Opportunity Appalachia brings new investment to underserved Central Appalachian communities, creating new jobs and businesses that support sustainable growth. Our portfolio of high impact projects provides both robust social return as well as an attractive financial return. The Investor Convening will feature 33 Opportunity Appalachia projects seeking to develop relationships with investment partners. Our 2023 Portfolio is seeking $252 million in financing and is anticipated to create 3,000 jobs – including jobs for individuals in addiction recovery, the long-term unemployed (such as former coal industry workers), and minorities and women. Increased investment in minority/women – Owned Business Enterprises, including minority developers and TA providers, is also a priority. Our investment focus includes downtown development, manufacturing, IT, healthcare, education, food systems, clean energy, and heritage tourism and recreation – primarily in rural communities.

Intended Audience:

• Banks, CDFIs, New Markets Tax Credit CDEs, Historic Tax Credit investors, Opportunity Funds (QOFs), crowd funding platforms, and federal and state grant makers, and philanthropy.
• Community and economic development leaders, business owners and developers, and elected officials from Appalachia.

The event will include:

• Remarks from national leaders of federal agencies, private investors, and development finance institutions.
• Investment pitches from participating Opportunity Appalachia communities/project sponsors.
• BluDot Platform which hosts project prospectus to support investor review pre-event.
• Investor panel featuring CDFIs, banks, New Markets Tax Credit investors, OZ Investors, funding platforms, as well as federal and state grantmakers.
• Community Panel Discussion on ‘Challenges Faced/What We’ve Learned’.
• Private virtual ‘rooms’ for investor meetings; cocktail hour!
• Leading national sponsors – including banks, federal agencies and regulators, philanthropy, others.
• Participation from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s – Investment Connection program

2023 Project Portfolio
Our 2023 Project Portfolio is available online and as a PDF document. Investment priorities include downtown development, manufacturing, IT, healthcare, education, food systems, clean energy, and heritage tourism and recreation – primarily in rural communities.