Other ARC Programs
In addition to the annual funding administered by TNECD, ARC offers several other competitive programs. A brief description is provided below. See the links to the ARC website for additional information on the programs and the application deadlines. You can reach out to TN’s ARC Program Manager, Jill White (jill.white@tn.gov), to discuss project development.
- POWER - https://www.arc.gov/power/
Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) POWER is a congressionally funded initiative that targets federal resources to help coal-impacted communities and regions by cultivating economic diversity, enhancing job training and re-employment opportunities, creating jobs in existing or new industries, and attracting new sources of investment. The focus of ARC’s POWER Initiative for FY23 will remain on investments that are regional, strategic, and transformational and that maximize the economic revitalization of coal-impacted communities and regions. Priority areas for ARC investments for this Initiative include supporting entrepreneurship, workforce development, infrastructure, agriculture, and other projects to enhance job training and reemployment opportunities, create jobs in existing or new industries, and attract new sources of private investment in coal-impacted communities and regions. Priority areas for ARC investments for this Initiative include developing a competitive workforce, enhancing access to and use of broadband services, fostering entrepreneurial activities, and developing industry clusters, and align with ARC’s Strategic Investment Goals.
- ARISE - https://www.arc.gov/arise/
Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE) is a new ARC initiative that aims to drive large-scale, regional economic transformation through multi-state collaborative projects across Appalachia. With the additional funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021 (also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law or BIL), ARC launched ARISE to strengthen Appalachian business and industry, and to grow and support the development of new opportunities across multiple states.
ARISE encourages the region’s 13 states to think beyond local and state lines and to spearhead initiatives that encourage states to work together as one, united Appalachia to advance ARC’s strategic investment priorities.
- INSPIRE - https://www.arc.gov/sud/
The Investments Supporting Partnerships In Recovery Ecosystems (INSPIRE) Initiative addresses the substance use disorder (SUD) crisis across Appalachia by creating or expanding a recovery ecosystem that will lead to workforce entry or re-entry. Successful projects will support the post-treatment to employment continuum, which could include investments in healthcare networks that support SUD recovery professionals, recovery-focused job training programs, as well as initiatives designed to coordinate, or link, recovery services and training that support the recovery to work ecosystem, among others.
The Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC)Initiative, managed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), provides enhanced training and support activities to dislocated workers, new entrants in the workforce, incumbent workers, and individuals affected by substance use disorder (SUD) returning to work in the Appalachian, Delta, and Northern Border regions. As part of WORC, ARC partners with the Department of Labor to develop comprehensive approaches addressing economic distress and workforce development activities throughout the Region. Successful WORC projects draw on long-term economic growth strategies, building on bottom-up, community-led plans maximizing economic resilience and regional strengths.