Corbin, Kentucky — Eastern Kentucky is facing an avalanche of federal and state funding to help transition from a nearly defunct coal economy, but some towns are already bouncing back and setting an example for the region.
That was the conclusion of 36th The annual East Kentucky Leadership Conference will be held in Corbin. Main Street is nearly full again, with New Orleans-style balconies marking the influx of young professionals.
—Al Cross, Rural Journalism Institute
“A lot of young people want to move closer to downtown,” Corbin City Commissioner Alison Moore said during a panel discussion.
Conference attendees also heard about the revitalized downtowns of Hazard and Pineville and the hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants that governments and nonprofits have already applied for.
“Right now,” said Peter Hill, president of the East Kentucky Leadership Foundation and president of the Mountain Association, a Berea-based nonprofit community development lender that makes targeted investments in the economy. Now, we have more resources than we’ve ever seen in our careers.” . He has worked in community development in the area for over 30 years.
Casey Ellis of the Kentucky Regional Development District Council said that in addition to federal funding, the state currently has programs in place to help local governments provide matching funds that are often needed to obtain grants. He pointed out that he was prepared. Originally targeted at coal counties, that $1.5 million in spending helped generate $12.8 million in grants last year, Ellis said.
After the conference held on April 25th and 26th, Mr. Hille listed several examples of funding opportunities for governments, nonprofits, and others.
- The U.S. Department of Energy provides funding to reduce energy consumption and install renewable energy in census tracts and adjacent tracts where coal mines have closed since 1999.
- A new program through the Appalachian Regional Commission, most recently for multistate projects funded by the bipartisan infrastructure bill of 2021.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Energy Program. Cover half the cost of efficiency and renewable energy deployment for rural businesses.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Funds to bring solar energy to low-income households and to build the capacity and workforce needed to install the equipment.
- Several other government agencies fund workforce training and infrastructure, including broadband.
Mr. Hille also spoke about federal funding during the conference’s closing lunch, but also pointed to the efforts of local leaders, many helped by government grants but primarily fueled by local initiatives aimed at economic growth. He pointed out.
“We have seen communities come back to life because they are being reinvented as places where people can live and choose to live,” he said. .
Bayley Richards, downtown coordinator for the city of Hazzard, said this is essential as the community looks for alternative employers to coal-related jobs. He determined that the Perry County seat would not be able to stimulate the economy because there would be no good meeting place for prospective non-coal employers to come to town and bring their employees or hold business meetings. He said he has stepped up efforts to restore Main Street in order to make it more affordable.
Hazard, Pikeville grows population and economy
“We realized we needed to build community,” Richards said during one panel discussion. Over the past five years, downtown redevelopment has created 70 new businesses, 62 of which are still open and creating more than 250 jobs. Richards proudly pointed out that Hazard’s population grew by 18% from 2010 to 2020, while Pikeville, home to the area’s most famous revitalized downtown, grew by 12%.
A few years ago, Mayor Scott Maddon of Pineville, the Bell County seat, looked out the window of his second-floor insurance office and saw a public plaza with 20 percent of the building occupied. Maddon said during the panel discussion that the property is now 100% full after undergoing a second major phase of redevelopment this summer.
One of the keys was a five-year moratorium on property tax assessment increases, which required cooperation from county government. Maddon said the first properties to come out of the moratorium will pay $10,000 in property taxes this year, compared to just $400 in annual revenue before redevelopment. To help your business succeed, Southeast Community College will help you create a business plan and review your business’s progress on a quarterly basis.
Hille said successful businesses like Pineville and Corbin usually have “spark plugs” like Andy Salmons. Mr. Salmons is the manager of the Corbin store on Main Street and the owner of the former drug store, which has been converted into a local restaurant and bar with apartments above. He did it 12 years ago, when half of the downtown buildings were vacant.
There were many skeptics “who said no one would ever come to a farm-to-table craft beer bar in Corbin,” Salmons said. Shortly before opening, Wrigley ran out of money, so people who wanted to see him succeed gathered together the chairs Wrigley needed most for his taproom and eatery.
More stores opened, the city became completely “wet” and not just restaurants, and other cities noticed and followed suit. “Corbin was a changer in this area,” said Jacob Roan, the city’s parks director.
$298 million for housing shortage
Much of the conference focused on the region’s chronic housing shortage, which has been exacerbated by flooding, inflation and high interest rates, as well as rising rents and home prices. wait a minute. “Support is on the way,” said Pam Johnson, formerly of Appalachian Housing Enterprise Federation Fahe.
The state has used flood relief money, other funds and donated land to launch seven housing developments in counties hardest hit by the 2022 floods. We recently began accepting applications for $298 million in federal disaster recovery funding for housing and supporting infrastructure that are vital to local economies.
The deadline to apply is June 1, said Matt Stevens, general counsel for the state Department of Local Government. The five counties hardest hit by the flooding – Breathitt, Letcher, Knott, Perry and Pike – will receive 80% of the funding. The remaining 20% will be allocated to 15 other counties that will flood in 2022.
“We anticipate an unprecedented summer and fall housing start rate,” Johnson said. “It will energize the community.”
Wendy Smith, deputy executive director of the Kentucky Housing Authority, a state agency, said Eastern Kentucky’s economy is experiencing a housing shortage because of three housing-related factors: developable land, infrastructure and contractors. He said one reason is that there is a shortage of
Smith said rents have risen so high that landlords who once received federal Section 8 housing vouchers are no longer receiving them to avoid the program’s required inspections, and are now receiving vouchers from KHC. More than half of those who received the items said they returned them because they were unable to receive them. He who can use the voucher can find housing within 210 days.
He said there were few new “in-between homes” such as duplexes and triplexes, and less income for developers. There are also apartment construction and rental subsidies available, but many people in eastern Kentucky don’t prefer living in apartments.
“It’s because we’re connected to the land,” Corbin Mayor Susie Rasmus said, “and unlike other parts of the country, it’s very temporary.”
This article is the first in a new series of articles about rural Appalachian Kentucky from the University of Kentucky-based Rural Journalism Institute. If you have a story idea, please contact Al Cross, director emeritus. [email protected] Or Jenny Glendening, the Institute’s David Hope Fellow for Appalachian Coverage. [email protected].