Got a POWER Grant? Want a POWER Grant? Join us on April 4th in Charleston!

BY STEPHANIE TYREE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE HUB

The Hub is joining together with the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation to host a workshop on April 4 to support WV projects that have received federal POWER funding, as well as project teams that are considering applying for funding before the May 1 deadline.

All across the state we see projects that are building a stronger diversified economy for West Virginia.

ARC POWER funding has supported many of these projects with grants over the past two years. These projects range from building beekeeping collaboratives, to developing entrepreneurial ecosystems in local towns, to supporting business development along the Hatfield-McCoy trail and dozens of others. What they all have in common is a big vision of what a stronger economy looks like for West Virginia, and public and private investment that is helping to make that vision a reality.

Every quarter, The Hub works with our partners to convene a workshop for POWER grantees to help project leads tackle continuing challenges they are having in their projects, to connect with other projects in their sectors, and to connect projects that are working in the same county or region. The goal of these workshops is to help your project achieve the highest level of success possible.

This upcoming workshop will have two primary focuses.

First, participants will be getting connected with grantees that work in the same geographic region to understand what projects are in progress across the multiple sectors supported by POWER funding. Grantees will be encouraged to connect with other projects happening nearby, to share resources and to learn how each project is placed within the larger pipeline of diverse rural economic development. Significant time will be provided for project sharing, networking and resource and support needs identification.

Second, the workshop will provide space for participants who are planning on applying for a POWER grant in 2018 to see how their grant project fits in with current WV projects, to find potential new partners, and to think about how they can frame their project as an essential element of the economic diversification pipeline in West Virginia.

2018 POWER grants will be highly competitive – particularly for grants based in West Virginia as our state has received a significant portion of the federal funding. How can you make the case that limited federal resources should go here instead of to another state that has received less funding in previous years?

Join us on April 4th to help take your current project to the next level or to help build a stronger proposal for a new project – or both!

Space is limited. RSVP here by March 30th.