WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced a $50,000 investment through the Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative to the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments in Youngstown. This investment will help fund the Voltage Valley Entrepreneurial Ecosystem - Regionalization Study, which will analyze and develop a regional utilities management system that will streamline development and permitting throughout the Mahoning Valley.

“This new investment will help provide diverse opportunities for the Mahoning Valley,” said Brown. “If we want to promote economic development throughout Ohio, we need to ensure that businesses and communities have tools and resources they need to do well.”

POWER is a congressionally funded initiative that targets federal resources to help communities and regions that have been affected by job losses in coal mining, coal power plant operations, and coal-related supply chain industries due to the changing economics of America's energy production.

Brown has been a leader for Ohio’s rural communities, successfully securing a number of provisions that are important to Ohio farmers in the 2018 Farm Bill. He is the first Ohioan to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in more than 50 years.

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