Summary:

The purpose of this program is to foster creative collaboration across state lines to produce a more robust and sustainable regional economy. Other purposes of this program include creating economic mobility; addressing historic inequities for marginalized, underserved, and under-represented communities; and producing high-quality employment for workers who reside in the Appalachian Region, enabling them to remain and thrive in these communities. This program rests on the observation that significant economic opportunities often reach across state lines and that achieving the maximum economic impact from these can demand a multistate approach.

Program resources are intended to have a transformational impact on the Appalachian Region, and proposals must meet the following criteria:

• Multistate focus: projects must have multistate partnerships with at least one partner from each state within the project area
• Targeted to advance multistate economies: applicants must have assessed their assets and opportunities and have formulated a plan that significantly advances the economies of multiple states
• Assessment and planning: each project receiving implementation funding should have a well-articulated analysis of how and why it will improve the current economy and communities of the region involved
• Demonstrable collaboration among all partners: each multistate partnership must be demonstrable and equitable, with shared input, goals, accountability, and benefits for each partner
• Leverage regional resources: projects should demonstrate multistate commitment to the proposed project by leveraging the funding agency's resources with monetary and non-monetary investments from strategic partners, including private and philanthropic organizations and government entities
• Outcome-driven: projects should define specific output and outcome measures for each partner, demonstrate how the project is designed to achieve those outcomes, and commit to capturing and sharing those measures over the life of the investment

Projects must advance one or more of the following five strategic investment priorities of the funding agency's strategic plan:

• Building Appalachian businesses
• Building Appalachia's workforce ecosystem
• Building Appalachia's infrastructure
• Building regional culture and tourism
• Building community leaders and capacity

Refer to pages 18-30 of the StrategicPlan file for additional information regarding these five strategic investment priorities.

Funding will be provided for the following program components:

• (Part A): Planning Grants
• (Part B): Implementation Grants

The purpose of the Planning Grants component is to provide time, resources, and support for the partnership building essential to projects that bridge to the Implementation Grants component. In order to yield a compelling implementation proposal, applicants are encouraged to apply for planning awards before applying to implementation awards. Upon the conclusion of planning awards and prior to applying for implementation awards, the funding agency will require a formal plan to be submitted. The formal plan must outline the roles of each partner, funding allocations, communication expectations, agreed-upon overall outcomes, timelines, and budgets.

The proposed scope of work must address the priority areas of advancing equity by engaging underserved communities and designing plans for future projects so that underserved communities enjoy equitable access to the benefits and opportunities of those projects; and/or addressing the climate crisis through resilient and energy-efficient project design.

Awards will allow flexibility for funding to include a neutral facilitator, if requested, who is not an active project participant with the other partners and does not have a stake in the project, other than the success of the project itself. Refer to page 6 of the NOFA file for additional information.

An optional pre-application workshop is scheduled for this program. Refer to the Application section for additional information.

Eligibility is limited to projects that serve and benefit at least two states within a portion of the Appalachian Region as defined by the Appalachian Regional Development Act (ARDA) of 1965, as amended. Refer to the Eligibility section for additional information.

Last Updated: May 22, 2024