Northhampton News

The Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) initiative is designed to help coal communities that have experienced job loss, and last week Gov. Tom Wolf announced that $4 million has been awarded to six various types of projects in the Pennsylvania Appalachian Region.

According to Gov. Wolf’s release on March 17, the funds cover a wide range of organizations. In Pennsylvania, this round is aimed at entrepreneurship, economic development, substance use disorder and training. The goal is to enhance the community and economic vitality.

“Supporting the coal-impacted communities in Pennsylvania is vitally important; the success of the Appalachian Region impacts the entire commonwealth,” said Gov. Wolf. “The six projects receiving funding from ARC will generate new economic opportunities to help improve the quality of life for the region’s residents and further strengthen Pennsylvania’s reputation as the best place to live, work, and play.”

According to the release, this round of POWER awards include: $500,000 to Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator Program; $845,043 Somerset County Foundation for Higher Education, Opioid Education for Allied Health Professionals; $509,948 for Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission, Alleghenies Market; $1,120,000 to Tri-County Workforce Investment Board, Inc., Steamfitter’s Advanced Employment and Training Program; $490,487 to the University of Pittsburgh, Applied Data-Driven Methods Certificate at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information; and $669,625 to Westmoreland County Community College, Tristate Pathways 2.0: Connecting to the Right Skills and to Jobs aka TEAM Pathways 2.0: Connections that Work.

“The work of our local partners is integral to making our POWER projects come to life,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. “Pennsylvania is a great advocate for Appalachia’s coal-impacted communities, and I look forward to seeing how its grantees help contribute to our region’s growth and success.”

The POWER initiative is focused on using federal resources to help communities and regions that have been affected by job losses in the coal mining industry. 

POWER was launched in 2015 and since then ARC has invested about $316.6 million in 393 projects in 358 coal impacted counties across the country. There was nearly $73 million awarded in 2021 that protected or retained 10,383 jobs and attracted nearly $527.3 million in leveraged private investments.