Accelerate MS awarded $100,00 grant to help coal workers
The Appalachian Regional Commission presented a grant to Accelerate MS at their annual conference in Starkville.
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Economic development experts from 13 states are meeting in Starkville this week.
It’s a unique federal and state partnership working to improve the economic outlook of the Appalachian Region, including Northeast Mississippi and North Alabama.
One of the current projects of the Appalachian Regional Commission is creating a pipeline between coal mine communities and advanced manufacturing jobs.
On Wednesday, June 3, the ARC awarded a 100- thousand-dollar POWER grant to Accelerate Mississippi’s program, “Magnolia Makes: Coal to Advanced Manufacturing Careers,” to support that pipeline.
“This $100, 000 grant, it really allows us to continue our mission in taking workers and training them for the jobs not of the last 50 years but the next 50 years,” said Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves.
“So, that is the mission of ARC is to create economic development throughout our Appalachian region so that the people who live in this region will have the same opportunities and same possibilities as people living anywhere in this country,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Machin.
With POWER Grants, ARC leaders say they aim to expand opportunities in Appalachia’s coal communities and help workers transition to new, advanced jobs.
“This goes back to coal-impacted communities, communities that are now re-inventing their communities and looking at other industries in ways to regrow and reinvigorate,” said Manchin.
The ARC serves communities in 13 states stretching from North Mississippi to Southern New York.
This year’s theme of the ARC conference is “Appalachia Builds: Breaking Ground for Economic Growth.”
The conference at The Mill is focused on development projects that help Appalachia strengthen workforce participation.
“There will be programs on how to write grants, how to secure funding for your project … (Participants can) come and see other projects that have worked, that you learn from,” said Manchin.
Governor Tate Reeves is the Mississippi state co-chair for the ARC.
The ARC conference lasts until Thursday at the Mill.
