Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Three Northeast Tennessee organizations have been awarded a total of nearly $75,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) under its READY Nonprofits program. It is one of four learning tracks offered by READY Appalachia, an ARC community capacity-building initiative.

• FoundersForge in Johnson City was awarded $25,000 for its the Appalachian Startup Alliance project. The nonprofit will hire two new employees to build, manage, and support a rapidly growing start-up community and implement an online community software solution to support the community FoundersForge is building, utilizing a learning management system (LMS). Through this project, the organization will be able to transition its in-person education for start-up organizations to an online platform, expanding services to reach additional startups in its region and across Appalachia. Staff capacity will be increased and will result in an expansion of the organization’s service area and programming, which will increase long-term sustainability for the organization.
• The Sync Space Entrepreneur Center in Kingsport also was awarded $25,000 for its “Training Local Entrepreneurship Facilitators in Rural Counties” project. The award will help Sync Space expand its programming and resources to eight of the most rural counties it serves in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The expansion includes training in-county facilitators and supporting them with resources to implement Sync Space programming to community members. The project will enable the organization to have greater and more consistent programming and communication within these eight counties, allowing community members and entrepreneurs to benefit from Sync Space programming, thereby increasing long-term sustainability for the organization.
• The Appalachian Resource Conservation and Development Council (ARCD) in Johnson City was awarded $24,998 for its “Capacity Building with Appalachian Resource Conservation and Development Council” project. ARCD will use the grant to fund its newly hired Operations and Finance Director as well as fund ongoing financial training/consulting for its staff members and its donor management software annual subscription. The organization will establish systems, procedures, and policies for grants management, finalize a strategic plan, increase fundraising efforts, diversify funding, update staff roles and job descriptions, and improve internal and external communication through training and donor software.

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