due diligence support to Appalachian angel investment funds that lack professional

management staff, expand educational offerings to investors and entrepreneurs, and sponsor a referral

network of syndication and co-investment partners to increase investment in the region. Typically, angel

investments focus on companies that support advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, aerospace,

healthcare, agricultural technology, and other regionally significant industry clusters. The project

anticipates these activities will result in syndication and direct investment of $11.25 million in leveraged

private investment, with 25 businesses served, leading to 125 entrepreneurial jobs created.

$35,000 ARC grant to Lawrence County, TN, for the Lawrence County Broadband Feasibility Study

project. The broadband feasibility study will be used to help determine next steps in obtaining better

broadband coverage throughout Lawrence County. Currently only 25 percent of the population has

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access to broadband service. The study will include the creation of a steering committee for the county

and address identifying broadband demand, creating an accurate broadband availability map, conducting

a strategic review of county and city policies for broadband, developing an inventory of assets, and

studying potential adoption rates. 

VIRGINIA

$1,250,000 ARC grant to Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD) in Abingdon, VA, for the Seed-toSale: Strengthening the Central Appalachian Food Corridor project. ASD, in partnership with Refresh

Appalachia, Sprouting Farms, the Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, Community

Farm Alliance, and Whitlock Farm, will expand the impact and scale of the Central Appalachian Food

Enterprise Corridor across four Appalachian states. Through previous POWER funding, the Central

Appalachian Food Enterprise Corridor has effectively connected established and emerging producers

throughout Central Appalachia to wholesale distribution markets, leading to increased agricultural

business development and job creation. The current project will focus attention on portions of the

Corridor that need additional support by increasing technical assistance and extending effective

practices. It will enhance the network through mediation between private industry and small-scale

farmers, fostering aggregation and distribution opportunities. It will increase the supply of produce,

attracting more regional and national buyers to purchase local produce, and will pursue priority

procurement policies by states and institutions. The project will span 91 counties in four states (Virginia,

West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee) and serve 349 businesses and 938 participants. It is anticipated

that the project will improve 238 businesses and 786 participants, create 38 new businesses and 85 jobs,

and leverage $732,666 of private investment.

$486,769 ARC grant to People Incorporated Financial Services (PIFS) in Abingdon, VA, for the New

Market Tax Credit Project Growth in Appalachia project. PIFS will launch a new program providing

technical assistance and advisory services to entrepreneurial start-ups, emerging businesses, units of

local government, and other community-based organizations to engage in and carry out high impact,

capital intensive projects. PIFS will increase capacity of these actors to undertake transformative

community development projects. Capacity building will include assistance in how to plan, structure,

fund, and carry out community and economic development projects. It will also build capacity to

leverage multiple sources of funding, understand and access complicated financing sources, such as New

Markets Tax Credits, and accept significant financial and organizational risk. To select projects, PIFS will

work with regional, state, and local economic development organizations, community development

leaders, private philanthropy, federal/state agencies, and past POWER grant recipients. PIFS anticipates

working with eight to ten unique projects over a three-year period, creating 50 jobs, and leveraging $10

million in new capital into the impacted communities. The initiative will focus on coal-impacted

communities in West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

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$459,764 to Bland County, VA, for the Bland County Broadband Deployment project. The project will

construct a 33-mile fiber run that will be used to supply broadband to businesses in Bland County. The

fiber run will start in Rocky Gap and go south through Bastian and on to Bland. The fiber will run along

the Route 52 corridor. Once the fiber construction is finished, the competitively selected ISP partner will

use wireless technology to reach additional locations off Route 52. The project will make access available

to 37 businesses, as well as Bland County schools, the Board of Education Offices, and the Bland County

Medical Clinic, a Federally Qualified Health Center.

$100,000 ARC grant to Friends of Southwest Virginia in Abingdon, VA, for the Building POWERful

Economic Diversity and Sustainability within Appalachian Communities project. It will create an interstate

collaborative plan for developing common natural and cultural assets that can boost regional economic

diversification. This process will bridge communities in Southwest Virginia with their neighbors in North

Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Kentucky, to create a community-driven identification and

planning process. This will expand current collaboratives within the footprint of Friends of Southwest

Virginia, including a previous POWER project, beyond Southwest Virginia to develop natural and cultural

assets and strategies that are shared across neighboring states. Natural and cultural asset planning

across state lines will help generate a diverse and sustainable economy for Central Appalachia.

WEST VIRGINIA

$1,020,556 ARC grant to the West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition in Charleston, WV, for the Geographic

Food and Agriculture Systems Development project. The project will provide coordination, capacity

building, training, and technical assistance to enable farmers, food businesses, and community members

to determine and execute agribusiness priorities. This will result in increased food production and access

to previously unreachable markets, thereby creating greater economic diversity for areas that have been

heavily impacted by the decline in coal production. The project will deploy seed capital, in the form of

mini grants, to attract private dollars and execute larger-scale projects that strengthen the local food

system. The West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition will strengthen the local food supply chain, increase

market opportunities for local growers, including more than 75 food-related entrepreneurs, and attract

private investment in five foodsheds that span seventeen coal-impacted counties of West Virginia.

Additional funding for the project is provided by the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation and the Greater

Kanawha Valley Foundation. 

$1,000,000 ARC grant to the WV Community Development Hub (The Hub) in Charleston, WV, for the

Mountain State Capital: Filling the Critical Venture Capital Gap in West Virginia project. The project will

support the development of a new venture capital (VC) fund to support high-growth startups in Central

Appalachia. The fund will be a partnership between The Hub and Mountain State Capital (MSC). It seeks

to boost entrepreneurial activities and grow capital investment by supporting the creation of the first

seed-stage venture capital investment fund serving West Virginia and Central Appalachia. MSC will fill a

critical gap in the state's entrepreneurial ecosystem, providing coaching, technical assistance support,

and VC investment funds to business startups. MSC and The Hub, as a community-driven institutional

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investor, will target West Virginia-based startups during the first phase of the investment cycle. All

revenue generated by the initial investment will be directed to a dedicated technical assistance fund to

support community development across West Virginia, with particular priority given to coal-impacted

rural communities. The success of these business startups will then provide long term investment return

to MSC and The Hub and enable the expansion of their technical assistance grants to support

community development, entrepreneurial learning, and business development products across the state.

$796,924 ARC grant to Grow Ohio Valley (GOV) in Wheeling, WV, for the Agribusiness Development in

the Upper Ohio Valley project. Serving agricultural producers and businesses in a three-state region

(West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania), Grow Ohio Valley will help diversify and strengthen the regional

economy in an area that has been heavily dependent on coal. It will launch a year-round consignment

market in an unused downtown space of Wheeling, West Virginia, and will develop a branded product

line featuring local ingredients to be sold at the market. The project will bridge gaps in the supply chain

by producing in-demand goods not currently grown by local farmers. Additional market opportunities

for farmers will be developed through the expansion of GOV's FARMacy initiative, which partners with

healthcare providers to offer prescriptions of fresh produce to patients suffering from chronic diseases

and substance abuse issues. The project will also roll out a STEM-focused curriculum in Ohio County,

West Virginia, schools that equips high school students to pursue indoor agricultural careers. The project

will improve 100 businesses, create 66 jobs, launch three businesses, and leverage more than $460,000

in private investment. Additional funding is provided by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.

$485,284 ARC grant to Morgantown Sober Living Inc. in Morgantown, WV, for the Reintegrate

Appalachia: Job Creation and Workforce Development for West Virginians Impacted by Substance Use

Disorders project. Reintegrate Appalachia is a unique job creation and workforce development project

specifically designed for those recovering from substance use disorder (SUD). Morgantown Sober Living,

with its addiction treatment expertise and recovery monitoring approach, will enhance Coalfield

Development Corporation's successful workforce development model by adding a robust addiction

recovery monitoring program to create the 33-6-3-PLUS program. The 33-6-3-PLUS program consists of

33 hours of full-time employment per week, 6 hours per week of higher education in a community or

technical college setting, 3 hours per week of a professional development curriculum and mentorship,

and an addiction recovery monitoring program (the PLUS). Reintegrate Appalachia re-engages each

participant in the community through meaningful employment and the opportunity to continue their

education and grow their professional skills, while providing the clinical and peer-to-peer support

needed to maintain sobriety. The project will establish centers in Braxton, McDowell, Wayne, and

Monongalia counties. At least 40 adults will obtain full-time employment and 24 will still be enrolled in

the program and working towards that goal at the end of the project period. 

$100,000 ARC grant to the Center for Rural Health Development in Hurricane, WV, for the Creating a

More Vibrant Economy for Coal-Impacted Counties in West Virginia project. The project will provide

technical assistance for the development of a Community Health Improvement Plan in each of five

targeted distressed West Virginia counties (Calhoun, Logan, McDowell, Roane, and Webster). Each plan

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will be developed by a cross-sector partnership involving government agencies, private businesses,

education, economic development organizations, health care organizations, and residents in each county.

The project will build capacity through a model of change that was developed by the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials

(NACCHO). The project aims to create a culture of health which will help prevent future opioid use and

help stymie expansion of the current opioid crisis. Financial partners include the Claude Worthington

Benedum Foundation, the Logan Healthcare Foundation, and the Sisters of Health Foundation. 

$80,691 ARC grant to the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) in Washington, D.C., for

Benefit U: An Entrepreneuur’s Guide to Financial, Health Insurance, and Retirement Solutions. Targeting

five distressed counties in West Virginia (Boone, Logan, McDowell, Mingo, and Wyoming), WISER will

develop Benefit U to serve as a virtual human relations department for entrepreneurs, self-employed

workers, independent contractors, and other workers without access to benefits resources. Benefit U will

include paycheck guidance, income tax assistance programs, health insurance navigators, emergency and

long-term savings advice, and financial education and retirement planning tools.

$79,270 ARC grant to the Marshall University Research Corporation, in Huntington, WV for the Craft Beer

and Spirit Trail project. The project will conduct an economic impact study of the emerging craft beer and

spirits industry in central and western West Virginia counties (Cabell, Kanawha, Putnam, and Roane). The

study will identify emerging strengths, existing leakages, and new business and employment

opportunities to guide local economic development leaders. Project activities will include asset mapping,

leakage monitoring, and guidance to establish a road map for building local efforts into a cohesive

regional program for the craft beer and spirits trail. Key partners include the WV Department of Tourism,

Putnam County Economic Development Authority, Huntington Area Development Corporation,

Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Charleston Area Alliance. 

$59,500 ARC grant to the New River Gorge Trail Alliance (NRGTA) in Fayetteville, WV, for the Linking

Trails and Communities to Spawn Economic Growth and Wellness: Expanding the Southern West Virginia

Bike Trail Network project. The project will guide the expansion of the current regional trail network to

add five counties: Kanawha, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, and Webster. Key partners include the Rails to

Trails Conservancy, WV Division of Highways, Region 4 Planning and Development Council, and the

National Park Service. The project will support community engagement for trail towns, trail vision

mapping, capacity building for local trail organizations, and trail mapping, which includes rail corridor and

road inventory, rail and trail assessment, and trail feasibility efforts. The trail planning documents will serve

as a comprehensive roadmap for communities to transform an unused railroad corridor or other areas into

a dynamic multi-use trail and will produce trail town toolkits to benefit all eight counties along the trail.

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