ðŸ“£Â Â ARC Invests $183,100 in Community Capacity-Building Projects

ARC Invests $183,100 in Community Capacity-Building Projects

22 community projects were approved for funding during the 2017 cycle of Kentucky Appalachian Regional Commission Flex-E-Grants. The program, administered by Brushy Fork Institute and the Center for Rural Development, provides small, strategic investments of up to $10,000 in 6-month projects that address local and regional development efforts.

Award totals include $183,100 in grant funds with an additional $84,000 to be committed as local matching contributions. Awarded projects will have impacts within 24 Appalachian Kentucky counties. One-third of total awards were made within Kentucky Promise Zone counties.

Grant funds will serve to improve economic conditions within distressed counties by helping communities develop regional leadership, engage in long-term strategic planning, design and implement community programming, and lay foundations for more intensive investments.

VIEW 2017 GRANT AWARDS

Your Voice Will Help Guide Our Future

With support from the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation's Opportunity Fund, we are entering a new strategic planning period for the Brushy Fork Institute.

We want to engage our community in helping shape our work and informing the plan that will guide our organization through 2020.

How can we manage for more impact? What do you think are the priorities for Brushy Fork in the coming years to best serve Appalachian communities?

The survey consists of 10 questions and should take only 10 minutes of your time. All responses are anonymous.

Please respond to the survey by Friday, April 7.

Promises to Coal Country Aside, Trump’s Budget Cuts Will End an Economic Lifeline

In this interview with YES! Magazine, Peter Hille, President of MACED, discusses the importance of the Appalachian Regional Commission and what's at stake if proposed budget cuts succeed.

Hille also gives a shout-out to the Kentucky ARC Flex-E-Grant program:

"The idea with the Flex-E-Grants was to get small amounts of federal funding right down to the grassroots in communities. And those people did all kinds of innovative stuff with that money...We were always learning that they knew much more than we did about what was important and possible in their communities."

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Upcoming Events

It's Good 2 Be Young In The Mountains • April 21-23 at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College Cumberland campus

2017 East Kentucky Leadership Conference • April 27-28 at Eastern Kentucky University Richmond Campus

Appalachian Conference on Social Enterprise • May 19-20 at West Virginia University

Let's Talk About Your Next Project

Did you know you can hire our hard-working leadership team to custom-design services to meet your specific training needs?

We have a deep understanding of Appalachia, a love for our work, and know how to make learning fun and engaging.

Visit our website to learn about available services or contact Mark Nigro, our training coordinator, at 859-985-3436 to schedule a consultation.