Today’s awards will help Southern Tier 8 Regional Board and 25 other Local Development Districts (LDDs) expand technical assistance for communities seeking federal funding. Binghamton, NY June 20,2023—Today, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), in partnership with New York State Department of State announced nearly $2.5 million in awards through READY LDDs, one of four tailored tracks ARC’s capacity-building initiative, READY Appalachia. Today’s awards will help 26 Local Development Districts (LDDs) in nine Appalachian states – including Southern Tier 8 Regional Board – expand staffing capacity to better support their communities in identifying, accessing, and implementing federal funding through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and other funding sources. “ARC remains committed to working with our partners in our Local Development Districts to build parity throughout all of Appalachia, and this latest round of funding will augment the work these Local Development Districts are doing to help their communities utilize unprecedented amounts of federal funding across the region,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. “This opportunity will help us improve the Recovery-to-Work Ecosystem Development to expand upon several innovative approaches across the Southern Tier!” said Jen Gregory, Executive Director. Today’s package joins the ~$500,000 in READY LDD funds ARC awarded to five Area Development Districts in Appalachian Kentucky last month, bringing the total to nearly $3 million for 31 LDDs in 10 states. READY LDDs is one of four tracks under READY Appalachia, ARC's new community-capacity building initiative offering free training and flexible funding for nonprofit organizations, community foundations, local governments, and Local Development Districts (LDDs) in the Appalachian Region. ARC is allocating READY LDDs awards on a quarterly basis until all funds, totaling $4 million, are expended. The final application deadline is June 30, 2023. Additional information about the funding is available at arc.gov/readyldds. For more information, reach Jen Gregory at 607-287-9536. ### About the Appalachian Regional Commission The Appalachian Regional Commission is an economic development entity of the federal government and 13 state governments focusing on 423 counties across the Appalachian Region. ARC’s mission is to innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia to help the Region achieve socioeconomic parity with the nation.