POWER Initiative to focus existing federal money on transition efforts in Central Appalachia...

The Obama Administration announced today the implementation of a key part of its POWER Plus Plan to assist transition efforts in Central Appalachia: the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative. The POWER Initiative will establish partnerships between multiple federal agencies to award grants to new and existing economic transition projects in the region. Funding will come from already appropriated fiscal year 2015 funds from several federal programs. In other words: This is not new funding, but is existing funding that has already been approved for dispersal. Grants will be awarded through two parallel grant tracks: planning and implementation: Planning Grants: Funding will come from, and grants will be awarded by, the Departments of Commerce (DOC) and Labor (DOL)  to communities impacted by job losses in coal mining and coal-fired power plants, but that do not have existing economic development strategic plans in place. Funding would be used to help develop such strategic plans, organize community stakeholders, and analyze and inventory community assets. Funds could also be used for job re-training for unemployed workers. Implementation Grants: Funding will come from, and be awarded by, DOC, DOL, the Small Business Administration and the Appalachian Regional Commission. These grants will be given to coalfield communities that have already started, or have in place, economic development strategic plans. They will help develop industry clusters, accelerate job creation through local assets, train and place workers in new jobs, and create partnerships that drive economic development. Specific funding amounts for planning grants is not noted, but for implementation grants, up to...

Young eastern Kentucky entrepreneur creates his own opportunity...

By: Ivy Brashear Many people like to have a purpose behind the work they do – a reason why they do that work and what keeps them doing it. For Garrett, Ky., native Shane Hamilton, having purpose behind the work he does is more like a life mantra. “I have goals. I have a ‘why:’ ‘Why do I want to do this?’” Hamilton said “Other people’s ‘why’ is they want to make money. You have to have something that overpowers money. What do you want to do with it? I like to help people who need it. I like to see other people make money. It’s the ‘why’ factor.” At 22, Hamilton, the owner and CEO of Service Maids LLC, is not the type to wait for opportunity to come his way; he creates it for himself. Hamilton has considered himself an entrepreneur since high school, when he sold trendy bracelets at local flea markets and festivals. When the bracelet fad started to decline, he decided to move on to a more sustainable business: professional house cleaning. He had researched what businesses required small amounts of investment to start, and cleaning companies were at the top of the list. And since there were no professional house-cleaning companies in eastern Kentucky, there would be little competition for his business. Hamilton started Service Maids in 2011 at age 19. He didn’t always want to start his own company from scratch. In fact, he tried to convince large, multi-million-dollar house cleaning companies...

First official Trail Town in eastern Kentucky wants to develop economy around designation...

By: Ivy Brashear Livingston, Ky., is a small place. At last count in 2010, the total population was 226 people. Main Street isn’t long enough for a single stoplight. Even when the L&N Railroad first came through town in 1870, Livingston stayed small. But the town’s size hasn’t kept its residents from dreaming big. About five years ago, Livingston officials and a core group of residents took action. They wanted to revitalize their small downtown to drum up local pride and make the community more attractive to tourists. They created the Livingston Development Board and developed a master plan for the town. They painted storefronts, improved landscaping, and replaced old, un-lit welcome signs with new solar-powered ones. “We have a lot of goals in mind,” said Livingston Development Board Project Coordinator Lynn Tatum. “This isn’t going to happen overnight. The next five years are going to be real critical. We want to really make some differences.” In 2013, Livingston was designated as the first Kentucky Trail Town in eastern Kentucky, a title that brings with it marketing support from the Department of Travel and Tourism. That’s support that could otherwise cost communities nearly $50,000, a sum most small rural communities don’t have on the books. It’s also support that lends credibility and notoriety to communities trying to find ways to become known as tourism destinations – an invaluable level of support when a community is trying to use that tourism to inject life back into its languid economy. The...

MACED helps create possible new economic model for rural communities...

By: Ivy Brashear The City of Berea in Madison County, Ky., hopes the Berea Artist Accelerator, an innovative new program born of a unique set of partnerships, will help plug the leak of Berea College graduates fleeing town after graduation, and in the process, become a model example for other eastern Kentucky communities. The idea for the Berea Artist Accelerator was developed after city officials approached the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED) with a desire to retain freshly graduated artisans and fill empty buildings in Berea’s Old Town, an historic neighborhood whose storefronts have been typically occupied by local artists. They wanted to play to Berea’s strengths and assets as an artisans’ town – a moniker backed by decades of craftspeople living and working in the small town in the Appalachian foothills – and increase local tourism. City officials and MACED approached Berea College with their idea, and the Artist Accelerator was born. “The effort is to really grow businesses locally, develop young talent, and hopefully grow and retain local businesses,” said MACED Enterprise Development Project Specialist Danny Isaacs. “It’s a long term solution to the local economic development problem many small rural communities face.” Once the plan was hatched, a vacant building in Old Town was renovated into a gallery and studio space for participating artists: Gallery 123. Artists can create in the back of the building and sell their work in the front of the building. Artist and program participant Jonathan Clark said this space,...

Women’s History Month: Women who shape Appalachia

Central Appalachia has been shaped by countless women. Think about life in the mountains, and then try to think about one aspect of it that hasn’t been touched in some significant way by a woman. It’s very nearly impossible. From environmental and community health advocates, to musicians, artists, storytellers and media makers, Appalachian women have played a significant role in the development of our region and our culture. (Photo credits, clockwise from top left: Making Connections News; West Virginia and Regional History Collection at West Virginia University Libraries; Kerrin Sheldon; Suzanne Higgins; Jean Snedegar; Jean Snedegar; and, WNYC) Here’s a great profile from West Virginia Public Broadcasting of several Appalachian women who are making an impact today: “Telling Appalachia’s Story Like a Girl and Reshaping Stereotypes Along the Way.” March is Women’s History Month, and each year at this time, we like to think about all the strong, powerful, courageous women who have shaped our region, both well-known, and not so well-known. We honor them and their contributions and struggles, and we recognize full well that we stand on their shoulders as we transition the region into a brighter future toward which the women of our past and present have always...

‘Central Appalachia is in mourning:’ New radio documentary details grief of losing coal in the region...

“All over Appalachia, people are in different stages of mourning this thing that’s put dinner on the table and shaped culture for as long. Some are even starting to talk about transition – about Appalachia past coal.” So starts a piece from a new radio documentary airing nationally this spring, “Moving On But No Way Gone: Coal in America.” This particular piece was produced by West Virginia’s Catherine Moore (of Beauty Mountain Studio in West Virginia), who looked at what sort of transition is actually happening in Central Appalachia. Here’s the set up for her 8-minute piece, “Building Barns out of Coal Tipples: Appalachia’s Shifting Economy:” Since the days when mules carted coal and miners were paid in company credit, coal has certainly been king in Central Appalachia. But now, in a trend not widely noted outside the region, far fewer people make a living in mining there. West Virginia, for example, had 132,000 miners in 1950. Today there are fewer than 20,000, and that number is falling. Nearly every day, Appalachians awake to news of mass layoffs and mine closures. It’s no one thing. There is cheap and newly-abundant natural gas. Limits on coal-burning power plants. Increased competition from Wyoming, where coal is cheaper to mine and lower in polluting sulfur. And finally, after over 100 years of intensive mining, Appalachia’s coal seams are simply becoming mined out. Producer Catherine Moore has witnessed this moment. She travelled the back roads of West Virginia from county to county, like Logan,...

Kentucky students are joining the Just Economic Transition movement...

Editor’s Note: The following is a guest blog post from a guest blogger. The views and opinions expressed in this guest blog do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Renew Appalachia or of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED). Six proud, young Kentuckians kicked off the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition’s Just Transition Working Group with a spirited discussion about supporting the movement toward a better future for our state! The group talked about how we could share the values of the Just Transition movement in our own regions and create opportunities for prosperity in our state. We discussed the kinds of jobs we’d like to see: those that put to use our individual experiences as Kentuckians and the unique, rich, cultural heritage of our state, and jobs that we can be proud of without having to put our environmental health at risk. There was also discussion about how unfair it’s been that communities in Kentucky haven’t been given the money or resources they’ve been owed – and desperately need – to succeed in their own right. We talked at length about why these inequities exist and reached the conclusion that a viable solution for our state would be a permanent revolving coal severance fund. We would expect our legislators and the industries that operate in our state to hold each other accountable for getting the money that is owed to our communities where it rightfully belongs. When you invest in communities, help them succeed from the inside out, true prosperity can flourish. Young Kentuckians...

Appalachian Love Story: The Radio Series

Search the hashtag for Appalachian Love Story on any social media site, and you’ll find images of fracking protest signs, mountain vistas, heavy metal shows, videos of Loretta Lynn singing about being a Blue Kentucky Girl, and pancakes in the shape of Kentucky. This is the result of The STAY Project’s (Stay Together Appalachian Youth) call to action for Appalachian youth: Show us your complicated relationship with your home. Tell us why you love it in spite of itself, but mostly because of itself. Now, this call to action has developed into a radio series produced by WMMT-FM out of Whitesburg, Ky. The first episode in the series is all about Carmen Davis, a STAY Project steering committee member and southeast Virginia native. She speaks about experiences growing up in southwest Virginia, the sense of community she feels through her work, and why she has decided to stay in southwest Virginia: I love the people. I love small-town life, and I love all the tight-knit communities, and all the passion for the area. There’s so much history and culture, and there’s also so much work that needs to be done, and it’s really important for to me to stay and make sure – especially because we have so many youth who feel like they have to leave. It’s important for us to stay and build communities and prove that there’s reasons to be here. Listen to Davis’ full Appalachian Love Story...