I’ve spent the last two days at a convening organized by the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Powerplant Communities and Economic Revitalization, thankfully shortened to the Energy Communities IWG, where coal community leaders from around US are sharing ideas and learning from each other and their Federal agency partners.  These types of meetings are always useful, but don’t always make the news.  But this event included an exciting announcement from the IWG and AmeriCorps, who announced the kickoff of the new Energy Communities AmeriCorps VISTA program which will support the placement of up to 150 VISTA volunteers in energy communities across the US.   These volunteers will work with energy-reliant communities on issues such as strategic planning, project design, grant writing, and the like.  

Over the past few years, it’s become very clear that many rural regions, including coal-reliant places, may lack needed capacity to successfully compete for outside and to support projects that can help spur new economic activity. Programs like this one, and the Economic Recovery Corps program, are excellent tools for addressing these gaps. This exciting new initiative will not only help distressed regions, but can also help publicize the many assets and investment opportunities across rural America. You can learn more and apply here.

I’m very excited about an upcoming event:  the Global Entrepreneurship Congress+ Puerto Rico.  Starting this weekend, GEC+ Puerto Rico will host entrepreneurial ecosystem builders from across Latin America to share ideas and learn from one another.  Many of the region’s leading entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers will be joining the event, which also offers an opportunity to learn about Puerto Rico’s thriving entrepreneurial scene.  Among the many topics to be discussed are building closer business ties across the Americas, the role of AI in ecosystem building, and deep dives into key industries (e.g. space, media, IT), and pressing issues (e.g. access to capital, export promotion).  Hope to see you in San Juan. FYI, the next Iteration of the GEC will be coming to Indianapolis, IN in 2025.