More than $12 million is coming to these Kentucky addiction, workforce programs

An $867,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, announced Thursday, will help launch an artisanal stringed instrument factory in Knott County that plans to employ at least 18 people within the next three years — many of them recovering addicts.

The grant for the Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Company came as part of the ARC’s Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Revitalization (POWER) Initiative.

The ARC announced Thursday it will pump more than $10 million into addiction recovery and workforce development programs in Eastern Kentucky through its POWER initiative.

Doug Naselroad, director of Troublesome Creek and master luthier at the Appalachian School of Luthery in Hindman, said the grant will allow the project to get off the ground after years of planning.

The factory plans to eventually employ 65 people. Naselroad said it will help the economy of Hindman and Knott County, while also providing jobs and a career path for people climbing out of opioid addiction.

“In my mind it’s a very prestigious thing to have a high quality guitar made in your town,” Naselroad said. “It’s going to be prestigious, it’s going to be profitable, and I think it’s really going to enhance the livability of the community.”

The POWER Initiative is a congressionally-funded program that aims to help communities affected by the decline of the coal industry.

Since 2015, the ARC has pumped about $145 million into 182 projects across Appalachia.

This year, about $5.75 million of Power Initiative dollars went toward job training projects in Kentucky and West Virginia that specifically help people who are recovering from addiction.

Other projects receiving POWER Initiative funding

▪ The Fletcher Group in Lexington will receive $1.7 million for its Recovery, Hope, Opportunity and Resiliency program, which will help establish new recovery addiction programs in Eastern Kentucky.

▪ The East Kentucky Advanced Manufacturing Institute in Paintsville will receive $1.5 million. The center helps train workers for advanced manufacturing jobs, and hopes to attract new industry to Eastern Kentucky.

▪ Eastern Kentucky University will receive $1.5 million for its Kentucky’s Appalachia Aviation Maintenance Technician Training Project. The program will help 86 workers and trainees receive certification and employment as aviation technicians.

▪ The Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program’s Eastern Kentucky Addiction Recovery & Training Program will receive $1.5 million, which will help people recovering from addiction enter the workforce.

▪ The Southeast Kentucky Economic Development Corporation will receive $1.3 million to expand its Supplier Education and Economic Development Program. That program helps to boost the competitiveness of manufacturing companies in coal-impacted counties in Eastern Kentucky.

▪ Fahe Inc., in Berea, will receive $1 million for its Second Chance Employment project, an initiative to help people in addiction recovery find employment.

▪ Housing Development Alliance Inc., based in Hazard, will receive $834,000 for its Hope Building program. That program provides on-the-job construction training for people in addiction recovery.

▪ The Lewis County Fiscal Court will receive $76,000 for a broadband feasibility study.

▪ The Carr Creek Alumni Association in Littcarr will receive $50,000 for a community revitalization project aimed at maximizing the economic impact of tourism to Carr Creek Lake, which brings more than 690,000 visitors every year.

This story was originally published February 21, 2019 at 3:24 PM.