POWER comes with job training
Appalachian Regional Commission officials earlier this week announced $68.2 million in awards to 65 projects through its Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (anything to come up with a snappy acronym) initiative. Though not all of the commission’s efforts are home runs, POWER appears to be rooted in addressing a real need for our region.
“ARC’s POWER initiative supports coal-impacted communities’ preparation for the next phase of Appalachia’s economy, while ensuring that residents have a say in the course of their own futures,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. “The investments announced in this round of POWER will help train workers, advance new industries, and build upon the progress already being made toward a brighter future full of economic opportunity for our region.”
To be clear, that $68.2 million is being spread out over projects that affect 188 counties in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. But not all of it is diluted.
Catalyst Connection, based in Pittsburgh, got a $2 million POWER grant to help develop pathways for employment in advanced manufacturing.
“We are excited for our new POWER project, which will allow us to build on our progress of preparing our regional workforce for in-demand jobs in the advanced manufacturing industry,” said Catalyst Connection President and CEO Petra Mitchell. “Manufacturing jobs offer workers from hard hit Appalachian communities hope and opportunities for family-sustaining wages and community development. When manufacturing companies and workers succeed, everyone in the local community can benefit.”
Now, if only our region’s elected and economic development officials were able to do a better job attracting and supporting the employers that will hire those newly trained workers. The commission says its most recent funding package is expected to create more than 2,400 jobs and train more than 10,500 workers “for new opportunities in Appalachia’s coal-impacted communities across 10 states.”
Perhaps building the workforce is the first step to ensuring those employers will come. With that hope in mind, the Appalachian Regional Commission must not give up on other efforts to help those “coal-impacted counties” make the transition. If it maintains such a focus, it just might get one step closer to fulfilling its nearly 60-year-old mission.