Multi-day fests running from May-September in Kentucky’s 54 Appalachian counties:

• Saltworks Appalachian Homecoming – Clay County (May 23-25)
• Laurel Cove Music Festival – Bell County (June 7-8)
• Seedtime on the Cumberland – Letcher County (June 7-8)
• Festival of the Red – Powell County (June 28-29)
• Shriners Bluegrass Festival – Carter County (July 11-13)
• Master Musician Festival – Pulaski County (July 19-20)
• North Fork Music Festival – Perry County (July 26-27)
• Osborne Brothers Hometown Festival – Leslie County (July 31-Aug 3)
• Bearded Man Festival – Estill County (August 14-18)
• Manchester Music Festival – Clay County (August 29-31)
• Kickin’ It On the Creek – Estill County (September 19-21)

Additionally, these towns have summer music series:

• Live on the Licking – Morgan County
• Levitt Amp Berea – Madison County
• Levitt Amp Middlesboro – Bell County
• Levitt Amp Whitesburg – Letcher County

Please note, we focused on multi-day festivals (feel free to contact us if we missed any!). There are many other music venues, including Jenny Wiley Theatre, the Mountain Arts Center, EKU Center for the Arts and Kentucky Music Hall of Fame that have great concert events this summer.

Here’s to exploring Eastern Kentucky!

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The forum brought together over 500 attendees—including 108 CDFIs, 18 investors, 6 government agencies and 25 consulting agencies— to confer about both the opportunities and challenges of small business lending.

Part of the forum’s events that pertained especially to MACED was a Small Business Association national training, which Greg attended in order to brush up on issues related to small businesses.

Greg also attended a session on employee-owned businesses, a strategy for wealth creation and retention which MACED is currently exploring as part of its Just Transition and Strategic Initiatives work. One of the presenters of the session, Rebecca Dunn, explained, “Cooperatives, as a business model, keep the money in their communities and resist ‘selling out’ because each worker is invested as an owner.”

MACED works to make sure its employees are able to take advantage of opportunities like the Small Business Finance Forum, so that they are able to improve the organization and best serve the people and communities of central Appalachia.

Greg said of the conference:  “There are always new things to learn and new ways, or more efficient ways, of doing things, but I don’t think we’re behind the curve by any means, which was reassuring. To hear how your peers are doing things is always very helpful.”

As a CDFI, MACED is committed to building a robust economy in Appalachia by supporting its true foundation: small business owners. These entrepreneurs need financial support, training, and encouragement to follow their dreams. MACED provides these critical resources to turn those dreams into a reality.

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MACED developed the training in conjunction with the Brushy Fork Institute at Berea College, as well as two regional Airbnb hosts who both informed the curriculum and facilitate the training.

“The beauty of Airbnb is that it’s a fairly easy to use, secure platform that can adapt to many different situations—from a room in someone’s home to a remote cabin without electricity,” says MACED Project Coordinator, Leslie Ferguson-Oles. “Our local Airbnb hosts don’t have to try to be a chain hotel—they’re something that’s unique to their property and their style as a host. What’s important is learning how to market assets and manage what hosts may see as liabilities. For example, while we as local residents often see spotty cell service as a nuisance, visitors often delight in unplugging for the duration of their stay—as a host, you just need to know how to manage for that.”

Earlier this spring, How to Airbnb was offered in Whitley City in partnership with the McCreary County Chamber of Commerce and in Manchester in partnership with the community group Stay in Clay.

The Airbnb training aligns with MACED’s goal of supporting the regional tourism sector and supporting entrepreneurial development. Says Leslie, “Airbnb is a generally low-risk way for people to try a literal cottage industry. They can test the concept and market, often times without much initial investment. It has the potential to support family incomes while connecting visitors in need of lodging with the region’s most precious asset—it’s people.”

The training came in response to research MACED has conducted over the past two years looking at what inputs are needed in the region to support the experience economy in the eastern Kentucky region. Lodging came to the surface as a shared need in many communities, not just for tourists, but also for traveling workers and visiting family members.

Through the generous support of Powell County Tourism, the upcoming training in Slade is offered free to participants. Those interested in learning more or registering can contact Serena Bowen at (606) 663-1161 or sladetrailtown@gmail.com.

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The day-long workshop interspersed presentations on different business aspects of outdoor recreation with breakout discussions where participants could think about how to apply what they had learned to their own communities.

Dr. James Maples of Eastern Kentucky University shared about the power of economic impact reports in changing people’s minds about how much people spend on outdoor experiences and informing communities on the values and desires of its visitors. Maples coauthored a 2016 economic impact study of climbers in Kentucky’s Red River George. The report illuminated that the Gorge attracts an estimated 7,500 unique climbers each year who annually contribute $3.6 million to the regional economy. Furthermore, the study contradicted prevalent local stereotypes of climbers as unemployed and uneducated, instead showing that the typical climber who visits the area is highly educated and prefers locally owned businesses.

Abby Huggins of Hindman Settlement School shared about a new website, East Kentucky Food & Dance Trail,  that maps significant food and dance venues in eastern Kentucky. The website is a concept modeled off of the successful Crooked Road in Southwest Virginia and the Mountain Dance Trail in West Virginia. Huggins highlighted the dual purpose of East Kentucky Food & Dance Trails– to both share local culture with visitors and to preserve and share these assets for the region’s own residents.

Using data to inform decision making, social media use, lodging and hospitality, and supporting entrepreneurs were other topics covered by representatives of MACED, Kentucky Highlands, We Make Things Happen, and the Entrepreneurship for the Public Good. Participants, including Max Hammond of Olive Hill, Kentucky, appreciated the resources  gathered through the day. Hammond stressed the importance implementing some of the new strategies collected at the  workshop, calling for a “bias for action.”

E2 Communities is a collaborative project between the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky and the Brushy Fork Institute at Berea College, and is funded by an Appalachian Regional POWER grant. E2 Communities is a framework developed by the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship in North Carolina and is also being used in Southeastern Ohio and West Virginia.

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