ARC Brings $4M STEM Program to West Virginia

A $4 million aerospace program is coming to central West Virginia

West Virginia Wesleyan College will host the SpaceTrek 2.0 program this July, bringing space systems engineering education to young women in the state’s heartland. The program is backed by a $3.98 million Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE) grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

This isn’t a small ribbon-cutting event. It’s a multi-year, multi-state initiative designed to close the STEM workforce gap in a region that has struggled to keep technical talent from leaving. And for business owners in Appalachia, the downstream effects could be more direct than you’d expect.

What happened

SpaceTrek expands from Kentucky to West Virginia

SpaceTrek started at Morehead State University in Kentucky as a residential summer program in space systems engineering for young women entering 9th through 12th grade. With the ARC ARISE grant, the program is expanding to West Virginia Wesleyan’s Buckhannon campus in partnership with TMC Technologies in Fairmont and the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative.

The 2026 session runs July 12-25. Applications are due May 11, with acceptance notifications going out May 18.

Key facts

• $3.98 million in ARC ARISE funding across multiple years
• Residential format — participants live on campus for two weeks of hands-on aerospace engineering
• Targets young women in grades 9-12 and incoming college freshmen
• Regional partnerships span two states (Kentucky, West Virginia) and include private industry, higher education, and public education organizations
• Part of a broader ARC ARISE portfolio that has invested $188.6 million in 69 projects across all 13 Appalachian states since January 2023

Why this matters for Appalachian businesses

The STEM workforce gap is a business problem

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that STEM occupations will grow at nearly three times the rate of non-STEM jobs between 2023 and 2033. But in rural areas, only 3% of the workforce holds science and engineering positions, according to the National Science Foundation. Rural Appalachia lags behind even other rural regions in educational attainment and broadband access — two prerequisites for technical workforce development.

For business owners, this isn’t abstract. If you’re a contractor trying to hire someone who can operate GPS-guided equipment, a manufacturer looking for quality-control technicians, or a small business that needs employees comfortable with AI-powered tools, the talent pool matters. Programs like SpaceTrek don’t solve that overnight. But they do build the pipeline that feeds it over five, ten, and fifteen years.

STEM skills feed more than tech companies

Space systems engineering sounds distant from running an auto shop or managing a vacation rental. But the skills SpaceTrek teaches — data analysis, systems thinking, problem-solving with real constraints — are exactly what businesses need as AI tools become standard infrastructure.

The Richmond Fed has documented how rural STEM education programs create spillover effects: students who participate in hands-on technical training are more likely to stay in or return to their home communities, especially when local employers can offer work that uses those skills.

Our take

This is the right investment at the right time

ARC has been funding workforce development in Appalachia for decades. What makes ARISE different is scale and coordination. Instead of one-off grants to individual schools, ARISE funds multi-state projects that connect education, industry, and public institutions. The SpaceTrek expansion is a textbook example — a program that proved itself in Kentucky is now replicating across the region with industry partners already attached.

The bottom line: Appalachian businesses don’t need every employee to be an aerospace engineer. But they do need a workforce that can learn, adapt, and work with technology — and programs like SpaceTrek are how you build that.

What’s missing from the conversation

• Direct small business involvement is thin. These programs partner with universities and large companies. There’s no clear mechanism for a 10-person HVAC company or independent restaurant to participate, even though those businesses would benefit most from a stronger local talent pipeline.
• AI is barely mentioned. The ARISE program funds STEM broadly, but AI and data literacy — the skills most urgently needed by small businesses right now — aren’t explicitly prioritized. Programs like this could double their impact by adding AI fundamentals to the curriculum.

Questions that remain

• Will SpaceTrek participants stay in West Virginia after graduation, or will the program accelerate brain drain to tech hubs?
• Can this model scale to other STEM disciplines — particularly applied AI and data analytics — that have more immediate workforce demand?

What you should do

Immediate actions

1. If you employ young people, share the SpaceTrek application with employees, their families, or local high school guidance counselors. Applications close May 11.
2. Watch the ARC ARISE portal for future funding rounds. The program awards approximately $73.5 million per year, and implementation grants can reach $10 million. If your community has a workforce development idea, this is one of the largest pots of federal money available.
3. Start building your own AI skills now. You don’t need to wait for a generation of STEM graduates. Tools like AI Employees can handle scheduling, customer communication, and review management today — here’s how to get started.

Watch for

• Whether West Virginia’s legislature follows Kentucky’s lead in matching ARC workforce grants with state-level funding
• ARC’s next ARISE application cycle — pre-applications for 2026 implementation grants were due in December 2025, but planning grants open periodically

Workforce development is economic development

Programs like SpaceTrek won’t fill your open position next month. But they represent exactly the kind of sustained investment that turns a region’s trajectory. The same data center rush bringing AI infrastructure into Appalachia will need people who can build, maintain, and work alongside that technology.

The question for small business owners isn’t whether these programs matter. It’s whether you’ll be ready to hire the talent they produce — and whether you’re using the tools available right now to stay competitive while the pipeline fills in. Talk to us if you want help figuring out where AI fits into your business today.