The Appalachian Regional Commission has allocated over $47 million for dozens of initiatives in areas where job losses connected to the coal industry have an impact.
According to the commission, 52 initiatives across 181 counties will receive funding through the ARC’s Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization Initiative. According to the ARC, it is the largest single awards package from the initiative since it started in 2015.
One of the biggest grants was $2.4 million for Summers County, West Virginia’s broadband expansion. 489 families and 179 businesses will have access to cheap broadband as a result of the project.
An additional $1.9 million fiber optic project in Carroll County, Ohio, will connect 11 villages to reasonably priced broadband, serving 384 homes and 53 businesses.
Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia are additional states where projects have won accolades. Additionally supported by the initiatives are entrepreneurship, workforce development, tourism, and agriculture.
In Frostburg, Maryland, the week before the ARC’s annual conference, the prizes were presented.
