POWER

In Southern West Virginia, Abandoned Rail Lines Emerge As New Tourism Opportunity

06.13.17

Photo: www.facebook.com/railstotrails/

Hey southern West Virginia! Does your community have abandoned rail lines?

Well, now might be the time to look at convert those unused rails into valuable recreation and tourism assets.

And, if you are already pursuing a rail-trail plan, now is also the perfect time to connect with other people in southern West Virginia to share ideas and information, and explore the possibility of a connected rail-trail network.

Rail-trails are an available and affordable way to diversify the local economy, build communities and improve health.

A new working group is looking to see if there is interest in forming a southern West Virginia rail-trail organization, and they have a survey that you need to take. Here’s the survey link: https://goo.gl/forms/Ta4gvrVzRcbC3uTv1

They are looking for partners across the more than 13 counties of southern West Virginia that are interested in building a vibrant network of folks who care about trails, are building trails, and will advocate for trails.

Rail-trails are an available and affordable way to diversify the local economy, build communities and improve health.

The decline of coal will result in the discontinued use of numerous railroad corridors in southern West Virginia, providing a great opportunity to preserve our railroading and coal mining heritage.

The Industrial Heartland Trail Coalition, which extends into northern West Virginia, illustrates how building extensive networks can enhance trail acquisition, development, and promotion. Working collaboratively, rather than competitively, across southern West Virginia will be more productive and will encourage shared resources and collective marketing.

Please take this simple first step by filling out the short survey: https://goo.gl/forms/Ta4gvrVzRcbC3uTv1

WVAlways: Abandoned Mine Lands Could Host Groundbreaking New Solar Projects

04.12.17

Photo by Solar Holler

By Kathryn Ghion/WVAlways.com

A recent study by environmental consultant Downstream Strategies found a new way to bring solar energy to the Mountain State.

It would do so, without taking away land for infrastructure development or green space.

“One of the arguments against integrating large amounts of solar resources in West Virginia is that our flat land in West Virginia is prime development,” said Joey James, Project Scientist with Downstream Strategies.

There is other land in West Virginia that Downstream Strategies has identified as a prime spot for large-scale solar.

In a new study, funded by a grant from the Appalachian Stewardship Foundation, it analyzed degraded land, which includes abandoned mine lands and Brownfield sites, landfills, hazardous waste sites and more…

See the full story at wvalways.com

Daily Yonder: After The Coal Companies Have Fled, What To Do With Abandoned Mine Lands?

04.05.17

One of Appalachia’s many abandoned coal facilities. Photo by Zach Frailey/FlickrCC

By Bryce Oates/The Daily Yonder

Congress jumped into the coal-economy debate this week with two separate bills to create employment by freeing up federal reclamation funds. Groups that have promoted the approach prefer the bill that would tie spending more closely to economic development.

Kentuckian Sarah Bowling thinks Appalachia’s economic future is tied to coal, but not in the way you might think.

She’d like the federal government to stimulate jobs restoring mine lands, not making more of them.

“You go up the hollers in East Kentucky, there’s abandoned, rusty equipment all over the place,” said Bowling, a native of Pikeville, Kentucky. “Up the creek, there’s a sludge pond just sitting there. There’s waste all over the place.”

She’d like the federal government to stimulate jobs restoring mine lands, not making more of them.

She says that the signs of a contracting coal industry and the need for jobs to replace work in the coalfields are everywhere you look.

Bowling is part of a regional effort to accomplish just that. She’s a member of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, a grassroots organizing group involved with a regional campaign with hopes for economic development and diversification in the region’s coal-dependent communities.

Dubbed the RECLAIM Act, the package of policies seeks to direct mine reclamation resources toward new investments in jobs and opportunities…

Read the full story at www.dailyyonder.com

For West Virginia, a Friend We May Lose Just When We Need Her Most

03.21.17

Photo by Nicolas Raymond/FlickrCC

President Trump’s proposed federal budget for 2018, released last week, reduces funding for a number of agencies that have been critical in helping West Virginia and Appalachia in recent years.

One of the agencies at risk is the Corporation for National & Community Service, which runs the AmeriCorps and VISTA programs, two programs that are extremely active in West Virginia and whose value is felt keenly in many communities around the state.

The Appalachian Regional Commission is also on the chopping block. Since its creation more than 50 years ago, the ARC has worked hand-in-hand with state governors and Congress to address large-scale, persistent poverty in the 13 Appalachian states (ranging from New York to Alabama and everything in between).

ARC has helped cut the number of high poverty counties in this region from 295 in 1960 to 84 in 2017.

We know that poverty hasn’t been eliminated in Appalachia. We work in communities that continue to address this continuing challenge every day.

But the ARC has helped cut the number of high poverty (or “distressed”) counties in this region from 295 in 1960 to 84 in 2017.

In West Virginia in the past 15 months, the ARC has provided funding for 55 projects, with more than $24.1 million invested in our state, generating a matching amount of nearly $25 million, expected to create 2,750 new West Virginian jobs.

Among federal agencies, ARC alone is committed to supporting and reinvigorating this part of America that continues to fail to thrive while the rest of the country’s economy grows.

The President’s budget is only a proposal, and merely a starting point for negotiations about what federal spending will look like in the coming year.

It is curious that the President would choose to eliminate one of the key institutions helping a region that has shown him so much support.

It is also a clear indicator of the Administration’s priorities in terms of investment. For this reason alone, it is curious that the President would choose to eliminate one of the key institutions helping a region that has shown him so much support.

The likelihood is that he could use some education about the critical importance of the Appalachian Regional Commission to the part of the country that he specifically pledged to help, both in terms of jobs growth and infrastructure development.

You can help do that, by reminding our Congressional representatives (Congressmen McKinley, Mooney and Jenkins) of what a critically important agency this is to our region, and by asking them to ensure that the agency stays within the 2018 budget, with at least equal funding to what it received this year.

The best and easiest way to outreach to each of them is to call their state and DC offices.

Congressman David McKinley

Wheeling Office (304) 232-3801
DC Office (202) 225-4172

Congressman Alex Mooney

Charleston Office (304) 925-5964
DC Office (202) 225-2711

Congressman Evan Jenkins

Huntington Office (304) 522-2201
DC Office (202) 225-3452

The outreach will take less than five minutes and is one way we can each continue to help moving forward the economic transition opportunities for West Virginia and the Appalachian region.

The ARC provides large-scale investments to the region for projects to build out infrastructure and seed innovative economic development. The purpose of the agency is, in part, to help provide the support to power the Appalachian region to come in line with the rest of the country.

Losing the ARC would mean losing millions of dollars of infrastructure and economic development funding.

In the past 15 months, this has taken the form of a major initiative to invest in innovative economic and community development projects that directly develop jobs and transition coal-related industries to new economic sectors to grow and diversify Appalachian communities.

The unique role of the ARC in West Virginia is that it is a partner with economic developers and community leaders on the ground, working directly with them to help identify and develop partnerships and projects that move forward innovation and economic development in a region that is in a multi-year shift.

Losing the ARC would mean losing millions of dollars of infrastructure and economic development funding.

The ARC has survived previous presidential budget proposals to eliminate it, including multiple proposals from President Nixon. It survives and continues to grow each year by showing its value and return on investment for our region, and by having strong champions in Congress who fight for its funding each year.

Please take a moment to remind Congressmen McKinley, Mooney and Jenkins that the ARC is a critical friend and partner to West Virginia, at a time when West Virginia needs it most.

Free Webinar Explores What Tools Are Out There To Help Your Town Rebound

03.16.17

Photo by Antti/FlickrCC

Time for the last free community development webinar from the The Hub’s Innovation Acceleration Strategy program, in collaboration with the International Economic Development Council.

For this final webinar, we bring you:

Maximizing the use of Federal and State Tools for Economic Development
Thursday, March 23
10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m

Take advantage of assistance readily available to you, while also learning how to influence and shape projects in your region.

You’ll hear how to partner with regional, state and federal authorities to accomplish your goals. This webinar will show you how to use available technical assistance that can help you advance your objectives.

Speakers include:

Christine Butterfield – Senior Management Advisor
David Myers, CEcD – Executive Director of the Ponca City Development Authority

Alderson Explores Feasibility of Vintage-Themed Downtown

03.13.17

Photo by OZinOH/FlickrCC

The people of Alderson have a lot of pride and belief in their community, which has been a terrific starting point for our Innovation Acceleration Strategy (IAS) work there.

But those leading the IAS effort in Alderson also understand they have work to do to fill up the businesses on their main street. Both of the IAS mini-grants we awarded them hope to bring new life into downtown.

Small Business

When we started conducting IAS meetings in Alderson, we began hearing about Jim Russel’s idea to create a vintage-themed downtown.

Jim envisions a town with vintage murals on buildings, period lighting along the street and a restaurant housed in a train car.

Jim envisions a town with vintage murals on buildings, period lighting along the street and a restaurant housed in a train car. His team has challenged him on the feasibility of this, which leads us to their mini-grant.

We have awarded Alderson $2,000 to conduct a market feasibility study. They believe they can use this study to sell the idea of opening a new business downtown to potential entrepreneurs. The team hopes this can be the first step to attracting more people to live and play in Alderson.

Community Beautification

Fawn Valentine understands the importance of aesthetics. She has a B.A. in Art, works on the planning commission for Alderson and is the leader of the IAS Community Beautification team.

This may seem a little off-base for an economic diversification program. But creating a more attractive downtown is almost always an important piece of the broader economic development process.

Valentine’s team has been awarded $525 to paint the former Ashland station. This station is the first thing anyone sees when they enter Alderson.

As a part of this plan, they are going to paint a mural on one of the windows, featuring the river. They hope this will create a visual emphasis on the flora and fauna of Greenbrier River that flows through their town.

Learn more about what our other IAS communities are doing to diversify their local economies
at The Hub blog.

In McDowell County, the Princeton Renaissance a Natural Ally to Redevelopment Efforts

03.03.17

Photo by Princeton Renaissance Project

It has been really inspiring working in McDowell County and seeing the motivation of these active citizens to make a positive change in their community.

Through our Innovation Acceleration Strategy (IAS) program, we are pleased to fund two projects to help spur new economic opportunities in their economy.

Agriculture

Seth Coen has a background in Environmental Engineering. Like many that live in Appalachia, his skills led him to a job connected to the coal industry, with a consulting firm on the reclamation of mine sites.

Seth spent much of his time in Kentucky and West Virginia. As he traveled to mine sites, he was taken back at the drastic amount of job loss.

Seth saw thousands of acres of underutilized land on former mining sites, and knew this was an opportunity in these economically depressed areas.

About seven years ago, Seth realized there were many thousands of acres of underutilized land on these former mining sites, and knew this was an opportunity in these economically depressed areas. And so he decided to start a grassroots effort to help the community identify and create innovative post-mine uses for this land.

When we met Seth, he was working on turning a former mining site in McDowell County into a demonstrative project. He wants to explore the range of things these sites can be used for.

Seth plans to use the $2,000 award to create a flower garden, teach composting in five schools, and engage students in gardening. His hope is that this will spur economic development and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Arts and Culture

It’s no secret that Lori McKinney and the Riff-Raff Arts Collective has been doing amazing work in Princeton. Through focusing on arts, music and culture, they have basically created an economic sector from scratch. Why not try it in other places?

That’s a big reason Lori created the Create Your State concert series, traveling with her band to struggling communities around the state to teach them about creative placemaking through performance. Lori shows other communities that they can create amazing things as well.

Through focusing on arts, music and culture, they have created an economic sector from scratch. Why not try it in other places?

It was through this performance that Lori met Craig Snow of Warrior Creek Development, who has been renovating a blighted building in downtown Welch. Craig also has a passion for the arts.

Craig is working with Lori to develop an arts plan that can work for McDowell County. They were awarded a $2,000 mini-grant to start hosting regular open mic nights in town, create an Artist’s Alley mural series, and add a space to display art in the very building Craig is working to develop.

McDowell County has loads of creative and artistic people living there already – perhaps this project can pull them together.

In Boone County, Locals Get To Work on Making Madison a Destination City

02.24.17

Photo by Steven Pisano/FlickrCC

As someone that grew up in the Madison-Danville area, it has been a joy to bring the Innovation Acceleration Strategy (IAS) program to my home community.

The people here have been so motivated and dedicated that we were happy to provide mini-grant funding to their projects.

Arts and Culture

Given that I’ve been working closely with the Arts and Culture team in Madison, I took no part in the judging of this round of the mini-grant proposals! But I have always had a passion for the arts and it has been a joy working with other passionate people close to home.

The team and I developed a plan to expand the Arts, while also showing that it can lead to real economic impact.

A theater festival, a music festival and a film festival – appealing to outside visitors, while still cultivating our own local talent.

Our plan is to host three arts festivals, each focusing on different genres. The details on these are still coming together, but we want to hold a theater festival, a music festival and a film festival. Each festival will also include an element of visual arts, be it an art auction, an artisan vending area or an art show in the lobby.

We understand the importance of appealing to outside visitors, while still cultivating our own local talent. Each event will pull from our own pool of creatives. We want to show that there are amazing things to experience Boone County, while providing economic opportunities to local artists.

We were pleased to be awarded $2,000 to makes these visions a reality.

Photo by Coal River Group – www.facebook.com/CRGWV/

Recreation and Tourism

Little Coal River Group

The Recreation and Tourism team in Madison is one of our largest teams in the IAS program. Since the beginning, they have been a group of hardworking individuals that love the adventure Madison’s natural beauty has to offer.

The team leader, Joe Linville, is a prime example. He was only exposed to kayaking the Little Coal River in the past couple of years, and now you can’t keep him out. He even went for a ride in January this year.

Not only does he love it, he also wants to see it grow. He has already started working on founding the Little Coal River Group, a branch of the already highly successful Coal River Group.

He was also just awarded a mini-grant for $2,000 for signage along the Little Coal River, making it easier to navigate and for emergency service personnel to find kayakers in the event of an accident.

His team also plans to install an additional boat ramp, making it easier to put in and take out boats.

Scott High School Track

And that’s not all – now, the Madison Recreation and Tourism team has received a second mini-grant.

A way to host cross country meets and bring in loads of students from across the state.

At their first meeting, the team discussed several projects. The one that kept coming up was the idea to create a cross country track behind Scott High School. The team has since recruited Scott High Cross Country coach Heather Graffius, and she has truly run with the project!

They plan to use this second $2,000 grant to map out and create the track. They hope this will not only be a way to host cross country meets and bring in loads of students from across the state, but also provide an additional recreational activity for locals and tourists.

Good luck to all our hardworking and passionate IAS teams in Madison!

You can keep up to date with the all the of news
coming out of our IAS communities at The Hub’s IAS blog feed!

Free Webinar Explores the Tourism Potential of West Virginia’s Rivers

02.22.17

Photo by Alfred Crabtree/FlickrCC

Time for another free community development webinar!

The Hub’s Innovation Acceleration Strategy program, in collaboration with the International Economic Development Council, brings you a webinar this week on:

Rivers as an Attraction for Tourism and Business Development
Wednesday, Feb. 15
10 – 11:30 a.m.

Speakers include:

David Kahley, President of The Progress Fund, Greensburg PA
Chris Muskopf, Cambridge Seven Associates, Cambridge MA
Lyz Crane, Deputy Director, ArtPlace America, Brooklyn NY

These webinars will continue over the next two months, focusing on economic development topics such as how to deal with dilapidated buildings and opportunities for heritage tourism.

The webinars are free, and although they are designed to focus specifically on economic development opportunities in coalfield communities, they are open to everyone.

Best Practices for Dealing with Dilapidated and Abandoned Properties
Feb. 23
10 – 11:30 a.m.

Preserving our Stories – Opportunities for Heritage Tourism
Mar. 15
10 – 11:30 a.m.

Maximizing the use of Federal and State Tools for Economic Development
Mar. 23
10 – 11:30 a.m.

Here’s where you can sign up for any of these webinars.

Free Webinar Explores Dealing With West Virginia’s Abandoned Buildings

02.20.17

Photo by Gene/FlickrCC

The Hub’s Innovation Acceleration Strategy program, in collaboration with the International Economic Development Council, continues our webinar series this week!

On deck is:

Best Practices for Dealing with Dilapidated and Abandoned Properties
Thursday, Feb. 23
10 – 11:30 a.m.

Click here to register, and for more info.

Speakers include:

Hrishue Mahalaha Senior Partner, JumpStart Inc., Cleveland OH
Christine Butterfield Sr. Management Advisor, Management Partners, San Jose CA
Marlee Gallagher Communications Coordinator, Wilkinsburg CDC, PA

The webinars are free, and although they are designed to focus specifically on economic development opportunities in coalfield communities, they are open to all.

Click here to sign up for this webinar and for the upcoming webinars listed below.

Preserving our Stories – Opportunities for Heritage Tourism
Mar. 15
10 – 11:30 a.m.

Maximizing the use of Federal and State Tools for Economic Development
Mar. 23
10 – 11:30 a.m.