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Connect Appalachia

Technical Assistance

About Connect Appalachia

Connect Appalachia is an ARC ARISE multi-state project led by the Fletcher Group, offering training in recovery-friendly workplace programs across six states (GA, KY, NC, TN, VA, WV). The Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) provides technical assistance to communities on building recovery-to-work ecosystems in the participating states.

What we offer

CREC technical assistance is free to regions in the Appalachian counties of Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Initial offerings include:

  • Partner Mapping and Team Building
  • Recruit or Cultivate Your Regional Leadership Team
  • Regional Action Plan Working Session
  • Build or Expand Your Targeted Recovery-Friendly Employer List
  • Workforce Data Report

(See below for more information on these offerings)

Assess Your Recovery-to-Work Ecosystem

Fill out the Ecosystem Assessment Form to identify which technical assistance offering fits your region. You can choose to send your results to CREC to receive Technical Assistance.

CREC offers five forms of assistance. Each one follows a phase of the Recovery-to-Work Ecosystem Builder’s Guide.

Partner Mapping and Team Building
CREC works with you to map the organizations in your region’s recovery-to-work ecosystem, sort them by priority, and pick the 8 to 10 to approach first. You receive a written partner map, a short vision statement, and a shortlist. CREC can also build an online dashboard from your map.

Recruit or Cultivate Your Regional Leadership Team
CREC helps you turn your partner list into a leadership team of 5 to 8 organizations. CREC then helps you run the team’s first meeting. At that meeting, the team completes the Recovery to Work Ecosystem Assessment and picks 3 to 5 opportunities to act on.

Regional Action Plan Working Session
CREC helps you plan a regional working session that your region hosts and runs. CREC then turns your session notes into a written action plan for your partners to adopt, with a lead and a date for each goal.

Build or Expand Your Targeted Recovery-Friendly Employer List
CREC builds a list of 20 to 25 employers in your region that are good candidates for recovery-friendly workplace activities, with a short profile of each. In a working session with CREC, you and your partners then plan who contacts each employer, and in what order.

Workforce Data Report
CREC produces a short report on jobs, wages, and employer demand in your counties, built around two or three questions you choose. You receive three or four takeaways, the tables behind them, and a one-page version for partners, employers, and funders.

Other assistance

If your region needs something else, ask. CREC also provides:

  • Builder’s Guide training for regions in your state
  • Setup and monitoring support for recovery-friendly workplace certification, including the Caring Workplaces model
  • Coaching and office hours on employer engagement and ecosystem development
  • Project development and sustainability support
  • Support for engaging state agencies on policy
  • Cross-regional meetings between your region and partners in other places
  • Peer Meetings and Webinars (Click Here)

Contact us

If you’re in one of the participating Connect Appalachia states, you can reach out to a CREC team member:

CREC’s role

  • CREC supports local partners in building recovery-to-work ecosystems across the six Connect Appalachia states. State anchors recruit and train businesses statewide. The six state anchors are: Highland Rivers Behavioral Health, Kentucky Chamber Foundation, Wilkes Recovery Revolution, First Tennessee Development District, New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Development Board, Jobs & Hope WV.
  • CREC works with the local partners who engage employers, deliver services, and coordinate the resources that workers and businesses need for the Recovery Friendly Workplace certification to take hold.
  • Beginning in 2020, working through the Development District Association of Appalachia (DDAA) and with funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission, CREC supported regions across Appalachia in developing these ecosystems and produced the Recovery-to-Work Ecosystem Builder’s Guide. Connect Appalachia continues that work.

Beyond one-on-one support

Connect Appalachia participants also have access to resources that span the region. CREC hosts a webinar series on topics relevant to recovery-to-work practitioners, convenes in-person peer meetings where ecosystem builders share tools and approaches across states, and continues to expand the Recovery-to-Work Ecosystem Builder’s Guide with case studies, activities, and templates.

Check out the Webinar Series by clicking here!