Tennessee Tech’s Rural Reimagined Program will now receive $1 million in recurring funding from the state.
Vice President for Research and Economic Development Dr. Michael Aikens said the program is designed to help rural areas in Tennessee tackle rural-facing challenges. Aikens said it was great to see the program receive recurring funding from the state.
“It is incredibly important, one so that we can keep people employed,” Aikens said. “Two, that we can keep federal dollars coming in, but three, the most important, is this money allows us to literally engrain ourselves into the fabric of the local and regional rural communities right here in the great state of Tennessee.”
Aikens said the program, created in 2019, offers services in 75 of the 78 rural designated counties in Tennessee, with a primary focus on the Upper Cumberland. Aikens said the program gives an opportunity to provide the university’s assets to rural communities.
“What are those challenges,” Aikens said. “What are you uniquely facing in your particular community? and then together, Tennessee Tech actively listens, and then together we communicate with those communities, and really kind of think about how do we collaboratively address these together.”
Aikens said rural communities in Tennessee face multiple challenges. Aikens said one of the major challenges that rural communities face here in the Upper Cumberland is poverty. Aikens said the program has partnered with the UCHRA to create a program called Empower that helps lift families out of poverty.
“One specific thing that Tennessee Tech is doing is actually helping them with access to higher education,” Aikens said. “So we have several coaches on staff that will actually work individually with these families, and they will help them with anything from filling out the FAFSA form to we provide access to tutoring and so much more.”
Aikens said the university also provides free technical assistance to businesses. Aikens said students are paired up with businesses to help them create marketing plans or social media plans to help businesses in rural communities grow.
Aikens said the program will focus on helping the eight counties that are considered distressed in Tennessee. That includes Clay County and Pickett County.
