UCDD Announces Multi-Organization Project with Biz Foundry

The Upper Cumberland Development District is partnering with the Biz Foundry in Cookeville to bring new technology to Volunteer Electric.

UCDD Executive Director Mark Farley said a $500,000 grant will provide young entrepreneurs an opportunity to help identify potential savings.

“They would be working with the smart meters throughout the region that Volunteer Electric covers,” Farley said, “then taking that information and working with young entrepreneurs to try and figure out ways to make improvements to that system.”

Farley said Tennessee Tech and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will also be involved in the project. Having Tennessee Tech involved in the operation, Farley said, will be beneficial to the region.

“It creates an opportunity to keep some of Tech’s best and brightest,” Farley said. “Some of those students that many times have great ideas but there’s no opportunities for them to express themselves and to use their talents here in the Upper Cumberland. This gives them the opportunity to stay locally and hopefully we can build businesses from the ground up.”

Farley said grant funding is being provided by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), adding the organization says it will be one of their best projects in the near future. This month, ARC has awarded 35 total grants for $26.5 million to communities in several states between Pennsylvania and Mississippi.

Farley said the grant will primarily effect areas within Volunteer Electric’s coverage area including communities in Fentress and Cumberland counties. Additional funding for the project could become available later on.