Four new multi-state ARISE grants spur economic development in eight Appalachian states.

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 11, 2024—Today, as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) awarded $1.5 million to fund four projects that will bring together over 40 regional partner organizations to boost growth in the outdoor tourism and aviation industries across Northern, Central and Southern Appalachia.

The grants, awarded through ARC’s Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE), are:

• $500,000 to Ohio University to collaborate with partners on a plan to integrate new, less expensive and more flexible electric aviation technologies at regional airports in Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio.

• $450,000 to Conserving Carolina to work with partners on a plan for a 31-mile Saluda Grade Trail project connecting North Carolina and South Carolina.

• $400,000 to The Nature Conservancy to map and inventory nature-based tourism and needed infrastructure updates with partners in the Cumberland-Pine Mountain region of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.

• $196,200 to The Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy to create a strategic plan with partners to guide maintenance of the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage trail that connects Maryland and Pennsylvania.

“ARC’s ARISE initiative continues to serve as a model for the positive growth that can happen in our region when Appalachians work together,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. “I congratulate this newest group of ARISE grantees and look forward to seeing the economic impact of these investments on Appalachia’s growing outdoor recreation and aviation industries.”

In addition to last month’s ARISE award to East Tennessee State University to plan for regional healthcare workforce growth, today’s announcement brings ARC’s total ARISE investment to $70.8 million in 28 projects.

Made possible through support from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, ARISE drives large-scale, regional economic transformation through multi-state collaborative projects.

Learn more about ARISE: www.arc.gov/ARISE.

Appalachian Regional Commission
The Appalachian Regional Commission is an economic development entity of the federal government and 13 state governments focusing on 423 counties across the Appalachian Region. ARC’s mission is to innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia to help the region achieve socioeconomic parity with the nation.