FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 2026
Contact: John Neurohr, [email protected], 717-364-6452
APPALACHIA — ReImagine Appalachia applauds the 2026 recipients of the Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions Pennsylvania (RISE PA) program, an investment that will create and sustain family-sustaining jobs, improve public health in communities across the Commonwealth, and keep Pennsylvania manufacturing competitive for decades to come.
“These awards are a win for Pennsylvania workers, for the families who live near our industrial facilities, and for the manufacturers who are choosing to modernize right here at home,” said Amanda Woodrum, Co-Executive Director of ReImagine Appalachia. “RISE PA is proof that we can grow good jobs, train local workers for the jobs of the future, clean up the air our kids breathe, and strengthen Pennsylvania’s competitive edge all at the same time.”
The $396 million RISE PA program, Pennsylvania’s second-largest competitive federal grant ever, will put Pennsylvanians to work modernizing factories and industrial facilities across the state. The program’s 15% apprenticeship utilization requirement is a new national best practice to ensure we are training residents for jobs of the future.
On top of this requirement, RISE PA’s Fair Labor Bonus rewards recipients who have committed to honor workers’ freedom to unionize, as well as the prevailing wage requirement that applies to all grants. The program’s labor standards and local hiring provisions provide a foundation for creating more good union jobs and for skilled trades and joint apprenticeship programs to build Pennsylvania’s next generation of industrial infrastructure, while ensuring the next generation of trades reflects the demographics of our workforce.
Because Pennsylvania’s industrial sector accounts for roughly 30% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions — and is a major source of the soot, smog, and toxic air pollution driving asthma and heart disease in nearby neighborhoods — RISE PA projects will also deliver measurable public health gains.
An additional 10% (of project cost) Community Benefit Bonus also rewards projects that direct tangible health benefits back to host communities and create access to the jobs created for local residents.
RISE PA is an economic competitiveness strategy as much as an environmental one: manufacturers that modernize today will be better positioned to win customers, attract private investment, and keep production and jobs in Pennsylvania rather than losing them to other states or overseas.
Over the past year, ReImagine Appalachia has worked alongside the Keystone Research Center and a broad coalition of labor, community, and technical assistance partners to help applicants access RISE PA through the three-part “PA Rising” convening series, plain-language application guides, a statewide map of industrial decarbonization contractors, and one-on-one technical assistance focused on the Fair Labor and Community Benefits bonuses. The coalition’s shared goals remain to maximize the program’s effectiveness and the impact of its community benefits and fair labor requirements, and to expand RISE PA as a national model for industrial modernization that grows good jobs, protects public health, maximizes community benefits, and strengthens domestic manufacturing.
ReImagine Appalachia congratulates the 2026 recipients and looks forward to seeing these projects come to life in communities across the Commonwealth.”
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