TJ Kaikobad and his wife, Danielle, of Cyra’s Simple Goodness Restaurant in Dalton, Georgia, recently received ACE’s Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year Award.Photo courtesy of Erik Voss With ARC support, Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE) in Cleveland, Georgia, is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) providing access to capital and business…

With COVID-19 related funding from ARC, ACC was able to support the Parkway Theater’s renovation and survival through the pandemic. Access to capital is one of the biggest obstacles to small business and entrepreneurial growth in Appalachia. In 2013, with seed money from ARC and other partners, Appalachian Community…

For over 20 years, Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE) has empowered entrepreneurship in Appalachian Georgia through small business loans to candidates who might otherwise be overlooked. ACE’s founder, Grace Fricks, is a former social worker, who made it the organization’s mission to target support to women, people of…

In 2016, the Natural Capital Investment Fund (NCIFund) partnered with the Hatfield McCoy Trail Authority and Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College (Southern) to drive recreational tourism development in the coalfields of southern West Virginia. Through ARC POWER funding, the partners launched a revolving loan…

LaunchTN —  a public-private partnership focusing on early-stage capital formation, market access, commercialization resources, talent development and retention for entrepreneurs across the state — has stood up eight Entrepreneurship Centers in Tennessee. With ARC support, three of these centers are dedicated to assist Appalachian entrepreneurs as they develop business plans,…

What started as an after-school urban gardening program has since blossomed into Grow Ohio Valley (Grow OV), an operation with around 50 employees working toward a single mission: improve the health and economic future of Wheeling, West Virginia through local food. It’s a great mission…

In what was once an abandoned furniture store, the Youngstown Business Incubator (YBI) is operating an internationally recognized, high-impact program for Appalachian entrepreneurs. YBI was founded in 2001 and has since developed successful digital businesses, strengthened women and minority entrepreneurship, and furthered advanced manufacturing technologies in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley.

Since 1974, JARI has supported the economic growth and diversification of Pennsylvania’s Southern Alleghenies region. Their service area in Greater Johnstown, Pennsylvania historically relied on the steel and coal industries, and like other Appalachian communities needed to diversify its local and regional economic bases to improve long-term vitality.  In order to best carry out its…

“Revolutionary Unique” was one of the many businesses pitched at the Dare to DreamCompetition for high school students in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Creating a brighter economic future for Appalachia means investing in leadership skills and capacity of young doers, thinkers and leaders today. That’s why ARC…