Burnside awarded opportunity to train for grant writing

Christopher Harris, Commonwealth Journal, Somerset, Ky.
·2 min read

Apr. 29—The City of Burnside is one of 10 Kentucky municipalities and 90 from across the Appalachian region selected to participate in a program designed to help local governments better pursue federal funding opportunities.

This week, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) announced the city, town, village, and county entities selected to participate in the program, known as READY Local Governments.

Those selected will participate in nine weeks of virtual, cohort-based learning to grow skills in the areas of project identification and planning, federal grant application development, federal grant regulations and compliance, and community project engagement, among other highlights, according to a release from ARC.

"To get any of these grants, you've got to have a good grant writer, and small cities just can't afford to put a grant writer on staff," said Burnside Mayor Robert Lawson. "That's the only way we can compete, if we have somebody in-house who can write."

Lawson will take the course along with assistant city clerk Chassada Smith; to be selected for the program, the chief municipal official has to join another person in taking the course, Lawson noted.

"I think most definitely it will be beneficial for the city," said Lawson. "Between Chas and I both, maybe we can write grants for the city now. Before, we'd have to hire someone to do it."

He noted that the Lake Cumberland Area Development District has helped the city with that in the past, specifically for grants related to water and sewer, and is currently working on one for Cole Park, but "to have an in-house grant writer would be great for the city."

Following the completion of the program, participants may apply for up to $50,000 in funding, with no-match required, to help implement internal capacity-building projects for their communities, according to the release.

Lawson said their classes start at the beginning of May, and will be done online for nine weeks, so they don't have to travel anywhere.

"ARC's local government partners have always been the backbone of our on-the-ground work throughout our Appalachian communities," said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. "Through our READY Local Governments initiative, we are proud to help these partners enhance their work through training, resources, and expanded support, because when our local communities thrive, the entire Appalachian Region succeeds."

READY Appalachia launched in July 2022, and has provided training and funding to help the region's Local Development Districts (LDDs) and non-profit organizations ever since, with nearly $4 million awarded through READY LDDs and more than $1.6 million through READY Nonprofits, according to the ARC release. Opportunities for philanthropic organizations in the Appalachian Region will be available through READY Foundations later this year.