For 20+ years, Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs has empowered entrepreneurs in Appalachian Georgia by lending to those who might be overlooked.

ARC POWER partners are using millions to make financial resources accessible for coal-impacted communities.

In 2013, with seed money from ARC, Appalachian Community Capital was founded to increase business lending opportunities in the region.

In 2016, the Natural Capital Investment Fund (NCIFund) partnered with the Hatfield McCoy Trail Authority and Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College (Southern) to drive recreational tourism development in the coalfields of southern West Virginia. Through ARC POWER funding, the partners launched a revolving loan…

What started as an after-school urban gardening program has since blossomed into Grow Ohio Valley (Grow OV), an operation with around 50 employees working toward a single mission: improve the health and economic future of Wheeling, West Virginia through local food. It’s a great mission…

In what was once an abandoned furniture store, the Youngstown Business Incubator (YBI) is operating an internationally recognized, high-impact program for Appalachian entrepreneurs. YBI was founded in 2001 and has since developed successful digital businesses, strengthened women and minority entrepreneurship, and furthered advanced manufacturing technologies in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley. In…

In 2024, ARC awarded $2.8 million in POWER funds to three business development and entrepreneurship projects in coal-impacted communities in Central Appalachia.

Since 1974, JARI has supported the economic growth and diversification of Pennsylvania’s Southern Alleghenies region. Their service area in Greater Johnstown, Pennsylvania historically relied on the steel and coal industries, and like other Appalachian communities needed to diversify its local and regional economic bases to improve long-term vitality.  In order to best carry out its…

In October 2019, North Carolina State University (NCSU) received a $1.1 million grant from ARC’s POWER Initiative to launch EmPOWERing Mountain Food Systems. The project initially intended to strengthen a seven-county “foodshed” in Western North Carolina by helping current producers become more profitable and training new farmers to…

ARC’s POWER Initiative has invested millions to connect Appalachia’s students and workers with careers in emerging, high-growth industries – one of which is construction. This sector is struggling to find qualified workers to keep up with increasing demand. Furthermore, Appalachian communities continue to be faced with the lack of…

Since 2015, ARC’s POWER Initiative has invested millions in projects working to create jobs, fuel new industries, and prepare students and workers for new opportunities in coal-impacted communities. ARC’s largest single POWER funding package to date was awarded in October 2023, with one state receiving an…

ARC’s POWER Initiative has invested millions to connect students and workers in coal-impacted communities with in-demand, high-growth industries. One such sector, semiconductor manufacturing, has been experiencing a global shortage since the COVID-19 pandemic. This has impacted the production of everything from home appliances and smart phones, to car keys…