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This discussion is targeted at potential applicants for ARC POWER funding in 2022 (and future years). Learn strategies and guidance from successful previous POWER grantees, funders, West Virginia state-level Appalachian Region Commission leads, and the Appalachian Regional Commission POWER Program Coordinator. Panelists will share strategies and best practices on putting together highly-ranked, competitive applications for technical assistance and implementation projects and tips on the timeline for putting together POWER project collaborations. Learn who you need to be working with, when you need to be engaging state and federal agencies, and how administrative agency partners may be able to help you put together a POWER project that scales your current work across multiple regions or states.
Krista Cox is the Appalachian Regional Commission Specialist with West Virginia Community Advancement and Development, a Division of the West Virginia Department of Economic Development.
Mary Hunt is the Program Director for Community and Economic Development for the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation based in Pittsburgh serving all of West Virginia and four counties in southwestern Pennsylvania. In her program areas Mary works with nonprofits, local, state and federal governments as well as educational institutions. Prior to joining the Benedum Foundation, she held community development and administrative management positions at the local and state government levels and a private corporation in West Virginia. She holds a BS in Sociology and MS in Public Administration. Mary’s work at the Foundation focuses on Rural and Technology-Based Economic Development, Entrepreneurship, Community Capacity Building and Civic Engagement. She serves on several advisory councils and boards which advance the efforts supported by the Foundation.
Braedon Koerwitz is the POWER Program Coordinator at the Appalachian Regional Commission, serving since 2018. In this role, he oversees the entire POWER application cycle from outreach to the review process. Before ARC, he worked in commercial real estate research as well as at a downtown BID in North Carolina. He graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2015 with a degree in Geography.
Katie Loudin is the Director of Strategic Development with the West Virginia Community Development Hub. Katie has been with The Hub since May, coordinating financial management, grant writing, and staff leadership development as part of the executive leadership team. Katie loves her role at The Hub because she lives in Buckhannon, one of The Hub’s first Communities of Achievement (HubCAP), where she sees The Hub’s influence throughout the community on Main Street and downtown at Jawbone Park. Katie is active in Create Buckhannon and is the vice-president of the Upshur County Board of Education. When she’s not working, she’s singing, cooking, playing with her boys, and enjoying time with her family.
ARC POWER Project:
Downtown Appalachia Redevelopment Initiative
Project Resources:
Sarah Riley is the Executive Director of High Rocks Education Corporation. Sarah grew up in Pocahontas County and then went off to conquer Harvard University. She graduated with honors with a BA in history with a focus on economic underdevelopment and a slew of theater experiences. She was a founding partner with Susan Burt in High Rocks and has been planning, teaching, counseling, fundraising, networking and building this place in one way or another since 1996. Sarah was named one of 40 under 40 emerging leaders in West Virginia in 2009. In 2014, WV Focus Magazine featured Sarah as one of West Virginia’s “Wonder Women” in their premiere issue. In 2015, the Appalachian Studies Association awarded Sarah the prestigious Helen Lewis Community Service Award for outstanding community service to Appalachia and its people. Sarah was honored as a 2015 Zenith Award winner for exemplary service the Greenbrier Valley of WV. In 2017, Sarah and the High Rocks were awarded the state WV Red Wagon Award for helping WV children, and in 2019 Sarah was honored with the Power of Performance Award for changing lives across southern WV. Sarah has four children and lives happily on the family farm her husband grew up on, raising local meats, eggs and produce. She is grateful to still be working with her mother, Susan Burt.
ARC POWER Project: The Market Fail; Power Skills and the Social Enterprise Mindest: WV Jobs Network
Victoria Stansberry is the Project Coordinator for the Lewis County Blueprint Community. Before life serendipitously led her to community development in early 2021, her experiences included alumni relations, selling seafood and teaching world languages. As the product of a rural community, she is proud to continue the type of work she has no doubt benefitted from throughout the years. Victoria holds a bachelor’s degree of business administration from Evangel University where she graduated with honors. When she is not sweating a deadline, Victoria works to improve her French and Spanish or takes long drives dotted with frequent ice cream stops.
ARC POWER Project: Lewis County Greenways: A Feasibility Study
As the Broadband Coordinator at Generation WV, Natalie Roper leads the organization’s Locally Driven Broadband Solutions project, an initiative in partnership with the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. Having served as the first Executive Director of GWV, she is now supporting the organization’s mission in a new way. With an understanding of how critical broadband access is to attracting, retaining, and advancing young people in the Mountain State, she works to leverage GWV’s statewide network of people and partner organizations to support communities in building broadband solutions that work for them. When not working on this initiative at GWV, she can be found developing new initiatives to support coal-impacted communities as the Director of Special Projects at the Just Transition Fund.
John Tuggle is currently the Executive Director of West Virginia’s Region 4 Planning and Development Council serving five counties in south eastern West Virginia. Since 2013 Director Tuggle has led his staff to become one of the most active PDC’s in the state with grants ranging from ARC, CDBG, POWER, to Covid Recovery and Hazard Mitigation which has brought in millions of dollars to support economic development and fund infrastructure improvements. He has also been instrumental in leading the charge for various ARC initiatives of all types with POWER funded projects currently being at the top of the list. Director Tuggle is a licensed engineer in three States and has served many communities throughout the West Virginia and beyond with his expertise and 40 years of experience. Director Tuggle is affiliated with several state and national associations such as the Development District Association of Appalachia, the National Association of Development Organizations, and the West Virginia Economic Development Corporation among others. His sincere desire to see West Virginians prosper and his proven leadership abilities inspire his staff to meet the challenges West Virginia faces head on with drive and determination.
ARC POWER Projects:
Project Resources:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
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.
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.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Watch their community documentary.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.
Residents participated in the Cultivate WV program to kickstart community and economy building. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Cultivate WV program to kickstart community and economy building. Read their community case study.
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,