Place-Based Pilots: Building Local Economies with What’s Already There
Rural Appalachian communities are using innovative, locally driven pilot projects to reweave their economies around the region’s own assets – from its natural bounty to its people’s skills. Each case below illustrates a grassroots initiative that met a local challenge by building on local strengths. Funders will note measurable outcomes (jobs, revenue, new enterprises) and modern strategies (workforce training, digital tools, partnerships) that drove each project’s success. These examples – drawn from Appalachian Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, and beyond – show how a place-based approach can spark economic revival in places facing decline.
Growing Tech Talent in Eastern Kentucky (Education & Workforce)
Eastern Kentucky has long been battered by the coal bust and faced a shortage of skilled workers for new industries. Dataseam, a nonprofit in Eastern Kentucky, developed a registered apprenticeship in Information Technology for high schoolers, creating a homegrown pipeline into tech careers. The two-year program combines on-the-job training with industry-standard curriculum. With major grants ($1.5 M from ARC’s POWER initiative and $1.4 M from U.S. DOL’s WORC program), the initiative now serves 57 students across 23 Appalachian Kentucky counties – nearly 40% of the state’s high school districts.
This apprenticeship tackles local challenges by using schools and students as assets. Many graduates earn valuable certifications and high-paying IT jobs before college. Importantly, the program upgrades aging computer labs (students receive new hardware) and forges direct ties between schools and IT employers. It’s a form of modern workforce development: students gain real work experience in technology, a sector where Kentucky has 30,000 unfilled jobs and salaries 95% above the national median. The result is new career paths in place (rather than out-migration), plus dozens of new entry-level jobs. Even though the program is young, its completion rate and industry connections show strong early impact – a teachable model for funders interested in tech training anchored in community schools.
Local Food and Health in Wheeling, WV (Agriculture & Food Systems)
In West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle, the nonprofit Grow Ohio Valley (Grow OV) turned an after-school garden into a full-fledged local food economy hub, leveraging Ohio Valley agriculture to spur jobs and health. With about 50 staff and over $2 million in ARC grants, Grow OV created urban orchards, high-tech hoop houses, and an indoor farmers’ market and café in downtown Wheeling. This year-round market stocks produce from 40+ regional farmers, who receive 70–80% of proceeds (versus ~15% in a typical grocery). By accepting SNAP benefits, it also makes healthy food affordable for all residents.
Grow OV’s public market was a hit: in its first 18 months it generated over $1 million in sales, doubling forecasts. Local farmers credit the market with keeping their businesses alive through COVID-19; one said, “Without [Grow OV’s] orders … I don’t know what we would’ve made it.” The initiative even created a “FARMacy” program: doctors “prescribe” weekly produce boxes to patients with diabetes or hypertension. Thus, the project turns local farmland into a community health and economic asset. Ongoing ARC funding also supports a new food business incubator (Wheeling Food Ventures), expected to assist 35 local food businesses, start 5 new ones, create 11 jobs, and leverage $525K private investment.
Grow OV is a textbook case of using local assets – farmland, growers, and consumer demand – to build an economic engine. It’s community-led (guided by Appalachian-style vision) and yields clear metrics (sales, jobs, farmers’ income share) that funders can track. Key to its success is coupling agriculture with entrepreneurship and health, all centered in place – exactly the holistic, data-driven approach that funders favor.
Community Solar and Revitalization in Huntington, WV (Energy)
In Huntington, West Virginia, the nonprofit RenewAll tackled aging infrastructure and high energy costs in one of the state’s poorest urban areas. RenewAll renovated a historic downtown building that houses a local history museum, arts programs, and startup businesses. An Appalachian Solar Finance Fund grant ($33.35K) helped install a 25.7 kW rooftop solar array, cutting the nonprofit’s energy costs dramatically. The system will produce about 33,170 kWh annually – saving roughly $130,000 over its lifetime.
This pilot is place-based on multiple levels: it reuses a community-owned building, funds a neighborhood development strategy, and injects renewable energy know-how into an economy hard-hit by the coal decline. The result is that RenewAll can redirect utility savings into its mission (supporting local artisans and entrepreneurs) instead of loan payments. It also “crowds in” new investment: the grant leveraged other state and local funds to complete renovations. Though small-scale, the project is a model for how clean energy can stabilize non-profits and improve downtowns. Challenges like financing were overcome by this targeted support – something funders can replicate by joining finance with tech training (for solar installation) to build energy-sector jobs along with green infrastructure.
Advanced Manufacturing Pivot in Coal-Affected WV (Manufacturing Incubator)
Southern West Virginia has seen many factory closures as coal wanes. The Appalachian Hatchery at Marshall University’s RCBI is an advanced manufacturing incubator created to help local makers transition to new industries. Founded in 2017 with a $1.5 M ARC POWER grant, plus EDA and foundation support, it provides equipment, technical assistance, and business development to small and mid-size manufacturers across 20 southern WV counties. In just a few years it has impacted hundreds of businesses by helping them diversify beyond coal-oriented products.
An example of its strategy was a 2019 Automotive Supply Chain Expo, where 85 WV manufacturers met suppliers and OEMs. That event alone led a global auto-parts company (Sogefi) to add three West Virginia suppliers to its chain. The Hatchery’s director notes many coal-factory workers have skills and machines that can make auto, aerospace, or defense parts. By connecting these legacy businesses to new markets and training them on modern production standards, the project created several new contracts and, eventually, jobs. For funders this shows how a targeted incubator can leverage local manufacturing assets and existing labor skills to pivot an economy. It also highlights a modern workforce approach: retraining displaced workers via partnerships between industry and education, rather than waiting for them to leave town.
Building Trails for Tourism in Central Appalachia (Outdoor Recreation)
Appalachian landscapes are also built assets. In West Virginia’s New River region, a multi-county consortium used a $1.5 M ARC POWER grant to build 27 miles of mountain-bike trails near Summersville. In eastern Kentucky’s mountains, Perry County received $1.5 M to develop a 30-site RV campground and support ATV trails. These projects address two interlocking challenges: lack of outdoor amenities, and low local business. By building high-quality trails and campgrounds, each pilot taps into America’s booming adventure tourism.
The outcomes are concrete: the Summersville trails will attract bikers nationally, creating demand for local guide services, outfitters, lodging, and food. In Kentucky, the new campground at an ATV trailhead is expected to fill rooms and restaurants that were often empty. Both projects relied on digital tools like geographic trail-planning software and online marketing to design and promote the facilities to tourists. They also involved local volunteers and small firms in construction, spreading the benefits. Such outdoor recreation investments — close to home but ready to draw visitors – have proven to generate hundreds of new jobs and millions of tourism dollars in similar rural communities. For funders, these cases illustrate how “growing nature” assets (trails, river access) combined with small tourism entrepreneurs can drive economic resilience on the ground.
Regional Tourism Strategy: Blue Ridge Parkway Corridor (Tourism & Culture)
Folding together small towns across state lines, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation won a $5.13 M multistate ARISE grant to catalyze tourism in Appalachian Virginia and North Carolina. The foundation led hundreds of local leaders in creating the “Blue Ridge Rising” action plan, a first-ever regional strategy for enhancing tourism and recreation along this world-renowned parkway. The ARC grant will fund workforce development, small business support, and infrastructure upgrades (like signage, trails, and cultural sites) across dozens of “gateway” communities.
This large-scale pilot addresses regional depopulation by treating the parkway – a local natural and cultural heritage asset – as an economic engine. It uses modern methods: data-driven marketing, hospitality training (for local residents), and digital visitor experiences (apps, websites) to improve the entire corridor. Though still underway, the project has mobilized cross-state partnerships (Virginia’s Friends of Southwest Virginia and North Carolina tourism boards) and won awards for public engagement. For funders, it shows that even in rural Appalachia, smart planning and collaboration can amplify the value of shared assets (the Blue Ridge). Investment in multistate, community-led tourism can multiply impact: it preserves local culture while creating jobs in lodging, guiding, and recreation services.
Local Food Supply Chain in Virginia–Kentucky (Agriculture & Logistics)
The nonprofit Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD) in Duffield, VA, led a food-distribution pilot linking Kentucky farmers to a Virginia food hub. Facing geographic isolation, area farmers had trouble reaching big markets. ASD’s solution was to use existing infrastructure creatively: God’s Pantry food bank in London, KY, serves as a rural aggregation point (complete with forklifts), and ASD trucks move produce to the Appalachian Harvest hub in VA. This model lets small farmers sell wholesale instead of clearing below-market prices at auctions.
The impact is clear. Buyers now trust Appalachian Harvest for high-volume squash, allowing ASD to raise prices by $5–$7 per case. By autumn 2022, about $15,976 in extra revenue had gone to Kentucky growers simply due to this price bump. More broadly, from Jan–Sept 2022 local farmers sold $131,460 worth of produce through the hub – a 43% jump over the same period in 2021. In other words, this pilot turned remoteness into an asset: an Appalachian-to-Appalachian supply chain. It relied on digital coordination (route planning and market data) and on leveraging nearby urban markets via the food bank partnership. Funders can learn that strengthening rural food systems – with tech and creative logistics – directly raises farm income, keeps agriculture viable, and channels revenue back into struggling communities.
Conclusion: Assessing Place-Based Investments
These eight Appalachian pilots share a theme: investment in existing local strengths, not abstract solutions. For funders seeking to revive depopulating rural areas, the lessons are clear. First, successful projects are community-led and asset-based: they identify what’s “already there” – skills, natural resources, buildings, culture – and accelerate it with training, infrastructure, or capital. Second, measure outcomes rigorously. Each case above tracked metrics (jobs trained, sales generated, people served) tied to investment dollars, giving funders confidence in results. Third, look for multipliers. Small pilots that build human capacity (like apprenticeships or health training) often scale into bigger economic change. Fourth, integrate technology thoughtfully: even analog initiatives can benefit from digital tools (broadband to connect students to remote jobs, online platforms for marketing tourism or managing supply chains). Finally, partnerships multiply impact. Many projects we saw were regional collaborations – across counties or states – or public/private mixes (nonprofits with government grants), showing that bridging silos is crucial.
A funder assessing a new rural opportunity should ask: What are this community’s unique assets, and who is leading its strategy? Are there concrete ways to attach modern tools (like broadband, data analytics, apprenticeship models or clean tech) to those assets? Are local leaders tracking outcomes? By applying these criteria – and learning from Appalachia’s diverse pilots – investors can spot high-impact ventures that rebuild local economies from the ground up, keeping community dollars circulating where they’re needed most.