Floyd County, Kentucky
community case study

in Floyd County, Kentucky, community members found strength in growing their table.

Located in the eastern part of Kentucky, Floyd County is nestled in the Appalachian footprint. They are no stranger to the challenges and opportunities that communities across the Appalachian region are facing as they work to push forward their own community development. In July of 2022, Floyd County, Kentucky was devastated by severe flooding, something many Appalachians are familiar with in their lives. In the aftermath, community members, local governments, and nonprofit organizations knew that they would need to come together to start rebuilding and creating a new future for their communities. This would kickstart a years-long collaborative effort to rebuild and bring the larger county community together for the betterment of everyone who calls Floyd County, Kentucky home.

Over the next two years, the core team of community members and government officials who have worked for the county started to reach out for support in standing up necessary improvement plans including housing, workforce development, and local business development. With a population of 34,423, the team quickly learned that there were people and organizations that have been doing work on their own that, when included in the team, expanded the reach and possibilities of what was possible for Floyd County, Kentucky.

*Floyd County, Kentucky is part of The Hub’s first cohort of the Building Resilient Economies in Coal Communities (BRECC) initiative created by the National Association of Counties (NACo).*

Rural Community Building Best Practices

Appalachian communities of all sizes are engaging in innovative work. Many of these communities exemplify our Rural Community Building Best Practices, guideposts identified through evidence-based research processes. By looking to these communities as models, we can work together to replicate small wins and major successes.

The community of Floyd County, Kentucky exemplify:

  • Maintaining and growing volunteerism and civic engagement
  • Utilizing a system of support
  • Leveraging financial opportunities

maintaining and growing volunteerism and civic engagement

One of Floyd County, Kentucky’s greatest strengths in their community development work has been leaning on volunteerism and civic engagement. Through the BRECC initiative, the core team members found themselves in a place where they needed to bring more people to the table. In the past, decisions to make changes fell on a small group of people who were putting in the work and managing several projects at once.

“In Floyd County, it has always fallen to the judge to try to drive things forward without a lot of help, sometimes even, sadly, pushback,” Missy Allen, the ARPA Grants Director/Special Projects at Floyd County Fiscal Court and BRECC community team member, says. “We had people who were stepping up and willing to move the entire county forward. That’s something that I have honestly not seen in the past. I grew up here. I’ve spent my life here. It has been very heartwarming to me to see people who have come forward and are still wanting to work together to help the judge and mayors.”

Something that the core team members learned through the yearlong process of BRECC was the importance of building trust with the dedicated people and organizations that stepped up to help. Specifically, the community team was grateful and impressed with the enthusiasm from the Mountain Association in diving into the work. The nonprofit based in Berea, Kentucky, had never been invited to work alongside the people doing the work for Floyd County, Kentucky but once the lines of communication were opened the BRECC community team found them to be a crucial part of the work before them.

Additionally, the BRECC community team was able to tap into AmeriCorps VISTAs serving in the area to stand up work and offer support to Allen. Another partner that Floyd County, Kentucky leaned into was officials from the K-12 educational system. The input from both officials and students in the school system has offered insight that was often excluded from younger Floyd County, Kentucky residents who also want to see their communities grow and create opportunities.

The collaborative effort of people and organizations coming together to work for the betterment of Floyd County, Kentucky has been transformational for morale. Growing their table to include more voices from different professional and organizational backgrounds has given Floyd County, Kentucky valuable insight into what their broader community wants to see happen.

There were some organizations that weren't there so we invited them and I think that made a much stronger plan.

Ruthie Caldwell - Project Manager and Grant Writer
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utilizing a system of support

The core team members understand that the work happening in Floyd County, Kentucky could not happen without leaning into the systems of support that they found and strengthened. The BRECC initiative gave them a year to create a plan and bring people into the fold to create and refine a plan to move several projects forward. Not only did they find the support system they created to be helpful, they are grateful for the coaching they received from The Hub’s Community Coaching Coordinator V Konopka.

Like so many others, the team members saw the work that was laid out before them and felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume but by leaning into support systems, they felt encouraged and empowered.

“V was just so positive and laid out some clear expectations at the beginning. They coordinated the meetings to happen and then really, at the home stretch, I just don’t think that we had the capacity after the flood and everything to get it written,” Caldwell says. “Without them, it would not have moved forward or happened.”

Participating in the BRECC initiative was also an important part of the support system they cultivated. As the team joined calls and meetings, they found resources coming their way they didn’t know existed. Partners came forward with opportunities to help Floyd County, Kentucky and the team committed to following through with them.

Allen was alerted to the Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) READY Government training and dived in to learn as much as she could to move things forward in concrete ways. The Rocky Mountain Institute, an organization the team learned about through BRECC, was instrumental in further surfacing opportunities that benefited the community’s work.

The support was also an internal matter. For years, the team members had been working to benefit Floyd County, Kentucky but had not really worked together. Through BRECC and the coaching from The Hub, the various BRECC community team members learned about each other’s work and how they could work together. This has manifested in grant writing capacity that was previously limited thanks to team members stepping up and offering to support one another in the work.

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Leveraging financial opportunities

Community development work is reliant on finding and leveraging financial opportunities to create projects and stand-up work. This is something that the Floyd County, Kentucky community has learned together.

With a larger team working together, Floyd County, Kentucky has started to seek more financial opportunities that do more to push the work forward than they could have imagined. Through the BRECC initiative, the doors opened for them to seek funding that they previously thought would be out of reach.

The team has focused on working with the local area development district to continue going after funding through the Community Development Block Grants Program (CDBG). These grants support community development activities to build stronger and more resilient communities.

Showing up has just been so important too. The more people we meet, the more connections happen.

Ruthie Caldwell

Through their work, the Floyd County, Kentucky BRECC team was able to apply for and get awarded a $100,000 grant from the Capacity Building for Repurposing Energy Assets through the Department of Energy. Floyd County, Kentucky was one of eight communities awarded the funding in January of 2024. This award is something the community team agree was made possible thanks to The Hub’s coaching and connections with organizations brought to the table in their meetings.

The Capacity Building for Repurposing Energy Assets funding helps communities build up the technical capacity and help develop a workforce communities need to revitalize energy systems, address environmental impacts, and tackle challenges associated with energy assets that have been retired, or are slated for retirement.

These financial opportunities have also led to Floyd County, Kentucky team members being invited to speak in front of federal agencies about the work they are doing. Caldwell was invited to speak in front of the Interagency Working Group on Coal & Power Plant Communities & Economic Revitalization.

Thanks to the speaking opportunity, Floyd County, Kentucky was visited by a group from Stanford. The group visited and looked over Floyd County, Kentucky’s coal asset map they created and helped to create guidance on how to bring in investors. The advice given to Floyd County, Kentucky focused on what investors are looking for when looking to take over former coal properties and turn them into clean energy projects. This, according to the team, put Floyd County, Kentucky on the map as a place of focus when it comes to transitioning away from coal.

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Partner Feature:

Our work is made possible thanks to incredible partnerships with other community development organizations across the state. From local economic development authorities (EDAs) to state level nonprofits working to uplift communities, all of our partners are crucial in making West Virginia the best it can possibly be by working together.One partner that made our work truly profound this year is Coalfield Development. For years, Coalfield Development has worked to rebuild Appalachian communities by inspiring the courage to grow, activating the creativity to innovate, and cultivating communities of opportunity in central Appalachia.We are proud to be part of Coalfield Development’s ACT Now Coalition, a broad network of organizations working hand-in-hand to uplift communities throughout Southern West Virginia. The ACT Now Coalition is infusing more than $63 million into programs to help communities using business development, building revitalization, and so much more.The Hub is leading the Community and Business Resilience Initiative as part of the larger ACT Now Coalition to bring other partners with us to build up community and business resilience in the Coalition’s footprint.“For decades, we’ve known the economy of southern West Virginia needs diversification. Some progress has been made on this goal, but not nearly enough,” Brandon Dennison, CEO of Coalfield Development, said about the ACT Now Coalition. “ACT Now constitutes a tangible opportunity to take a major leap forward in this generational challenge to become a vibrant, growing, diversified economy. In the wake of continued coal-job losses, nothing could be more important for our region.”Our partnership with Coalfield Development is giving us a chance to take our work to new communities and to build upon our years of experience. Working alongside Coalfield Development in this large undertaking to bring $63.8 million to communities in Southern West Virginia is validation that the work happening to uplift West Virginia communities continues to grow.

Community Feature:

The Hub works alongside communities across West Virginia coaching community teams as they come together to make transformative changes in their towns. In 2022, one town stands out for its continued work and unwavering commitment to making its community a place where people want to live, work, play, and visit.Petersburg, located in Grant County at the northernmost point of the Mon Forest, is filled with community members who want to make their town a destination. Not only have businesses opened, and stayed open, the town has transformed the way they present to the world through rebranding and outdoor recreational development.As part of the HubCAP IV program, Petersburg utilized its technical assistance to push forward with projects to bring transformative change to its community. Part of the work Petersburg worked towards was creating plans to pave a hike and bike trail that runs along the Petersburg dike. The proposed trail will run approximately three miles along the Petersburg dike and will include multiple entrances for walkers and bikers. The group secured a $25,000 grant from Senator Hamilton, which was matched locally by the City of Petersburg, the County Commission, and the Board of Education, each adding an equal share to bring the total to $50,000.This year, Petersburg witnessed a major upgrade to one of the town’s most iconic and historic structures: The Hermitage Inn. The hotel, which dates back to 1841, has been renovated and once again welcomes guests to stay the night and have a nice dinner in the restaurant.The Hermitage Inn is the first project initiated and completed as part of the Downtown Appalachia: Revitalizing Recreational Economies (DARRE) program. Seeing the old hotel returned to its majesty has been an incredible development for Petersburg adding another jewel to the downtown area.Seeing Hub communities come together to create transformative change thrills us. Community members are the subject matter experts on what their towns need. Our commitment to accompaniment and walking alongside communities as they do the hard work guides us in our work. Celebrating their victories with them gives us a moment to uplift those making the work happen.

DEI Journey:

Since 2018, The Hub has been working diligently to bring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into our work. For years, the organization has been working internally to expand on one of our core values: “We believe diversity creates strength.”We believe that now is a time when we must work from the ground up to commit to long-term efforts to build power through leadership development, programmatic strategies, and partnerships that commit to building power and advancing racial equity.Looking back at our organizational history, we acknowledge that our work in rural communities with populations of less than 15,000 has not reached a diverse cross-section of people in West Virginia. Because of this, we began to ask, “Who isn’t here?” when examining our involvement in communities. The social unrest in 2020 led us to examine our role in white supremacy, ableism, classism, and gender discrimination, and the ways we have perpetuated unjust systems in our communities and across West Virginia.Since 2020, our equity journey has included a staff racial equity learning series, making internal commitments to increasing our hiring and retainment of diverse staff including creating full-time Racial Equity Fellowship and VISTA positions, committing to increased coaching for rural communities of color across the state, and tackling the inherent challenges of advancing equity across the community development field within a highly rural, majority white state where Black and brown leadership has been historically marginalized and under-invested.Our belief in the power of local people to see the value and the potential of their place, and of each other, is at the core of our belief in the potential we have to build power in West Virginia to advance racial equity, inclusion, and accessibility while disrupting systems that have historically excluded some communities.We are committed to engaging in conversations to uplift communities and leaders of color to move from talk to action on why race matters in West Virginia as we work to disrupt these systems. We will support investment in Black-led organizations and rural Black leadership. And we are committed to driving public and private investments into these spaces, both organizational and geographic.

Grafton

A core team led by Unleash Tygart, Inc participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support a community development project located in an Opportunity Zone.

Huntington

Core teams led by Thundercloud, Inc. and the City of Huntington participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support community development projects located in Opportunity Zones.

Charleston

A core team led by Crawford Holdings, LLC participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support a community development project located in an Opportunity Zone.

White Sulphur Springs

Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.

Petersburg

Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.

Marlinton

Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.

Franklin

Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.

Elkins

Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies. 

A core team led by Woodlands Development Group also participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support a community development project located in an Opportunity Zone.

Cowen

Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies. Read their community case study.

Parsons

Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.

New Martinsville

Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Read their community case study.

Monticello Neighborhood of Clarksburg

Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Watch their community documentary.

Meadow River Valley Region

Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Read their community case study.

Lewis County

Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.

Kingwood

Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.

Smithers

Residents participated in the Cultivate WV program to kickstart community and economy building. Read their community case study.

Montgomery

Residents participated in the Cultivate WV program to kickstart community and economy building. Read their community case study.

Message from our Executive Leadership Team

It has been a year of abundant opportunities and partnerships across the state, and a year that has pushed all of us to work harder, faster, and smarter – together.At The Hub, we say that “the work works when you put in the work.” This means that our approach to community-based development, and individual leadership development, really does transform local communities, especially when we all work together for the same goal, and stay committed to working together for the long haul.In 2023, we continued to be amazed at the local leadership, drive and innovation we saw in communities throughout the state that are building locally-driven development from the ground up. Our network of community leaders, partners and opportunities keeps growing and shows no signs of slowing in 2024!

We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone for being part of the larger Hub community as we reflect on this year’s deep impact in West Virginia communities through our work. We are thrilled to have champions who believe in our mission that every community in West Virginia can achieve economic growth when they are supported with the tools and training they need to lead and spark positive change.

We believe strongly in the fact that putting in the work yourself to improve your neighborhood, your town, and our state is where true transformational change happens. With strategic partners and thought leaders like you in the work with us, we continue to be able to walk alongside community teams as they do the work to uplift their communities.Thank you to all of the community teams and leaders who are brave enough to keep showing up every day, and putting in thousands of hours of volunteer time to support your communities and the entire state. Your determination in the face of difficult work and far-off successes is something to applaud yourself for – and to celebrate.Whether you’re volunteering on the ground in your community, sharing our stories of hope with your friends and neighbors, or attending a virtual event with The Hub, your participation in our work is what keeps it going. Thank you for all your work and support this past year, and we are excited to continue in the work with you in 2024!In Continued Accompaniment,

– WV Community Development Hub
Executive Leadership Team

Stephanie Tyree

Executive Director

Amanda Workman Scott

Director of Community Engagement

Katie Loudin

Director of Strategic Development