WASHINGTON, DC-The Appalachian Regional Commission announced today approval of a grant of $733,150 to Opportunity Alabama, Inc. (OPAL) for the Creating Opportunity for Alabama (COAL) Initiative. The project will help spur investment in designated Opportunity Zones throughout the Appalachian counties of Alabama, creating 250 new jobs and leveraging $100M in private investment. This grant will impact Aderholt, Brooks, Palmer, Rogers and Sewell’s congressional districts.
OPAL is an Alabama-based non-profit organization creating an Opportunity Zones based funding and business development ecosystem within the state’s Appalachian counties. OPAL will work with a team of local, state, and national partners through three phases: (l) building local capacity to prepare for and attract opportunity zone investment; (2) creating a project pipeline to attract over $100 million investment; and (3) developing and implementing a nationally-unique impact investment data collection and analysis process.
In addition to the $733,150 in ARC funding, the total project cost of $1,242,627 includes matching funds from the grantee, the Opportunity Exchange, the Alabama Power Company, and the Alabama Power Foundation.
In phase one, OPAL would work with local officials to identify investment opportunities within qualified opportunity zones, developing and deploying community marketing materials designed for investor recruitment. Rural communities would receive prioritized assistance in this process. Phase two would consist of improving the pipeline of investment opportunities through the identification of developer partners and subject matter experts who would help move projects past the idea stage and closer to implementation. Grant funding would be used to acquire demand studies, environmental assessments, and construction cost estimates. In phase three, the applicant would focus on creating diligence materials, developing data, and forming funds to make it easier for investors to deploy their capital.
