U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-05) announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded a $261,475 Rural Community Development Initiative grant to the Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation (KHIC) of London and Technology 2020 (Tech 2020) of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The funds will be used to establish a regional program to assist and train entrepreneurs with product ideas geared toward energy and homeland security solutions.

“Protecting the homeland and shoring up our energy security should be top priorities in the nation’s capital and in the nation’s coal belt,” Rogers said. “This funding will build on the already successful partnership between Kentucky Highlands and Tech 2020 and will move our region forward by investing in local entrepreneurs with smart solutions and big ideas to these very real problems. I’m pleased to see a continued federal investment in training up business leaders in southern and eastern Kentucky. These initiatives create jobs and get projects off the drawing board and into production.”

KHIC was formed in 1968 to stimulate growth and create employment opportunities in Southeastern Kentucky. KHIC currently serves the following twenty-two counties in Kentucky: Bell, Clay, Clinton, Cumberland, Estill, Harlan, Jackson, Knox, Laurel, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lincoln, Madison, McCreary, Owsley, Perry, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Russell, Wayne, and Whitley. Tech 2020 was initiated in 1993 to capitalize on the unique resources of the East Tennessee region: the presence of the Oak Ridge National Lab, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, the headquarters of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and a significant number of both large and small technology companies in the region.

This grant was provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Program. Rogers supports funding of the USDA through his role as a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee.