EDA invests $30 million to drive innovation, entrepreneurship in coal impacted communities

Through its  2017 Assistance to Coal Communities (ACC 2017) initiative, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced $30 million in funding to assist locally-driven efforts to communities and regions severely impacted by the declining use of coal through activities and programs that support economic diversification, job creation, capital investment, workforce development, and re-employment opportunities. In total, EDA will support 35 projects in 16 states. Among the 2017 ACC awardees, several SSTI members received funding including:

• $747,123 to West Virginia University for LaunchLab – a startup resource center that uses applied innovation for the development of new prototypes and products;
• $400,000 to TechConnectWV – to support and coordinate existing activities as well as develop a larger regional private investment consortium; and,
• $77,700 to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – to develop a coordinated strategy that will target six regions for deeper collaboration with the petrochemical and plastics industries.

For more information about the ACC program visit: https://www.eda.gov/coal/.  The full list of awardees is available at: https://www.eda.gov/news/press-releases/2017/10/11/2017-acc.htm.