These Southwestern PA orgs will use new POWER grants for tech training and biz boosting

Pittsburgh may be looking toward a tech-driven future, but much of the surrounding region is still recovering from a coal-centric past. One organization is trying to bridge that gap.

Today, the Appalachian Regional Commission announced 21 recipients of $21 million in investments across 211 counties through its Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) initiative.

An economic development partnership agency, ARC works with the federal government and 13 state governments to spur investment in the Appalachian region. The POWER program brings federal resources to revitalize economies affected by the loss of jobs associated with coal mining and related work.

ARC’s impact

The 21 investments are expected to create or retain nearly 1,200 jobs and prepare over 14,000 students and prospective employees for jobs in technology, manufacturing, entrepreneurship, tourism and more. Pennsylvania, for its part, received a total investment of over $4.1 million across six projects, including ones from organizations in the southwestern and central parts of the state.

The granting organization offers a way for local officials, nonprofit leaders, businesses and more to collaborate for the goal of economic development.

“When the ARC was formed, it was formed on a very specific mission and in a very specific way. The mission was to create parity between the Appalachian region and the rest of the country,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin — who is also the wife of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin — in a press conference for the awards this morning. “It’s not one person or one entity. It is this combination, and over the years that’s why I believe the ARC has been so effective, because that pattern is never changed.”

Since the establishment of ARC’s POWER initiative in 2015, the commission has invested over $316.6 million across 393 projects. The organization said that those investments have helped support the creation or retention of over 36,600 jobs in addition to training nearly 14,300 workers and students for work in entrepreneurship, broadband development, tourism and more.

Southwestern PA funding

In Pittsburgh specifically, just under $500,000 will go to the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Computing and Information for its applied data-driven methods graduate certificate program. The new funding will provide tuition scholarships and other financial support to low-income students from Fayette and Westmoreland counties for the program. Meanwhile, employer partners of the program including the National Energy Technology Laboratory, Argo AI, Federated Hermes and SAP will also provide students with internships, mentoring activities and resume reviews.

Overall, the program estimates that it will be able to provide $8,000 scholarship awards to each student who qualifies across three annual cohorts of 18 students. The estimated 90% program retention rate should place around 45 students into the local STEM workforce across 15 businesses, a description of the project said.

We are #PAProud to say #Pennsylvania has 6 of those 21 projects that will receive @ARCgov funding! 🎉More than $4.1M will support projects that support customized #WorkforceInPA training, small business counseling, and more. Check out the projects funded: https://t.co/OznMRIzh4j https://t.co/DUTRZK7jxY

— PA Department of Community & Economic Development (@PADCEDnews) March 17, 2022

Other award recipients near the Pittsburgh region included the Butler-based Tri-County Workforce Investment Board’s Steamfitter’s Advanced Employment and Training Program, which will use its grant of $1.12 million to train employees in needed industry skills in collaboration with a local steamfitters union. The Westmoreland Community College will use its award of nearly $700,000 to support its energy and advanced manufacturing economic development program, Tristate Pathways 2.0.

And in the realm of entrepreneurship, the Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission will put its roughly $500,000 grant toward its ecommerce program, Alleghenies Marketplace, to support online sales for Startup Alleghenies Entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, the Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Council on the Arts will put its $500,000 toward the Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator, which focuses on ventures across marketing, architecture, design, media, visual arts, music, publishing and craft manufacturing.

Applications for another round of POWER grants are currently open for a chance to receive implementation grants of up to $1.5 million and planning grants of up to $50,000. Information on how to submit relevant proposals can be found here. The deadline is Friday, Apr. 29.

Sophie Burkholder is a 2021-2022 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.