ReImagine Appalachia Catching Heat: The Opportunities and Challenges of Using Waste Heat from Appalachian AI Data Centers

Workshop 3E: Federal Policy and Local Action for Disaster Resilience

Partners are working to address the increasingly more urgent issue of disaster resilience from the local to the federal level. Key to this work are both local resilience efforts and ensuring that federal policy on disaster mitigation reflects the knowledge and wisdom of the communities who have survived disasters firsthand.

Facilitator: Brendan Muckian-Bates, Appalachian Citizens Law Center

Key Takeaways:

Flood resilience is economic resilience given the increase in flooding within the region. CAN (Central Appalachian Network) has shifted their perspective to view economic development as an integral part of resilience. In these times success can be found through a focus on building local community and support.
Reduction of FEMA dollars and the lack of alternatives means there is a serious need for local capacity building for so many levels of response. There could be potential for regional resiliency programs that work in a similar way to congressional districts. HOMES Inc, Fahe doing some work at a higher level. WV Hub is working on visioning and outreach to communities.
There seems to be a gap in research on how climate change is directly impacting Appalachia.
Jobs need to be part of disaster recovery plans and key emergency response work skills like partnership, communication, and project management can be built into workforce development programs. Participants mentioned a few additional programs that they would like to see implemented or re-implemented, like the Climate Corps and AmeriCorps.

Workshop 3D: What’s Next for the Appalachian Manufacturing Action Plan?

ReImagine Appalachia is working to finalize the Appalachian Manufacturing Action Plan (AMAP). Participants in this discussion provided feedback and insight into this new endeavor as we explore seeking organizational endorsements, forming an Appalachian Manufacturing Advisory Board, taking AMAP on an Appalachian Roadshow, and developing an AMAP federal policy platform.

Facilitator: Bay Epperly, ReImagine Appalachia

Key Takeaways:

Robotics and AI will be important and manufacturing skills could be developed within local workforces.

Maintaining agency over the plan, centering local diverse voices (which include manufacturers), and clear organization during implementation, is needed to avoid developing re-enactment of exploitation. This requires a process for getting representatives from across Appalachia that can report to a coalition about opportunities for organizing in their geographic area. To broaden input and gather local perspective, state-based reps could sit on the advisory board within sub-committees.

The AMAP roadshow should start with the manufacturers themselves. We need to speak their language to rally interest in circular economy implementation. It could be useful to lean on manufacturing extension partnerships to organize with local economic development authorities on a streamlined plan focused on specific sites. Console Energy and Longridge Energy were identified as other potential partners. “Remade” initiative of federal DOE, Rise PA grant, and American Manufacturing Community Collaborative are other good groups to consult

Workshop 3C: Arts and Culture as a Way to Share the Story of Hope

Creative Placemaking and community art / murals is a key component of the brighter future we want to build for Appalachia. Participants discussed ways we can ensure the stories, culture and arts of Appalachia are part of the conversation when we talk about prosperity.

Facilitator: Blaise Reader, ReImagine Appalachia

Key Takeaways:

Place matters, and there is an interest in local, place-based art connected to parks and public spaces. We can support culture workers and artists by focusing on multi-generational engagement, the inclusion of faith communities, and supporting artists not just through projects, but through community and infrastructure. There’s a need for third spaces where artists can gather, build skills, and network.
Art projects after disasters can be regenerative, grief processing tools. Simultaneously, we must ensure that we remain sustainable and clean with our art making tools. It’s important to consider what happens to the painted flood wall after a storm, for example, and how that paint can degrade over time.
Funders can demonstrate an artists’ value by prioritizing or requiring an arts & culture component in funded projects. This can be an approach for CDFIs and other investors, as well.

Workshop 3B: Strategies for Reconnecting Disconnected Workers

Appalachia has generated tremendous amounts of wealth–but historically, the wealth created by our workers did not stay in our communities or contribute to the vitality of our region. This session focused on the importance of expanding programs such as pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships, and targeted hiring in Appalachia to reconnect our disconnected workers, address barriers to employment, and make sure that new investments build local wealth.

Facilitator: Ted Boettner, Ohio River Valley Institute & James Kunz III, PA Foundation for Fair Contracting

Key Takeaways:

Low employment rates among prime-age men remain a huge challenge in the region and the numbers are not improving.
Challenges to address: New skills training, burnout after demanding and non-supportive jobs, transportation, lack of internet, discrepancies between school systems and a general lack of alignment between current and future industry and K-12 education.
There are a number of ways RA could engage in this work:
- RA has an opportunity to reiterate/update its explanation for why the RA region needs a large-scale public employment program, which we can call CCC 2.0 or a disaster corps
- There are gaps in research. We don’t know the breakdown of the disconnect between (a) the very long-term unemployed versus (b) folks that might have been unemployed for a few months or even years but, if you look over 10 years, they mostly work.
- RA can also continue to lift up diverse local hire initiatives/best practices on projects and diverse local hire/community benefits policies. This could be at the state (e.g. RISE PA) and local level plus federally funded projects not cancelled. This should also involve Inclusive hiring practices for people with disabilities and those in recovery.

Workshop 3A: Financing Your Projects – Capital Stack and more

Capital stacking is the strategic layering of different funding sources to finance a project, development, or business acquisition. For example, different institutions can have different tolerance of risk or prefer to support different project stages. Participants came to this session to learn more about capital stacking and other strategic approaches to finance projects and diversify funding sources.

Facilitator: Andrew Crosson, Invest Appalachia

Key Takeaways:

It’s necessary to produce a capital stack for most community projects in Central Appalachia, meaning multiple types of investment for one project. A well-structured capital stack can:

reduce risk;
reduce the cost of capital;
provide gap financing.

Different types of investment are stitched together to cover different pieces of the work so the entire project can move forward. It could be grant, federal funding, tax credit, recoverable grant, loan guarantees, bridge funding, loan with sub-market return, CDFL loan, traditional loan, market rate return, equity investment.
Bridge funding (cash upfront) = tax credits, reimbursable grants, then we get into financing. Grants can unlock the investment; investment can be complementary to grants.

Workshop 2E: Appalachian Policy Priorities in 2026

In this breakout session, participants helped outline federal policy priorities for the upcoming year. They reflected on the areas of potential for forward progress and the policy issues that most need Appalachia’s involvement. Methods that can help support local communities as they look to shape the federal policies that impact them were also shared.

Facilitator: Jessica Arriens, National Wildlife Federation

Key Takeaways:

Areas for potential progress, in terms of the current policy situation,
- There appears to be bipartisan support for the Modern WIC Act
- Movement on a skinny farm bill is expected in the next couple of months
- Keeping an eye on the Road to Housing Act especially the HOME program, USDA 502 direct program, and housing vouchers
Next steps:
- Continued work on our flooding platform, outreach to expand our policy work to include more priorities from the region
- Engage in Appropriations and other opportunities to move policy
- With the current climate, people want to hear directly from the people impacted in rural communities who can share specific issues and stories.

Workshop 2D: Reuse It in Appalachia

As Appalachian communities work to redevelop vacant sites like shuttered coal plants or reimagine existing industrial operations, reuse and circular manufacturing will help increase regional sustainability, prosperity, and competitiveness for the future. Join experts from groups already engaging with reuse around the region to discuss how circular manufacturing can be further implemented through projects like waste collection systems, eco-industrial park models, co-location, the reuse of shuttered coal plants and more.

Facilitator: Bay Epperly, ReImagine Appalachia

Key Takeaways:

Partnerships and trust help overcome challenges. They will be needed to help address lack of infrastructure, gaps in business education and understanding of business processes, and to ensure that research does not get stuck without implementation.
Local chambers of commerce and schools should be used more often. Local chambers of commerce serve as the center for the established business community for many places. After school hours and in the summer, schools can provide a place for business startups to work as well as a hub for forming connections between research and implementation.

There is a real opportunity for the region to become a hub for reuse, even in places where high volume recycling will not be financially feasible, such as West Virginia. Waste can be gathered from neighboring states for processing. This model will work if the method shifts from quantity to quality. Aim to specialize in high quality processing and reuse such as electronic waste processing that adds value.
What’s next: Work with the Appalachian Manufacturing Action Plan to incorporate these learnings into our larger regional planning for the future.

Workshop 2C: Storytelling with an investment focused approach

With the federal funding landscape dramatically changed, how can Appalachian communities and businesses adapt their messaging to appeal to environmentally responsible and socially conscious private investors?

Facilitator: John Neurohr, Jr. & Gina Pelusi, Clear Point Communications

Key Takeaways:

What stories are investors looking for?
- Communities must showcase their assets, tell stories effectively, and tap into investor priorities.When a community shows itself as a place of growth rather than something to be saved, it incentivizes investment. The need statement changes; we should say “look at the potential going to waste.”
- Investors want stories that show momentum. They want to know “Is this real? Is this working? Will it grow?” Telling stories rooted in real progress allows investors to see the mission and the opportunity. Sharing the small wins is important.
- It’s important to quantify impacts when possible, along with showing local buy in. Investors respond differently when they see local leadership/ownership built into a project. There’s been success in a shift away from positioning communities as beneficiaries and towards positioning them as partners.
What specific metrics/data points should communities highlight to demonstrate market demand, workforce readiness, and long-term viability to potential investors?
- Demand signals like letters of intent and demand indicators like regional buyers (i.e. joint purchasing commitments) reduce risk
- Jobs retained, jobs created is a universal metric
Tips for storytelling:

You don’t need a big budget for video/audio storytelling. If you have a phone and a compelling story to tell, that can be enough- Frankly, it can feel more authentic.

Workshop 2B: Responsible Data Center Development Principles

The rapid growth in the data center industry brings increased need to ensure that new development is good for workers, communities, and the environment. This session included a discussion of data centers as well as a broader conversation around what’s next and what’s needed to ensure responsible development in the region.

Facilitator: Betony Jones, Data for Progress & Doug Bloch, Senior Advisor, Workshop

Key Takeaways:

There has been a massive global and U.S. expansion of data centers, with Virginia leading nationally. Data centers are now the #1 construction start in the U.S. Rapid growth has outpaced community governance, creating conflict, real community concern about local economics and energy costs.
Data centers are not just infrastructure projects—they are organizing opportunities that can build durable labor–community power for the long term. Data center fights now hinge on: Land use decisions, Zoning, Permitting, State and local policy, which gives leverage to local entities.

CBAs succeed when labor–community coalitions are strong enough to intervene locally and shape terms and conditions of development.

To prevent communities from negotiating on the company’s terms, principals should be developed proactively and early in the process, preferable before developers come to town or construction begins.
- NAACP guiding principles Full principles doc here
Fragmentation is the enemy. A common set of principles gives companies something coherent to respond to—and raises the floor nationally. Coalitions must actively negotiate internal tensions, not avoid them. There are strong case studies to look to for examples that show sustained organizing leads to project wins that in turn lead to policy wins.
Next steps include:
- Establishing shared national principles (while respecting local specificity),
- Early-stage tracking and research,
- Coalition capacity building,
- Technical assistance before permitting,
- Alignment between labor, community, and climate actors

Workshop 2A: New Tools to Help Communities Pitch Their Stories to Private Investors: Mapping Appalachia’s Assets for the New Energy Economy

An investor profile can help communities attract private sector development. ReImagine Appalachia has created new resources like our Manufacturing Assets Map to make data more accessible to communities – as we look to shape this next phase of our work, how do we ensure our region is on the map for investors?

Facilitator: Daniel Flynn, ProsperAmerica

Key Takeaways:

Communities and their stakeholders can attract investors through traditional channels, such as magazines and websites; but capacity and strategy are often lacking.
There is value in demonstrating that the region is attractive all around. Buckeye Hills Regional Council aims to market their region to investors as a “full package,” not just a focus on good sites, tax incentives, etc.
Collaboration as a region makes economic development more successful, versus having one community try to outbid a neighboring community.
Community benefits are important. They are important to attract the right (as in not extractive) investors. CBP can help to include the communities right from the beginning and get their input, so there isn’t a backlash to the project later on
Storymaps as a tool:
- Keeping the StoryMap up to date will requires ongoing maintenance. The Buckeye Hills StoryMap integrated some data from government sources that will be automatically updated, but this is not the case for most of them.
- The Storymap is effective at capturing the “full package” as a region, but in order to attract companies, a pitch needs to be more specific either towards the company itself or toward a certain industry.

Workshop 1E: University Research and Community Collaborations

This was the first part of a Regional Collaboration for Policy Solutions track. In this breakout session, participants discussed how we can increase collaboration between universities and communities to maximize the effectiveness of our time and resources especially as budgets tighten for both groups. It was agreed that universities can be a major asset in our communities because they can help increase capacity and understanding. Throughout the breakout, participants shared a number of examples on collaborations with higher education, future projects that could be explored further, and the challenges that still need to be addressed in order to advance this type of work.

Facilitator: Alan Letton, Marshall University

Key Takeaways

Currently, very few faculty have experience in the real world, and as they don’t have strong contextual knowledge, they prefer to partner rather than lead on proposals. There is a need to change the academic reward structure from academics for academics sake, publish or perish, to one that pursues research topics that emerge from the field.
Various factors impact current level of community engagement

Field of discipline (engineering is ahead of sciences, for instance)
Presidents and board members
“Carnegie Classification”- doctoral universities have the capacity and infrastructure for doing research (versus professional universities like medical and law schools, or master’s only programs).
Land Grant Institutions have some requirements to work with the community (especially on agriculture). WV has only 2 land grants; WVU and WV State.

Moving forward, ReImagine Appalachia could contribute by:
- Continue networking conversations between academic and community organizations to increase education and transparency about the needs of both parties

Highlighting successful partnerships between academic and community partners and discuss lessons learned/possible replicable models

Workshop 1D: Developing a Policy Platform for Appalachia’s Clean Technology Investments

This was the first breakout session in the Appalachian Manufacturing Action Plan track. The conversation in this breakout focused around building a policy platform to increase investments in Appalachia’s clean technologies such as batteries, renewable energy sources, electric vehicles, industrial hemp, and bioplastics. Participants discussed how we can strengthen supply chains to make Appalachia a hub for those technologies as well as the barriers to developing manufacturing in the region that policy could help fix.

Facilitator: Rike Rothenstein, ReImagine Appalachia

View Recording Here:

Key Takeaways

Developing Manufacturing policy priorities as part of this work

New development in the region has started to form a clean energy manufacturing corridor along Route 33

Ohio’s new behind the meter laws could be leveraged to attract manufacturing and form co-located hubs.

Moving from the research phase to implementation is a challenge for new businesses in the bio-based and renewable energy manufacturing sector. Support for balancing costs and forming partnerships would be helpful.

Moving forward, ReImagine Appalachia could contribute by:

Outreach to key stakeholders in the region followed by a “roadshow” presenting about the work

Workshop 1C: Communications in Divisive Times

Regional practitioners helped shape strategy for effective messaging in divisive times, noting why this work is critical for communications in our region. Challenging discussions lie ahead, particularly with the rapid development of data centers and the turbulent new political reality.

Facilitator: Ernie Britt, We Make the Future

Key Takeaways

There are frameworks for how to bridge community divisions so that residents aren’t disadvantaged when new development projects come to town. Ernie Britt from We Make the Future walked attendees through how to unite diverse groups using shared visioning techniques that have nearly universal appeal, no matter one’s background. For example, he offers a multisensory vision of a healthy community with clean water and abundant and affordable energy. “Imagine the taste of clean air, the sound of children playing in the park.”
This workshop explored how to unite people to overcome Appalachia’s challenges using the race-class narrative (RCN). Appalachian residents experience cynicism, often due to a long history of boom and bust operations in their communities as well as a century of exploitation. RCN is a research-backed messaging architecture that neutralizes the use of classicism and dog-whistle racism to win on the issues we care about.
The RCN employs four key pillars to craft winning messaging: 1. Opening with shared values. 2. Naming the villains (who are the key actors responsible for stoking division and inequality). 3. Emphasizing collective action. 4. Creating a shared vision for the future or for an ideal outcome. This workshop primarily worked with the fourth pillar, creating a shared vision, to help communities unite despite differences of economic class, ethnicity, or nationality.

Workshop 1B: Data Center Energy Efficiency Measures

In this first session of the Responsible Data Center Development track, participants discussed how we can ensure data centers are operating efficiently and in locations that make the most sense. This conversation covered strategies such as co-location with industries in need of waste heat, as well as former industrial sites such as shuttered coal plants and brownfields rather than greenfields. Participants raised a number of questions about the factors that need to be kept in mind as communities explore their priorities and policies for new data center development which need further attention as work around this responsible data center development continues.

Facilitator: Deborah Stine, Science and Technology Policy Academy

Key Takeaways

There are still many questions and uncertainties in data center development, for example: Who should approve business plans? What policies can ensure corporate transparency and affordable energy for communities? Who gets the tax revenue, state or local municipalities? How can we prevent this development from driving up energy costs?
Moving forward, ReImagine Appalachia could contribute by:
1. Identifying levers for engagement to help ensure that new data center developers engage with local communities and municipalities, such as community benefit agreements.
2. Producing case studies of existing projects would be helpful to determine best practices.
3. Compiling resources, such as those that show resource consumption and costs
4. Hosting conversations that get at the questions listed above
5. Writing a set of responsible data center development principles for endorsement.

Workshop 1A: Closing the Philanthropic Gap for Appalachia.

Studies have shown stark disparities between philanthropic investment in Appalachia compared to the rest of the country. Yet, our region is a model for innovative programs when given the tools. How can we advocate for a more equitable distribution of resources? Are there new strategies to pitch the region to funders?

Facilitator: Ryan Eller, Appalachian Funders Network

Key Takeaways:

There is a noticeable difference in trends between “progressive” and “conservative” funders. Appalachia struggles to get long term commitments from progressive funders. On the other hand, we’ve seen conservative funders commit to 10, 15, 20 years of funding right out of the gate. Trust based philanthropy is the long term goal.
Appalachian Organizations struggle to get in front of national philanthropy. Once they do get an opportunity to get in front of them, the onboarding process is often long and burdensome. “Open calls” are not as common.
We can develop a better narrative for philanthropy:
- Though there has been a severe loss of funding in the region, don’t frame it as having lost $900M in federal dollars. This can be overwhelming to private funders. Instead, we should frame it as a way they can help with 10% of what has been lost in federal funding to continue in a forward manner and avoid being set back a decade or more.
- We need to continue to workshop the most engaging stories and narratives for the region
- Appalachia is deeply networked, this is a strength. We need to reflect on this strength and ask ourselves, “How can this be leveraged at the national stage?” If organizations have funders already, it’s also important to advocate for other organizations in the region.

Collaboration is key to lift all of the great work in the region together.

Workshop 1 A

Key Takeaways

There is a noticeable difference in trends between “progressive” and “conservative” funders. Appalachia struggles to get long term commitments from progressive funders. On the other hand, we’ve seen conservative funders commit to 10, 15, 20 years of funding right out of the gate. Trust based philanthropy is the long term goal.
Appalachian Organizations struggle to get in front of national philanthropy. Once they do get an opportunity to get in front of them, the onboarding process is often long and burdensome. “Open calls” are not as common.
We can develop a better narrative for philanthropy:
- Though there has been a severe loss of funding in the region, don’t frame it as having lost $900M in federal dollars. This can be overwhelming to private funders. Instead, we should frame it as a way they can help with 10% of what has been lost in federal funding to continue in a forward manner and avoid being set back a decade or more.
- We need to continue to workshop the most engaging stories and narratives for the region
- Appalachia is deeply networked, this is a strength. We need to reflect on this strength and ask ourselves, “How can this be leveraged at the national stage?” If organizations have funders already, it’s also important to advocate for other organizations in the region.

Collaboration is key to lift all of the great work in the region together.

ReImagine Appalachia Catching Heat: The Opportunities and Challenges of Using Waste Heat from Appalachian AI Data Centers

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