The Barren River Area Development District will use a $228,000 grant to hire a local disaster recovery coordinator.

BRADD Executive Director Eric Sexton said the three-year grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration will be used to hire a disaster recovery coordinator who will help develop and implement plans to support disaster recovery efforts in the region. The grant, Sexton said, would also be used to equip the coordinator with the technology and resources to develop a technical assistance program for local governments in the 10-county region.

“Not only are they going to provide technical assistance, but they’re going to be looking at future grant opportunities and funding sources to help with any issues that are affected by disaster,” Sexton said. “The theory is that the coordinator will work with the communities to build some capacities to assess the needs of the region to help plan and respond to future disasters, which will then help support and hopefully spur business development and redevelopment.”

Sexton said the process began in January when BRADD’s board authorized the agency to compete for the EDA grant. The funding comes as BRADD is due to rewrite its five-year plan for hazardous mitigation in the region, according to Sexton.

“So, it’s actually a great time because now we’ll be able to leverage even more resources to provide more training and opportunities to support our hazardous mitigation plan,” Sexton said.

Sexton said BRADD also anticipates getting funding from the federal CARES Act for needs associated with the coronavirus pandemic, and that the department for local government at the state level is working with all the area development districts to prepare an application to the EDA for an additional $392,000 for each district for the next two years.

“We’re hoping that with that opportunity, we’ll be able to venture into the business sustainability, particularly with small businesses, and be able to provide them resources and tools that they can use to be able to sustain the next pandemic,” Sexton said.

BRADD serves Allen, Barren, Butler, Edmonson, Hart, Logan, Metcalfe, Monroe, Simpson and Warren counties.