Grant program brings region together

(The Center Square) – When Gayle Manchin became the federal cochairwoman of the Appalachian Regional Commission, she noticed something that sparked a grant program benefiting all of the 13 states.

“What I saw was 13 states doing these phenomenal projects that were really helping their communities and their region,” Manchin said in an interview with The Center Square. “But it bothered me that there were not the 13 states of Appalachia, we were the Appalachian Regional Commission and I thought, if these states were working together and sharing information on some of these great projects that they are doing, we can have bigger, better projects and make a greater impact on our region.”

The region encompasses 423 counties and stretches from New York to Mississippi. West Virginia is the only state included in its entirety.

When the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 passed Congress, the door opened for the collaboration Manchin envisioned.

“It enabled us to actually put money on the table for that type of endeavor to encourage our states to forget about where their borders were,” said Manchin, wife of U.S. Sen. Joe Machin, I-W.V. “We share the mountains, we share the rivers and our trials, our culture, our heritage, our music, our stories, so much of who were are is built into this region. And I think to really be able to celebrate that, we need to do things together.”

The Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies, also known as ARISE, gives the region’s states an opportunity to apply for grants with one caveat – they must benefit not just their state but at least one other. The collaborators must also provide a matching portion, which varies depending on the grant. The commission announced $33.5 million in projects on Tuesday, the largest grant award to date.

Three projects account for the bulk of the grants.

A $10 million grant given to the Association of Community Colleges will develop cybersecurity workforce training programs in 30 community colleges across the 13 states.

Three disaster hubs will be established in Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee, helping 20 rural counties as part of another $10 million grant.

Energy cooperatives in Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina will work together to create what is called the “battery belt” by “building the demand and supply of nonlithium batteries throughout the region,” according to the commission.

Tennessee is involved in eight of the 13 projects.

“The ARISE program’s investment in multi-state projects ranging from disaster recovery to workforce development exemplify the impact of ARC’s federal-state partnership,” said Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, who serves as the commission’s 2024 States’ cochairman.

More than $121 million has been awarded through 46 projects according to the commission.

“We have some wonderful projects that we have received in and that we are going through now and with the CR that’s been passed by Congress, we have that funding at least established in the budget for one more year,” Manchin said, referring to the continuing budget resolution. “So we will continue and evaluate the projects, again, on how they can help transform the region.”