Our Region’s Journey
Where We Are Today
What does the region have to show for its decades-long investment in ecosystem development? First, mature networks such as AFN and CAN, along with high-capacity CDFIs, are using well-developed, cross-sector, and collaborative approaches to dramatically increase the pipeline of investable deals within key economic sectors that will drive a just and sustainable economic transition. Second, Invest Appalachia is capitalizing an inaugural fund to implement an integrated capital approach to investment – a $57 million blend of investment capital and catalytic capital* – and developing a regional “ecosystem quarterback” role to aggregate opportunities, coordinate strategies, and invest at scale in the drivers of community and economic development. Third, Appalachian Investment Ecosystem Initiative has provided resources for deeper capacity building work within the ecosystem through programs such as a new training cohort for community actors to build investment “framer” skills and create a more inclusive investment ecosystem.
The Appalachian community investment ecosystem is dedicated to impact-first investments that promote equity, economic inclusion, sustainability, climate resilience, local self-reliance, and community health. The past five years have seen a ramping-up of investment in the region, including hundreds of millions of dollars in grants from regional funders, (e.g., over $287 million in POWER initiative grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission since 2015), increased community lending for priority sectors by CDFIs and loans funds ($1 billion in assets held by 25 major CDFIs serving the region), and aligned investments from outside the region. Several high-capacity nonprofits have gained a national profile and receive direct support from national foundations, while AFN has provided an entry point for national funders, such as the Gates Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, who want to better understand the region and how to be effective philanthropic partners. While the various efforts described above are creating meaningful change on the ground, the need and opportunity remains massive and calls for large-scale resourcing of these community development and community investment efforts.
* Invest Appalachia and its partners describe catalytic capital as flexible, creative, and high-risk capital, usually grant-like, that plugs common gaps between grant-funded projects and investment-ready projects. It includes project-specific credit enhancements like loan guarantees that enable repayable investment into shovel-worthy projects, as well as targeted technical assistance and industry cluster development that builds an inclusive pipeline and increases investment-readiness overall.
Invest Appalachia's blended capital model leverages the region's existing capital and capacity to accelerate community investment.
What’s Next
The community investment ecosystem in Central Appalachia rests on a strong foundation of resilient people and communities, unparalleled natural beauty, and cultural assets, as well as decades of work by dedicated community development actors. Anchor organizations and peer networks have created a framework for economic transition committed to grassroots leadership, equity, and self-determination. And over the past decade, CED partners developed a community investment ecosystem with collective impact networks, shared priorities, community and technical capacity, and a strong pipeline of investable projects.
Central Appalachia still lags far behind the rest of the U.S. in philanthropic and investment dollars per capita, and the current socio-economic context underscores the need for greater philanthropic attention to persistent poverty regions. The global pandemic has had an outsized impact on women, people of color, small businesses, and rural communities, illuminating and exacerbating structural inequalities and barriers to opportunity. Underserved regions like ours require an order of magnitude more in federal, philanthropic, and social investment. The window of possibility for a new economic future – one that is just, sustainable, and inclusive – is urgent and powerful.
Ongoing ecosystem-building work by AFN and others has helped make the region legible to national investors. Invest Appalachia is the latest innovation in the system, creating an entry point for large-scale national investors and offering the ability to rapidly aggregate investment opportunities and deploy blended capital in coordination with place-based partners across the region.
Our decade-plus of self-organizing and in-region investment has set the stage for the next phase of community investment in Appalachia: Channeling unprecedented volumes of impact capital to the ground for transformative investment.
With an influx of philanthropic and investment capital, deployed in coordination with aligned partners, the community-controlled ecosystem is well-positioned to translate a robust pipeline of projects into transformative economic, health, and social outcomes, including:
Local economies anchored by small business and community ownership
Patient capital invested in infrastructure, community facilities, real estate, housing, and other critical quality-of-life amenities
Revitalized small towns and rural communities attracting and retaining residents and businesses
New industries, career opportunities, and workforce development supports available to displaced, marginalized, and underserved workers
A new energy economy focused on renewable generation, efficiency, and remediation of coal’s legacy impacts
A resilient and inclusive regional food and agriculture system contributing to food security, economic opportunity, and stewardship of working landscapes
Positive changes in equity, community health, social cohesion, civic engagement, and place-based identity for all residents and communities in Central Appalachia
Invest Appalachia's targeted sectors are guided by shared regional analysis and drive equitable market development.