Business consultant and serial entrepreneur Steven Puckett has been named managing director of Southern Research’s Prosperity Fund, a $2.4 million initiative that seeks to inject economic vitality into four Alabama counties hit hard by the coal industry’s downturn.

Puckett, who has launched several technology companies, is responsible for advancing the Prosperity Fund’s strategic objectives of assisting business growth, stimulating start-up activity, and spurring job creation in Walker, Fayette, Tuscaloosa and Jefferson counties.

Since joining Southern Research in August, Puckett has begun connecting with small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs in the region to develop a deeper understanding of their needs and challenges.

In addition, he is establishing ties with existing businesses, colleges and universities, economic development groups, potential investors, and community leaders throughout the region to harness available resources that can benefit the initiative’s participants.

Corey Tyree, Ph.D., director of Energy & Environment-Alabama for Southern Research and co-founder of the Prosperity Fund, said Puckett’s extensive experience in consulting and launching tech startups makes him an ideal choice for the key role of managing director.

“To create jobs, we need growing companies in this region. Growth is hard and entrepreneurs have to overcome numerous challenges along the way. Steven has been able to quickly identify those challenges and address them himself, or find others in his network to pitch in. Steven started helping small businesses in his first week on the job and it’s exciting to see him making a difference in these four counties.” Tyree said.

“He’s an entrepreneur. He learned to be resourceful and make use of community assets. He’s helping other small enterprises do the same thing in order to grow and create jobs in this region,” he added.

CREATING A MODEL

Southern Research launched the Prosperity Fund this year after receiving a $1.2 million grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) as part of a broader program to strengthen coal-impacted communities in the region. Southern Research and its partners are matching the ARC funding in the initiative.

The four counties being served by the Prosperity Fund represent the backbone of Alabama coal industry, which had its beginnings in the 1850s. The U.S. coal industry’s recent downturn has delivered a staggering blow to these counties, both in terms of lost jobs and vanishing earnings.

Between 2012 and 2016, more than 2,500 coal miners lost their jobs in the Prosperity Fund region, wiping out $206 million in wages. When the ripple effects are considered, the toll on the counties has been significantly worse, with 13,000 additional job losses and another $600 million in lost wages.

“We’re really focused on helping the Alabama communities affected by the coal downturn by trying to replace some of the jobs that were lost,” Puckett said. “Positioning small businesses to thrive will add vitality to entire economies.”

The Prosperity Fund has a set goal of assisting 10 existing businesses and 10 startups, creating at least 80 jobs in the four-county region. The initiative is also seeking to increase business revenue by $11 million and leverage $6 million in private investment in these counties.

Puckett is in the process of assisting businesses in multiple aspects of their operations, ranging from customer discovery and technical processes to software integration. He also plans to develop broader small business programs such as workshops focused on small business procurement, lending, and human resources, and more.

“Our goal is to lend our capabilities as an organization to small business owners in this region to attack the issues that keep them from growing and creating jobs,” Puckett said. “Their success is critical to job growth and diversification of Alabama’s economy.”

With backing from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), Southern Research is launching The Prosperity Fund, a $2.4 million initiative to accelerate entrepreneurial activity and spark job creation in four Alabama counties rocked by the coal industry’s steep downturn.

The Prosperity Fund’s goal is to foster new start-up businesses and assist selected small firms in Fayette, Walker, Tuscaloosa and Jefferson counties, according to Corey Tyree, Ph.D., director of Energy & Environment-Alabama for Southern Research and project leader.

“Southern Research was founded to help Alabama remain resilient in the face of economic change by strengthening our existing industry and helping develop new ones,” Tyree said. “This is about making what we have stronger, reinventing our economy.”

The four counties being served by The Prosperity Fund represent the core of Alabama’s traditional coal country, and they have been hit hard by the industry’s decline. Since 2012, the counties have seen 12,000 jobs tied to coal mining disappear, resulting in $800 million in lost wages.

“These four Alabama counties have accounted for 10 percent of the coal job losses in the nation,” Tyree said. “But this initiative focuses on moving forward. We have to look for new approaches to job growth and seek out new opportunities for these counties.”

CREATING A SUPPORT SYSTEM

The Prosperity Fund, established as public-private partnership, will link Southern Research with community officials, business leaders and potential investors in a network to provide broad-based support for entrepreneurship in the four counties.

Tyree said the team will recruit and mentor existing businesses and start-ups, assisting them with fundamental activities such as customer discovery, market research and fundraising. It will work with venture capitalists, angel investors and other sources to raise funds to support business growth.

“This award is part of a blueprint for new jobs, fresh opportunities, and a robust economic future for Alabama,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Earl F. Gohl. “It is bringing added capital into the region and help Appalachia prepare to globally compete in manufacturing, technology, local agriculture, construction, and a variety of other industry sectors.”

The Prosperity Fund has set a goal of facilitating the creation of 10 new businesses. Other objectives are:

• Creating 80 jobs through business improvement and creation efforts
• Increasing business revenue by $11 million
• Leveraging $6 million in private investment
• Assisting 10 existing businesses

Paul Kennedy, president of the Walker Area Community Foundation, said the Prosperity Fund can act as a catalyst for revitalization in a county with deep roots in the coal industry. Since 2012, Walker has lost more than 500 coal jobs, making it one of the 25 most severely impacted counties in the nation.

“Southern Research has 75 years worth of economic development experience,” Kennedy said. “To be able to bring in a nationally recognized organization with their technical expertise, networks, and knowledge to work with our businesses just really excites me.”

Kennedy said he believes that entrepreneurial successes spurred by the Prosperity Fund can inspire others in Walker County.

“When people are getting laid off, everybody is kind of blue. First, it’s the miners. Then it’s the insurance company. Next, the restaurant,” he said. “The same thing happens in reverse when there is a positive development. The excitement ripples through the community, and optimism ripples.”

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The Prosperity Fund stems from an ARC-funded study by Southern Research that examined strategies to boost job creation in Alabama’s coal region. As part of that project, Tyree’s team engaged with educators, economic development professionals, investors and others to build a coalition of advocates for renewal efforts.

The ARC is supporting The Prosperity Fund with a $1.2 million grant. Southern Research and its partners are matching the rest of the 30-month project’s total cost.

“The Prosperity Fund project is another example of changing views of what economic development looks like,” Tyree said. “One, it aligns with the idea that small businesses are the heart of the jobs economy.

“And two, it’s also consistent with the idea that technology-based economic development strategies that suggest our community needs innovation assets like Southern Research to play a role in economic revitalization,” he added.

Tyree believes momentum generated by The Prosperity Fund in the four coal counties will encourage private support that will extend its existence beyond the 30 months of the ARC funding.

Kennedy hopes that’s the case.

“I hope this becomes a real marriage between their capacity and our capacity,” he said. “Southern Research is on the cutting edge of research in technology, energy, water, pharmaceuticals. Just to know that they are paying attention to the wants, needs, aspirations and talents of my community is exciting.”