More than 40 economic and workforce development projects in coal communities nationwide have received a total of over $28 million in federal funding through the second round of awards under the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative, the White House announced Wednesday. “The POWER initiative exemplifies a collaborative approach to federal partnership with communities that President Obama and his Administration have steadily advanced,” a White House fact sheet says.
The 42 projects receiving funding are located in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Washington, Indiana, Arizona, Michigan, and Montana.
Included in the funding is a $3 million grant for the Friends of Southwest Virginia to enhance the outdoor recreation industry in southwestern Virginia; $2 million for the City of Bluefield, W.Va., to support the rehabilitation and transformation of an existing 50,000-square-foot freight station into an incubator; and a $1.8 million grant for the Appalachian Wildlife Foundation Inc. in Corbin, Ky., to install water infrastructure at the future site of the Appalachian Wildlife Center.
The awards will be administered by the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.
The first round of awards totaled 38.8 million and was announced in late August.