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April 21, 2022 | Volume 7, Issue 16
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The Appalachian Leadership Institute (ALI) is now accepting applications!
We're seeking 40 fellows from all 13 Appalachian states, and all walks of community life, for the Class of 2022-2023.
ALI is a FREE leadership and economic development program designed to help anyone who lives or works in Appalachia gain skills to strengthen their community. From October 2022 – July 2023, participants will attend six multi-day seminars across the Region, and end with a capstone graduation event held in Washington, DC.
Apply by June 1 at arc.gov/leadership.
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The Rural Partners Network (RPN) is an effort to transform how federal agencies partner with rural communities to create opportunities. ARC is proud to join this USDA-led collaboration to help create jobs, build infrastructure, and make the government work better for rural America.
RPN's first cohort will include on-the-ground support for communities in Appalachian Georgia and Kentucky!
Read this fact sheet from The White House and learn more about RPN below.
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- Location: West Virginia
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- Community Need: Help communities and entrepreneurs sustainably leverage New River Gorge’s outdoor recreation opportunities.
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- Solution: ARC partnerships have resulted in entrepreneurship and innovation programs, helpful economic feasibility studies, and pathways to engage communities in trail planning.
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- Outcomes: The New River Gorge Regional Development Authority has created a network of business accelerator spaces for technical coaching, entrepreneur networking, and product development to support, educate, and increase new businesses.
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- An ARC POWER grant also helped West Virginia Connecting Communities study the feasibility of connecting 500 miles of bike trails, resulting in Mountain State Trail Alliance expanding their regional trail network.
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- Learn more about the work ARC is doing to help outdoor businesses – and all local businesses – thrive and grow at Stop #2 of the Appalachia Envisioned Roadshow, focusing on culture and tourism. Register below!
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COMMUNITY
Celebrating National Park Week in Appalachia 🚵
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Discover New River Gorge Through Art
The Mountain State’s newest National Park has uploaded their museum collection online, as well as displaying student artwork.
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park Through the Years
Take a look back in time at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the second-most visited in the United States!
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Appalachia's Outdoors: A Gateway to Growth
Read more about how ARC investments aim to leverage natural assets to strengthen local economies.
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What programming would you like to see at ARC's Annual Conference in October?
We want your ideas for innovative, engaging sessions that will help attendees strengthen their Appalachian communities. It could be a panel discussion, workshop, or new session format that would help you better serve and strengthen the region.
Submit your pitch idea below by tomorrow, April 22.
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ARC is working with various government and non-government organizations on identifying and serving the broadband-related resource needs of local governments and non-profits for free as they prepare for the upcoming $42 billion BEAD program.
Take this three-minute survey to help shape the prioritization of resources.
Response deadline is tomorrow, April 22.
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ARC's Research and Evaluation Team is working to to assess how people use our research, maps, and data!
We'd love to know more about what your needs are and how we can address them moving forward. What types of research do you find most valuable? How do you use our research in your own work?
The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete, and will now close this Monday, April 25.
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ARC has issued a Request for Proposals for our POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) Initiative, helping to economically diversify coal-impacted communities.
This year, ARC is investing ~$25 million in projects building entrepreneurship, broadband, workforce development, tourism, and more.
For more insights on the application process and key points in the RFP, watch the recording of our Pre-Application Workshop here.
For entities that submitted LOIs, final applications are due by April 29, 2022.
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