Only halfway into a three-year project, a grant writing initiative between two state universities has surpassed $33 million in funding to enhance the Mountain StateƵs economy.
West Virginia Grant Resource Centers, a collaboration between Marshall University and West Virginia University, recently hit the halfway mark in its project, which began in January 2023.
During this time, the staff of Grant Centers has assisted businesses and organizations in all 55 counties craft more competitive grant writing, develop projects and identify funding available to them through a free resource offered to all West Virginians.
Sara Payne Scarbro
Courtesy of Lexi Browning
ƵWe want to help nonprofits, communities, governments, even businesses, elevate their proposal to make it competitive for some of the vendors to consider and, ultimately, help get it awarded,Ƶ said Sara Payne Scarbro, co-founder of Grant Centers and associate vice president for government relations at Marshall. ƵWe want to capture those dollars to bring them back to West Virginia.Ƶ
Payne Scarbro developed the initiative last year in partnership with cofounder Liz Vitullo, assistant vice president for economic innovation at ƵU, after noticing a large amount of federal funding going unused due to a lack of grant writing support and capacity.
Liz Vitullo
Courtesy of Lexi Browning
ƵWe identified a need and a gap,Ƶ Vitullo said. ƵSo, we brought our resources and our expertise together, and we wrote a grant to start a grant center.Ƶ
After proposing their grant, the Appalachian Regional Commission offered Payne Scarbro and Vitullo $1.5 million to start their program, an amount that was then matched by the GovernorƵs Office and state Legislature.
ƵWeƵre trying to bring as many federal and private dollars into the state to support economic development initiatives so that we can build workforce, infrastructure, jobs, entrepreneurship Ƶ anything that enhances the economic prosperity of the state,Ƶ Vitullo explained.
Payne Scarbro said the universities decided to back the pairƵs innovative model to show their support for keeping students and future employees in the state.
ƵThe first mission of the university is to provide accessible, affordable education,Ƶ Payne Scarbro said. ƵBut then there is this obligation to serve the communities in which they are located and to give back and create more opportunities for your students to stay in the state and to live, work, play and prosper here in Appalachia.Ƶ
One local project for which the Grant Center assisted in applying for its grant is the renovation of the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center in Huntington.
The nearly 100-year-old Keith-Albee recently received $1.5 million in funding from the ARC POWER Initiative, which will go toward infrastructural restoration of the theater.
While the Keith-Albee may have received over $1 million in funding and the program has secured over $33 million combined for its clients, the co-founders said their focus is not on the amount of money each client receives.
ƵWeƵre focused on helping the applicant, helping the project Ƶ not so much the dollar amount itƵs going to bring in,Ƶ Payne Scarbro said. ƵA $50,000 award can be a game changer to a community just like a $1 million award can be a game changer to another community.Ƶ
ƵThe $33 million represents the dollars in the door for these organizations,Ƶ Vitullo said. ƵWhat it does not capture is the indirect effects; that $33 million represents jobs and programs being created, workforce initiatives, sewer and infrastructure thatƵs going to build a technology park thatƵs going to employ hundreds. ItƵs a ripple effect of what this is.Ƶ
The pair said their primary goal is to help their clients build self-esteem and relationships with other agencies, and they encouraged any state entity looking for assistance to visit Grant CentersƵ website, .
Baylee Parsons is an intern reporter for The Herald-Dispatch. She can be reached at bparsons@hdmediallc.com.
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