In October 2019, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) announced 54 new grants, totaling a $44.4 million investment, to help diversify the economy in the Region’s coal-impacted communities via ARC’s POWER Initiative. This week, representatives from most of these projects were in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a two day training focusing on grant implementation, monitoring and evaluation; project sustainability; communications; and legal issues. During the convening, this new cohort of grantees developed stronger networks to set their projects up for success. Since 2015, ARC’s POWER Initiative has invested over $190 million in 239 projects touching 326 coal-impacted counties across Appalachia. Together, these investments are projected to create or retain more than 23,000 jobs, and leverage more than $811 million in additional private investment into Appalachia’s economy. A list of all of ARC’s POWER investments is available at www.arc.gov/power.
ARC’s POWER Initiative will continue in the next fiscal year, pending Congress’ final appropriation for fiscal year 2020. Meanwhile, ARC is preparing a Request for Proposals (RFP), scheduled for release in early December. Applications for funding will be due in March, 2020. To help prospective applicants prepare strong applications in response to the forthcoming RFP, ARC staff and other experts will be hosting a series of POWER Application Workshops in Pennsylvania (December 11); Ashland, Kentucky (January 15); and Johnson City, Tennessee (January 28). Each workshop will run from 9am–3pm and is free to attend, although pre-registration is required at www.arc.gov/power.