U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced funding from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), as well as the Economic Development Administration (EDA), Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to support public health, economic development, and law enforcement well-being projects in West Virginia.
One of the recipients is in Bridgeport as $400,000 in EDA funding is going to the Allegheny Science & Technology Corporation to support the West Virginia Advanced Energy & Industrial Technology Manufacturing (WV-AEIM) Strategy Development Consortium’s plan to develop the strategy to onshore manufacturing and emerging technologies—including carbon and graphite materials and energy storage solutions—and critical supply chains across the state.
Other projects receiving funds include:
· $1,500,000 to West Virginia University (WVU) (Morgantown, W.Va.) for the “Smart Grid Deployment Consortium and HILLTOP Platform Expansion project.” The purpose of this project is to commercialize and expand a grid modeling platform that helps rural electric utilities reduce the risk of deploying new smart grid technologies and helps energy tech startups reduce the risk of developing new smart grid technologies.
· $1,500,000 to Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center, Inc. (Huntington, W.Va.) for the Keith-Albee Renovation Project.
· $1,499,969 to Bridge Valley Community and Technical College (Institute, W.Va.) for the “Powering Prosperity through Infrastructure Job Training (Powering Prosperity)” project.
· $1,499,125 to Mountwest Community & Technical College (Huntington, W.Va.) for the “Constructing Jobs in West Virginia Coal Country” project.
· $1,365,000 to Elk River Trail Foundation (Clandenin, W.Va.) for the “Harnessing the Economic Power of the Elk River Trails” project
· $1,134,341 to West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition, Inc. (Charleston, W.Va.) for the “Expanding West Virginia's Food System with Regional Entrepreneurship Centers and Innovative Business Streams” project.
· $995,677 to the Marshall University Research Corporation (Huntington, W.Va.) for the “Leveraging Opportunities to Grow Industry Careers (LOGIC)” project.
· $545,065 to the Wyoming County Economic Development Authority (Pineville, W.Va.) for the “Huff Creek Broadband Fiber Deployment Project.”
· $187,392 to the West Virginia Rural Water Association (WVRWA) (Scott Depot, W.Va.) for drinking water and wastewater utility training and assistance.
· $50,000 to the New River Gorge Learning Co-op (Fayetteville, W.Va.) for the “Mountain State Montessori Early Care & Education Expansion Plan.”
· $49,995 to Mountain CAP of WV, Inc. (Buckhannon, W.Va.) for the “Exploring the Feasibility of Developing a Workforce Training Program/Social Enterprise Focused on Glass and Plastic Recycling” project.
· $45,666 to the West Virginia University (WVU) Research Corporation (Morgantown, W.Va.) for the “West Virginia Community-driven Outdoor Recreation Economy” initiative (WV CORE).
· $40,000 to the Mingo County Commission (Williamson, W.Va.) for the Mingo County Rural Infrastructure Sanitation Systems / Water Planning Grant.
· $34,604 to Fairmont State University (Fairmont, W.Va.) for the “Exploring, Building, and Developing: Industry/Higher Ed Partnerships in West Virginia” project.
· $30,758 to the Tamarack Foundation, Inc. (Charleston, W.Va.) for an Arts Business Accelerator project.
· $25,000 to Heritage Farm Foundation (Huntington, W.Va.) for marketing and analytics planning and training.
· $25,000 to the Community Education Group, Inc. (Greater Appalachia) to hire a Human Resources Director.
· $400,000 in EDA funding to the West Virginia Department of Economic Development (Charleston, W.Va.) to advance a regional strategy to develop digital identity solutions that support identity management and trust support services, individual privacy, and national security.
· $57,810 in DOJ funding to the Town of Romney, W.Va. to support implementation of the LEMHWA program.
· $1,241,279.42 in FEMA funding to the West Virginia DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health (Charleston, W.Va.) to reimburse the bureau for emergency protective measures that were incurred during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
· $292,700 in NIFA funding to Grow Ohio Valley, Inc. (Wheeling, W.Va.) to build a more secure and integrated local food system throughout underserved communities in the Ohio Valley.