Projects aimed at improving economy in Appalachian Kentucky receive $11.5 million

Ten projects aimed at improving the economy and health in Eastern Kentucky been awarded more than $11.5 million in federal funding, the Appalachian Regional Commission announced Wednesday.

The money is through a program called the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization Initiative.

The goal in Kentucky is to help an area hit hard by a downturn in the coal industry.

Coal jobs in Central Appalachia, which includes Eastern Kentucky, started dropping sharply in 2012 and continued down for several years.

There was a modest recovery in coal jobs in Central Appalachia in 2022 and 2023, but the total number 2023 was just 54% of the figure from 2000, according to a separate report from the ARC.

The POWER program started in 2015. ARC has since awarded a total of $484.7 million for 564 projects in the 13 states included in the federal designation of Appalachia, according to the agency.

The projects are projected to create or keep in place almost 54,000 jobs in the 13-state region, the agency said.

The commission said Kentucky has received 93 award since the program started.

The Kentucky projects awarded money in the current round of funding are:

• University of Pikeville, $2 million for a project to provide training to 400 students in preventive health care.
• Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, $2 million to place career counselors in five school districts to advise students. The goal is to help students find careers in the area.
• Volunteers of America Mid-States, $2 million for a skills- and job-training program in 15 counties in Eastern Kentucky.
• Nicholas County, $1,907,500 to build a waterline to an industrial park.
• Southeast Community and Technical College, $1,633,164 to set up programs to train truck drivers and utility line workers.
• Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky, $1,499,740 for work-based learning programs and career training for young people.
• Big Sandy Area Development District, $400,000 to help strengthen entrepreneurship efforts.
• PLACE Initiative, $50,000 to test an assessment tool aimed at helping four counties transition away from the coal industry.
• LeadingAge Kentucky, $49,500 to assess the needs for high-speed internet at long-term care facilities in nine Eastern Kentucky counties.
• Saint Vincent’s Mission in Floyd County, $40,000 to help expand a career readiness and internship program in Floyd, Johnson, Knott, Magoffin and Pike counties.

Those awards were part of a larger package of $68 million awarded to 65 projects in the Appalachian region, according to ARC.

Pennsylvania received the most grants this time, with 20 totaling more than $18 million.