Nearly $2.3 million in workforce development opportunity grants were awarded for 22 projects throughout Virginia.

Grant recipients will focus program efforts on boosting outreach and education for youth, providing technical and soft skill training, and increasing work-based learning opportunities, such as internships and apprenticeships.

The programs are designed to help disadvantaged youth and help remove barriers of entry for individuals seeking meaningful employment.

“While Virginia’s labor force participation has hit historic levels, we need to keep our foot on the accelerator,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “In order to keep Virginia competitive for future economic growth, we must continue to invest in results-oriented programs that boost our workforce readiness.”

Grants like these provide resources to programs that help Virginians, said Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater.

“Whether it is exploring career opportunities with high school students or providing technical training to adults, these programs will help create pathways to successful careers for hard-working Virginians,” said Slater.

Youth outreach and marketing grant

The intent of this project is to develop and implement outreach programs that engage and inspire high school students to pursue education, training, and careers in the skilled trades. Outreach strategies must educate parents, students and guidance counselors on the benefits of skilled trades.

• Bay Consortium Local Workforce Development Area, Richmond County
• Central Virginia Local Workforce Development Area
• Greater Roanoke Local Workforce Development Area, Roanoke
• Hampton Roads Local Workforce Development Area, Virginia Beach
• Northern Virginia Community College

Transportation to learn grant

The intent of this project is to increase youth exposure to the benefits and opportunities of workforce development programs, such as registered apprenticeships and in- demand occupations. Projects should enable youth (in-school and/or out-of-school youth, 14 to 24 years of age) with barriers to employment to visit in-demand trades employment opportunities that are available in their local communities.

• Bay Consortium Local Workforce Development Area, Richmond County
• Greater Roanoke Local Workforce Development Area, Roanoke
• Hampton Roads Local Workforce Development Area, Virginia Beach
• Northern Virginia Community College

Technical skills training grant

The intent of these funds is to increase the number of technical training offerings in information technology and healthcare fields statewide to meet the growing needs of Virginia businesses.

• Community College Workforce Alliance/Reynolds Community College
• Greater Roanoke Local Workforce Development Area, Roanoke
• Pulaski County, New River Mount Rogers Local Workforce Development Area

Soft skills training grant

The intent of this project is to provide opportunities for innovative soft skills training to individuals in low income and disadvantaged, rural communities.

• New River Mount Rogers Local Workforce Development Area, Pulaski County
• West Piedmont Local Workforce Development Area, Pittsylvania County

Supplemental workforce development training opportunity grant

The intent of these funds is to increase the number of participants in workforce development training activities statewide, with a specific focus in work-based learning activities including, but not limited to, on-the-job training, registered apprenticeships, internships, and customized training. The training activities must lead to job placement in in-demand occupations.

• Arlington County Economic Development, Arlington
• Capital Region Local Workforce Development Area, Henrico County
• Central Virginia Local Workforce Development Area, Lynchburg
• Greater Roanoke Local Workforce Development Area, Roanoke
• Hampton Roads Local Workforce Development Area, Virginia Beach
• New River Mount Rogers Local Workforce Development Area, Pulaski County
• Northern Virginia Community College
• Northern Virginia Local Workforce Development Area, Fairfax County

The grants were awarded through an open bid process using funds from the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title 1 funds. Under the ACT, Title I funds are available to states for the development and support of programs that provide job search, education and training activities for adult, youth and dislocated workers seeking to gain or improve their employment prospects.

Each year, the governor has discretion over a portion of the funds that may be distributed to projects based on a competitive grant process.

More information can be found on the Virginia Career Works website.

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The Biden administration is becoming increasingly alarmed by the rapid growth of AI, and the growing number of exploitable weaknesses in artificial intelligence-related products.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is pushing AI companies to step up on the security front, before the terminators take over.

“While representing an important improvement upon the status quo, the voluntary commitments announced in July can be bolstered in key ways through additional commitments,” Warner wrote in a series of letters to tech companies including Apple, Midjourney, Mistral AI, Databricks, Scale AI, and Stability AI in which he requested a response detailing the steps they plan to take to increase the security of their products and prioritize transparency.

As AI is rolled out more broadly, researchers have repeatedly demonstrated a number of weaknesses in prominent products, including abilities to generate credible-seeming misinformation, develop malware, and craft sophisticated phishing techniques.

In July, the Biden administration announced that several AI companies had agreed to a series of voluntary commitments that would promote greater security and transparency.

The commitments were not fully comprehensive in scope or in participation, though, with many companies not publicly participating and several exploitable aspects of the technology left untouched by the commitments.

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You can’t go to Target, Walmart or the grocery store, it seems, without having Halloween stare you in the face, which is odd, given that, you know, Halloween is two and a half months away.

What’s going on with that?

Jadrian Wooten, an economics professor at Virginia Tech, explains what drives these early holiday displays.

Q: From an economics standpoint, why are we seeing Halloween appear in the stores as early as July?

“This is a great example of game theory in action. Retailers compete with each other to capture as much consumer spending as possible. By being the first to roll out their Halloween products, they’re trying to grab the early-bird shoppers and secure a bigger share of holiday spending. It’s a classic game of strategic timing — if one store puts stuff out earlier, others will likely follow to avoid losing out on those initial sales. If they’re late this year, they’ll be sure to make up for it next year.”

Q: Why is Halloween such big business?

“It’s a holiday that combines retail and entertainment — the ultimate spending combination. The National Retail Federation estimates that Americans spend around $10 billion on Halloween. It comes in just ahead of Fourth of July, Super Bowl, and St. Patrick’s Day.  People love to dress up, throw parties, and decorate their homes. Spending is practically built into this tradition and retailers are happy to offer shoppers everything from costumes and decorations to spooky-themed snacks. If retailers can have the holiday last for weeks, it gives businesses more time in those profits.”

Q: What role does spending on major holidays like Halloween play in the economy?

“Major holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are like mini-economic booms. They create spikes in consumer spending that are spaced out in regular intervals and can easily be tracked year-to-year.  That’s incredibly helpful for the retail and hospitality sectors.  The spending also creates a ripple effect to other adjacent industries. As holiday sales increase, businesses hire more employees who also spend more on stuff. There are also all the secondary industries impacted, like transportation, packaging, and advertising.”

Q: What about consumers who really go all out for Halloween?

“Holiday spending can provide excellent examples of the economic concept of conspicuous consumption — like that neighbor who’s always driving the newest car. In the context of Halloween, it’s really easy to see this with things like pet costumes: people like dressing their dogs up as superheroes and pumpkins. It’s a classic example of people spending money on things that showcase their social status or make a statement about having disposable income. It’s a reminder that our spending isn’t always about practicality. Sometimes people do things just to have fun and show off.”

Q: Is this sort of spending good or bad for the economy? 

“It’s like a double-edged sword. Holiday spending can help various industries and create seasonal jobs. It can boost consumer confidence — when people are out and about spending, it shows they’re feeling optimistic about their financial situations. If we’re looking at it from a consumerism angle, though, the downside is that increased holiday spending can take away from other important financial decisions like savings and investment. Also, I would argue that a bigger negative issue is that a lot of holiday-related products aren’t exactly environmentally friendly, which can have long-term consequences.”

Jadrian Wooten is collegiate associate professor with the Virginia Tech Department of Economics and is the author of Parks and Recreation and Economics. He has been featured in USA Today, Inside Higher Ed, WJLA ABC 7 Washington, D.C., and NBC News, among scores of other media outlets.

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Construction will begin next week on a $10 million Waynesboro road project that will open up the new city business and industry park to potential suitors.

Finally, right?

The two-lane, 1.6-mile Waynesboro Southern Corridor, which will run roughly parallel to Interstate 64 between exit 94 and exit 96, will extend Shenandoah Village Drive east to Lyndhurst Road, follow North Oak Lane to the South River, then cross into the Nature’s Crossing Technology Center to connect eventually at South Delphine Avenue.

The new road, which will take two years to complete, has been, in effect, 12 years in the making, as part of the slow road to development of Nature’s Crossing Technology Center, which has been taking forever to spring from the dirt following the politically controversial purchase of 170 acres of agricultural land back in 2011.

City leaders dawdled for several years over what to do with the $3.475 million of scrub brush that was spent to purchase the land from the political allies of former Mayor Frank Lucente, with Lucente himself saying in 2015 that he couldn’t support efforts to partner with VDOT to build the access road needed to open up the property for development out of concern that it “may not prove profitable.

Even as the do-little political leaders dragged their feet, work was done at the staff level to keep things moving forward, pushing the road project into the VDOT Six-Year Improvement Plan in 2013, and leading to the state transportation agency approving the project to qualify for SMART SCALE funding in 2016.

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Affordable and Special Needs housing loans are administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) with a combination of state and federal resources to provide a simplified and comprehensive application process.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced today that $52,224,544 in ASNH loans will support 49 projects across the Commonwealth. Funding will provide new construction and rehabilitation of more than 3,200 affordable and special needs housing units for low-income and extremely low-income households.

“Ensuring that Virginians have access to attainable, affordable, and inclusive housing is not only a fundamental need but also a strategic component for the prosperity of our state,” Youngkin said. “By bolstering the availability of affordable housing, we are planting the seeds of economic empowerment, by strengthening our communities, and ensuring a prosperous Virginia to live, work and raise a family for generations to come.”

ASNH loans are awarded through a competitive process. Sixty applications were received in this round of funding, requesting more than $105 million. The funded projects will leverage more than $992 million in additional federal, state, local and private lending resources.

“Accessible and affordable housing is the cornerstone of a thriving economy, and we are dedicated to aligning housing development resources to fulfill this vital requirement across Virginia,” Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick said. “As we continue to focus on our Make Virginia Home Plan, these projects will continue to increase our affordable housing by more than 3,200 units and foster a stronger Virginia for all.”

Key goals of the Youngkin administration, according to Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Director Bryan Horn, are increasing and preserving the stock of affordable housing units throughout Virginia and aligning housing affordability with economic growth.

“This program continues to be an invaluable resource for transforming our communities, reducing housing instability and strengthening our economy,” Horn said.

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There might finally be a new use for the old Coca-Cola bottling plant on North Augusta Street in Staunton. But does a craft brewery with a tasting room and a restaurant fit the surrounding neighborhood?

“I’ve lived here for 20 years. This has primarily been an old school, long-term Black neighborhood with great neighbors, great people. But in the past few years, we’ve seen some gentrification in this neighborhood, and the long-time residents are upset about that, and I can understand why,” said Christie Craig, who has lived in a home across the street from the building, which a Crozet businessman, John Schoeb, wants to repurpose into being a home for a new craft brewery.

Schoeb and his business partner, Andrew Massina, have had success with Pro Re Nata Brewery in Crozet, which opened in 2015 and has grown to include a brewery and taproom, a main taproom and a premier music venue.

The building that Schoeb wants to turn into a craft brewery on the edge of the downtown district in Staunton has been vacant since the late 1970s, when Coca-Cola moved its local bottling operations to a location in Jolivue, about a mile south of the city on U.S. 11.

The city has been looking for years to find a way to breathe new life into the long-vacant building, which sits at the intersection of North Augusta Street and Churchville Avenue, across the street from a thriving residential neighborhood and the Staunton Public Library.

The lack of on-site parking at the location is a big issue for any possible reuse. The final addition to the property in the early 1960s took away any room on the parcel for on-site parking, and a 1969 update to the city zoning code made the property legally non-conforming to the city’s parking requirements.

But a 2009 update to the city code added exceptions to the required off-street parking requirements to exempt commercial buildings with little or no front, side or rear setbacks.

“At that time, the property became exempt from providing off-street parking. As a result, no off-street parking can be required for this project,” according to a report on the proposed project written by Senior Planner Rodney Rhodes and City Planner Timothy Hartless, which also notes that “it does not appear that the applicant has any definitive plan for providing parking.”

The report from the planners also acknowledges issues raised by Craig with the potential for more traffic in the immediate area.

“If the rezoning is approved, the city will need to consider traffic flow, safety at pedestrian crossings, and available on-street parking in the area,” Rhodes and Hartless wrote in their report. “At this stage of the redevelopment plan, production of beer and a tasting room should not have tremendous impact on the area, but in the future, if a restaurant is added, there could be additional traffic, higher demand for parking, and more pedestrian activity at the surrounding intersections.”

Despite the concerns, the planners are recommending approval of the project, which will come before the Staunton Planning Commission on Thursday.

The one informal caveat in the planners’ report: “Staff encourages the applicant to explore off-street parking options as the business develops.”

The Planning Commission, and ultimately Staunton City Council, are only being asked to weigh in on a request from Schoeb to rezone the 709 N. Augusta St. parcel from B-1 Local Business District to B-2 General Business District.

The reason for the rezoning request is related to the plans from Schoeb to produce beer at the location, a use that is not permitted under the current B-1 zoning.

Per the city code, the B-2 designation allows for “processing and manufacturing establishments that are not objectionable because of smoke, odor, dust, or noise, but only when such processing and manufacturing is incidental to a retail business conducted on the premises and where not more than 10 persons are employed on the premises in the processing or manufacturing activities.”

Craig, the across-the-street neighbor, has questions about the impact of bringing an on-site beer production operation adjacent to a long-standing residential neighborhood.

“What is this going to do to the water, to the air, and the noise from the production and from the music, if they end up doing that here with the restaurant? These are all things we’re going to have to deal with here,” Craig said.

The staff report from Rhodes and Hartless does note that the tasting room and restaurant uses are already permitted under the current B-1 zoning for the property, though there is a conflict with the designation for the location in the city’s most recent Comprehensive Plan update, which was adopted in 2018.

Under the 2018 Comp Plan update, the area including the former bottling plant is designated as “Neighborhood Residential.”

“While the proposed rezoning is not consistent with this designation, it is consistent with historic use of the property as a bottling plant,” the planners wrote. “Staff believes that this area should be evaluated during the next Comprehensive Plan update for a potential change. Given its location on North Augusta Street, the surrounding business uses, and the size of the building, business would be a more appropriate designation.”

Craig, in the meantime, is working to get her neighbors to reach out to city leaders to let them know that what is being planned will have a negative impact on their daily lives.

“What bothers me the most about this is that notice didn’t get sent out to residents in the neighborhood about this rezoning request. I don’t know that a lot of people here know that this is even being planned. It just seems kind of cagey to go about this in this way,” Craig said.

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Twenty-nine projects in Virginia have been awarded more than $8.4 million by the Virginia Aviation Board.

The board approved the projects at 21 public-use airports in the Commonwealth at its August 11, 2023 meeting.

The funding will enhance the facilities and services each airport provides their communities.

The board awarded the funding as follows:

Accomack County Airport: $63,568 for construction of runway 21 turnaround

Allen C. Perkinson Municipal Airport: $100,000 for construction of taxiway lighting rehabilitation and apron flood lighting

Blue Ridge Regional Airport: $17,720 for replacement of security gate

Blue Ridge Regional Airport: $147,473 for environmental coordination and design of terminal area site preparation

Chesapeake Regional Airport: $3,280 for design updates and bidding for maintenance equipment storage building

Chesapeake Regional Airport: $125,600 for design of South Apron pavement rehabilitation

Chesapeake Regional Airport: $1,097,600 for construction of T-Hanger taxilanes rehabilitation (phase 3)

Culpeper Regional Airport: $16,474 for change in scope of East Side Terminal Area Plan

Danville Regional Airport: $292,511 for construction of South Ramp rehabilitation (phase 2-AIP)

Danville Regional Airport: $90,784 for construction of non-AIP of South Ramp rehabilitation (phase 2)

Danville Regional Airport: $32,648 for replacement of terminal building roof

Dinwiddie County Airport: $17,961 for environmental coordination of land release

Emporia-Greensville Regional Airport: $4,411 for replacement of terminal building furniture

Farmville Regional Airport: $69,040 for construction of taxiway rehabilitation

Farmville Regional Airport: $37,281.85 for apron sinkhole repair

Hampton Roads Executive Airport: $6,880 for design specifications and bidding for fuel farm equipment

Hanover County Municipal Airport: $45,200 for master plan update

Lee County Airport: $63,177 for construction of airfield lighting rehabilitation

Leesburg Executive Airport: $53,200 for construction overrun of North end development

Leesburg Executive Airport: $244,035 for construction (non-AIP) of South Terminal Apron rehabilitation

Mountain Empire Airport: $5,576 for environmental coordination and preliminary design of Runway 8-26 lighting system rehabilitation

New Kent County Airport: $4,312 for phase 1 of easement acquisition services and easement reimbursement

New Kent County Airport: $24,000 for design and construction of runway crack, seal, seal coat and remarking

Orange County Airport: $16,400 for phase 2 design and construction of Runway 26 obstruction removal

Orange County Airport: $181,600 for design of T-Hangar site preparation

Richmond Executive-Chesterfield County Airport: $5,422,400 for construction of Southeast apron Expansion

Virginia Highlands Airport: $37,600 for design of Runway 6-24 rehabilitation

Virginia Tech-Montgomery Executive Airport: $26,667 for phase 1 of master plan update

Williamsburg-Jamestown Airport: $168,000 for design of runway rehabilitation

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Hokie Nation has a new official beer: the Fightin’ Hokies Hefeweizen, which is now available in select Virginia grocery stores, restaurants, and independent bottle shops across Virginia on draft and in 16-ounce cans.

This traditional Bavarian wheat beer — the latest brew developed by faculty in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences‘ Department of Food Science and Technology as part of Virginia Tech’s ongoing partnership with Hardywood Park Craft Brewery — follows the success of the award-winning Fightin’ Hokies Lager and limited edition sesquicentennial dry-hopped amber ale All Hail to Thee.

Virginia Tech announced a sustainable partnership with Hardywood in fall 2020, citing Hardywood’s “Brew with Purpose” philosophy and dedication to technical quality, environmental stewardship, and giving back to the community as making the popular Richmond brewery an ideal choice of collaborator.

The new seasonal hefeweizen can be found using Hardywood’s beer finder throughout this fall season.

A portion of the proceeds from sales of Fightin’ Hokies Hefeweizen will go to support learning opportunities, scholarships, and more for food science students. In April, undergraduates Shannon Hacker, Sam Steele, and Sofia Palacios received scholarships funded by Fightin’ Hokies beer sales that will assist food and beverage fermentation students with tuition, room, and board.

“It has been very gratifying to see our partnership with Hardywood become one of the most successful university-brewery partnerships in the country,” said Renee Boyer, head of the Department of Food Science and Technology at Virginia Tech. “I’m proud that we’ve been able to bring our brewing research to market in a way that benefits not only Virginia’s economy, but also our students and the next generation of brewers.”

A toast to the Department of Food Science and Technology’s long-standing academic relationship with German brewers and the Technical University of Munich, Fightin’ Hokies Hefeweizen is based on a beer style that has been one of the most popular in the German state of Bavaria for over 500 years.

The wheat beer is famous for its notable banana aroma, bright amber appearance, creamy mouthfeel, and smooth, slightly sweet finish that evokes notes of clove.

Fightin’ Hokies Hefeweizen is 5.5 percent ABV and low in bitterness at 15 IBU.

German brewing’s fingerprints can be found on many facets of the Department of Food Science and Technology’s renowned brewing and fermentation program, from its on-campus brewery equipment to the technique it teaches students. The department’s close relationship with the Technical University of Munich-Weihenstephan — where it sends a cohort of students each summer to learn beer-making at the site of the oldest continuously operating brewery in the world — served as the ideal inspiration when it came time to talk about what the next Hokie beer would be.

“Going over to Germany with the students each summer, we’ve had a lot of experience with hefeweizens right where the style was originally developed,” said Herbert Bruce, assistant professor of practice for undergraduate education and one of the three Virginia Tech brewing faculty members who developed Fightin’ Hokies Hefeweizen. “It’s an incredible style that’s not as common in the U.S., so we saw this as an opportunity to bring the best of Bavaria to Hokie Nation.”

In the summer of 2022, the exchange offered a chance for brewing faculty members Brian Wiersema, Sean O’Keefe, Herbert Bruce, and Hardywood Brewmaster Brian Nelson to tour some of Germany’s historic breweries and brewing suppliers in search of the best wheat beer ingredients, brewing techniques, and flavor profile guidance available.

“Fightin’ Hokies Hefeweizen is the result of us traveling Bavaria going to different maltsters, hop growers, breweries like Weihenstephan and working with Sean, Brian, and Bruce,” said Nelson ‘01. “From one Hokie to another, if you just love craft beer, I hope you enjoy it.”

The new label design for Fightin’ Hokies Hefeweizen pays homage to its collaborative origins and features classic Virginia Tech iconography including the vintage Fighting Gobbler trademark, the iconic silhouette of Torgersen Bridge, and an instantly recognizable Hokie Stone motif. On the back of the can, Burruss Hall looms below a map of Virginia that has the location of the university’s Blacksburg campus marked with a diamond. Lozenges or diamonds from the Bavarian flag are used throughout the design as a nod to the beer’s German background. The label’s front graphic curves inward, mirroring the curve of a traditional hefeweizen glass.

Fightin’ Hokies Hefeweizen is the third beer born out of Virginia Tech and Hardywood’s partnership. Fightin’ Hokies Lager, the university’s first brew that launched in 2021, became Virginia’s best selling new craft beer in its first year on the market, according to Nielsen. The same year, it won a silver medal in the prestigious Australian International Beer Awards — the largest annual beer competition in the world. Fightin’ Hokies Lager was succeeded by All Hail to Thee, a limited edition dry-hopped amber ale released to mark Virginia Tech’s 150 year in 2022.

“The experience of recipe development for this celebratory wheat beer in Bavaria with Brian Nelson — another Hokie alum — was an incredible experience,” said Wiersema ’98, the Department of Food Science and Technology’s pilot plant manager and co-creator of all Virginia Tech beers. “The support from fellow Hokies who enjoy all of these beers has been tremendous and makes a lot of student scholarships and research in our department possible.”

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Gas prices nationwide are still inching up, rising 2.5 cents per gallon in the last week, according to GasBuddy, to $3.82 per gallon.

Virginia drivers are paying a little less than they did a week ago, with prices down 1.7 cents per gallon, to $3.65 a gallon.

Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said Monday that prices could climb a little more ahead of Labor Day, with oil prices still under upward pressure from OPEC+ production cuts.

“In addition, the largest refinery in the Midwest moved up its seasonal maintenance to several weeks earlier than expected, causing a somewhat unexpected jump at the pump in the Great Lakes,” De Haan said. “Motorists will likely see a mixed bag at the pump this week, with a few states seeing prices fall slightly, while others will see the opposite.”

The national average price of diesel has risen 12.3 cents in the last week and stands at $4.27 per gallon.

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The Appalachian Regional Commission will review 16 projects totaling $7.3 million in grants when it meets later this year. The projects are recommended by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, and ARC will finalize approval for the region which encompasses 25 counties and eight cities.

“ARC funding plays a pivotal role in empowering Appalachian communities to address their unique challenges, capitalize on their unique assets and drive positive change,” said Youngkin. “These projects will create new economic opportunities, build critical infrastructure and support community development across Appalachian communities that too often go underserved.”

The recommendations include:

• The Barter Foundation, Barter Theatre Campus Renovation, Phase 1, $700,000
• Blue Grass Resource Center, Highland Inn Revitalization, $700,000
• Lee County, St. Charles Monarch Water Line Replacement, $700,000
• Lee County, Western Lee Sewer System Wastewater Treatment Plan, $700,000
• Patrick County, West Piedmont Planning District Commission Universal Broadband Project, $700,000
• Town of Stuart, Downtown Revitalization, $700,000
• Wise County, Center for Workforce and Innovation in Appalachia Wastewater Treatment Plant, $700,000
• Bland Ministry Center and Dental Clinic, Bland Ministry Dental Clinic, $500,000
• Dickenson County, Red Onion Industrial Park Project Revision, $500,000
• New River Valley Regional Commission, New River Valley Passenger Rail Station Authority Planning Grant, $354,000
• Friends of Southwest Virginia, Gateways to Southwest Virginia: Outdoor Economy Recreation Plan, $300,000
• Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Foundation, Regional Simulation Lab for Nursing and Allied Health, $300,000
• Lenowisco PDC, Invest SWVA Initiative, $234,000
• ‘Round the Mountain SWVA’s Artisan Network, Artisan Gateway Project, $100,000
• Washington County, Mendota and Creeper Trail Broadband, $100,000
• The Crooked Road, Celebrating the Crooked Road, $64,135

ARC grants are aimed at supporting the goal of building a strong and sustainable asset-based economy by funding projects that serve as catalysts for bringing jobs and prosperity to Appalachian communities, all while preserving their character.

“By funding targeted projects such as improved water systems, community centers and broadband access, we are diversifying and strengthening both the economy and the quality of life for those in Appalachia,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick. “We are actively fostering economic growth and signifying our unwavering commitment to the prosperity and resilience of the region.”

The Department of Housing and Community Development works with localities and stakeholders in the region to develop strategic projects, which are evaluated by DHCD and the governor, to be recommended to the federal commission for approval.

“ARC grants are an important resource for transformation of Appalachia,” said Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Director Bryan Horn. “The program’s flexibility allows us to offer targeted assistance in community-identified areas, filling in funding gaps and empowering Virginia’s Appalachian communities.”

Additional information about ARC is available.

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