$1 million dollar grant awarded for houseboat manufacturing transition
September 2010
News
wcoutlook.com
With closed and empty houseboat manufacturing facilities located throughout this region, Friday's announcement of $1 million in grant funds to help companies with the transition to include manufactured homes is good news. U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers made the official announcement regarding the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant award.
The funding, which will be matched at 50 percent by local sources, will be used to support the Kentucky Highlands Investment Cor-poration's (KHIC) House-boat to Energy Efficient Residences (HBEER) initiative. This initiative will provide low-interest loans, technical assistance, and financial support to assist area houseboat manufacturers in expanding product lines to include innovative, energy-efficient homes. This effort will create or save an estimated 30 to 40 jobs throughout the region.
"Lake Cumberland is known as the houseboat capital of the world, but recent economic events have caused this critical industry to struggle and job opportunities to suffer," said Rogers. "This forward-leaning initiative by Kentucky Highlands is great news for our houseboat manufacturers and will help these vital employers transition to expanding markets while keeping factory doors open. With these transition funds to design and build environmentally sound, energy efficient homes, ARC and Kentucky Highlands continue to lead the way forward."
In response to the impacts of the Lake Cumberland pool reduction and recent economic downturns, KHIC has partnered with the University of Kentucky (UK) on HBEER. Several houseboat manufacturing facilities in the region have severely slowed or ceased operations. With UK architects, engineers, and experts providing technical know how, HBEER aims to produce energy-efficient, low-income housing units by refitting local houseboat factories and restarting production lines while utilizing the existing, skilled workforce. Ultimately, the project seeks to produce energy-efficient housing and replace homes with high energy costs throughout the Commonwealth.
Read more at http://wcoutlook.com/local/x1857720425/One-million-dollar-grant-awarded-for-houseboat-manufacturing-transition