CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Leaders with West Virginia’s largest cities and universities on Monday announced a new coalition focused on economic diversification.
Officials with Charleston, Huntington, West Virginia University and Marshall University launched the Appalachian Climate Technologies Coalition — or the ACT Now Coalition — alongside multiple partners with workforce development, community outreach and economic research.
The coalition will focus on expanding and attracting businesses, supporting green technology companies, promoting community resilience and environment projects, and studying economic growth opportunities.
According to Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin, the coalition will submit an application to the U.S. Economic Development Administration in March in hopes of securing $75 million for efforts impacting southern West Virginia. The group will use $30 million from other sources to implement the strategy.
“It is such a monumental step forward and such a monumental win for the state of West Virginia,” Goodwin told MetroNews affiliate WCHS-AM.
Brandon Dennison, the founder and CEO of Coalfield Development, said the coalition is dedicated to helping companies and groups outside of the state understand what West Virginia can offer.
“I think the ACT Now Coalition, for me, really pulls together so much of what I have been working on the last 10 or so years since we started Coalfield Development with the goal of rebuilding the Appalachian economy from the ground up,” he said.
Eight projects are part of the request, which has an overall theme of developing green technologies. Dennison said four projects are related to construction, and the remaining plans are “programmatic.”
“They complement and synergize,” he added.
Projects include construction and manufacturing work as well as workforce development, employment training and entrepreneurship.
“Lots of stuff,” Goodwin said. “Basically, the coalition got together and they went after a grant.”
The Economic Development Administration will select as many as 30 projects to receive funding.
“It is the most monumental thing that we will work on, at least in the next decade in terms of a collaborative effort to make sure that we capture these jobs,” Goodwin said. “It’s not only millions of dollars in investment; it is thousands upon thousands of jobs and the revitalization of neighborhoods.”
Members of the coalition officially launched the campaign with a ceremony at Coalfield Development’s West Edge Factory in Huntington.