Feds award $40 million grant aimed at creating jobs in Eastern Kentucky
A non-profit working to improve the economy in Eastern Kentucky has been awarded $40 million from the federal government for a program aimed at putting more than 1,000 people to work.
Shaping Our Appalachian Region received the grant for a plan that includes helping set up small businesses to tackle problems that keep people out of the workforce, such as a lack of child care; job training. The plan also includes efforts to create more job opportunities in remote work and health care.
U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, a Republican who represents Southern and Eastern Kentucky and helped found SOAR, announced the grant award Monday, saying it could be a “game changer” for Appalachian Kentucky.
“As we continue rebounding from the devastating decline of the coal industry, this investment will better prepare our workforce for the healthcare, energy and tech sectors, without leaving their hometowns in the mountains,” Rogers said in a release. “Our communities have ramped up transportation and infrastructure to prepare for new businesses, and this grant will bridge the gaps for our workforce as well.”
The award is through the federal Recompete program, which aims to add employment opportunities in areas where prime-age workforce participation is well below the national level.
The award was authorized for up to $1 billion through the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, backed by President Joe Biden.
SOAR received the largest award in the initial round of funding. There were 565 applications for money in the initial round, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The plan covers 12 counties: Bell, Floyd, Harlan, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Leslie, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, Perry, and Pike.
More than 25% of the people considered prime-age workers — ages 25 to 54 — in that area are either unemployed or not in the workforce, according to SOAR.
SOAR cited several reasons why many prime-age workers are not in the labor force in Eastern Kentucky, including a shortage of jobs; a lack of workers with the skills to fill jobs that are there; and barriers such as lack of access to child care, adequate transportation and high-speed internet.
The organization estimated that more than 33,000 people would have to return to the workforce to bring the prime-age employment rate in the area up to the national level.
This story was originally published August 5, 2024 at 11:17 AM.
