ARC opened applications for its Summer 2022 learning opportunities: the Appalachian STEM Academy at Oak Ridge and the Appalachian Entrepreneurship Academy (AEA).

The Appalachian STEM Academy, for middle and high school students, as well as high school teachers in STEM-related fields, is hosted by Oak Ridge Associated Universities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This program will be held from July 9-22, 2022 for high school students and teachers and July 16-22, 2022 for middle school students.

The Appalachian Entrepreneurship Academy, developed in partnership with Appalachian State University, EntreEd, and STEM West, will be held for high school students from July 9-23, 2022 at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

NEPA Alliance is excited to announce that we will be accepting a second round of Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) pre-applications. Funding the program is a federal (ARC), state (PA DCED) and local (NEPA Alliance) partnership. As the designated Local Development District, regional partner and conduit for ARC funding, NEPA is pleased to provide you with information related to the ARC Area Development and ARC Local Access Road Programs. For a list of past projects, please visit ARC’s website.

Most of the pre-applications received before February 11, 2022 will be considered for funding in the fall of 2022. Visit www.nepa-alliance.org/arcpreapp to review a copy of the required ARC pre-application (three-pages or less) to be submitted to Athena Aardweg and Kurt Bauman by February 11, 2022. There are individual templates for both the Area Development and the Local Access Road Programs. Contact Kurt Bauman at 570-510-4419 with any questions.

Our general annual membership starts at $275.

Need more information visit our membership hub or contact Donna Hritz at dhritz@nepa-alliance.org or call 570-891-4666.

This month's membership spotlight features Carpet Mill Direct Outlet, Inc. located in Luzerne County. NEPA spoke with Lori Terrana, Owner.

Carpet Mill Direct Outlet, Inc. is a certified woman-owned small business that has been in business for over 20 years, servicing both residential and commercial clients.

Carpet Mill Direct Outlet, Inc. provides quality material flooring and installation at a great price. They offer an array of carpet, luxury vinyl plank, luxury vinyl tile, tile, area rugs, commercial carpet tile, commercial board room carpet, commercial boardroom luxury vinyl plank, and luxury vinyl tile. Carpet Mill Direct Outlet, Inc. does measuring, estimates and installation for new flooring as well as re-stretching existing carpeting.

Carpet Mill Direct Outlet, Inc. offers great services from their expert staff who can provide the solution to their customers unique flooring problems.

The staff at Carpet Mill Direct Outlet, Inc. strives to give their customers the best possible prices with impeccable service every time! Customers value what Carpet Mill Direct Outlet, Inc. brings to the table when it comes to their knowledgeable technicians providing their expert service.

Lori Teranna stated, “The NEPA Alliance has assisted Carpet Mill Direct, Inc. greatly with their fantastic customer service and knowledgeable staff. All of which has assisted Carpet Mill Direct, Inc. with growing the business.”

For more information visit

Information on the assistance programs and the Coronavirus can be found on NEPA's COVID-19 Response site and our Spanish translated site NEPA COVID-19 Recursos en Español.

NEPA is currently partnering with federal and state agencies to ensure small businesses and nonprofits in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have available resources accessible to them through the Coronavirus crisis. This includes help with the U.S. Small Business Administration low-interest federal disaster loan program for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus. In addition, NEPA also has numerous loan programs that offer low fixed interest rates to businesses in the seven-county region of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

For the latest information, please contact NEPA at 866-758-1929 or visit NEPA's COVID-19 Response site. Information is continually changing, and the assistance programs that are being offered may change. NEPA will continue to evaluate all available options to best serve the Northeastern Pennsylvania business community.

To learn more about these loan programs, contact Stephen Ursich, Dave Nat, Donovan Klem, James Urso or Joseph Ward at 570-655-5581 or 866-758-1929.

Financing Structure

To learn more about these loan programs, contact Stephen Ursich, Dave Nat, Donovan Klem, James Urso or Joseph Ward at 570-655-5581 or 866-758-1929.

Opportunities for Southeastern Pennsylvania Small Businesses to Support NASA and the Artemis Program Event, led by Congresswoman Susan Wild (PA-7) and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, was an online seminar held on January 24^th, and was well received by those participating. Registration count exceeded 335 participants. Jeffrey Box, President & CEO, and Kara Smith, Government Procurement Specialist, from the NEPA Alliance were featured during the online seminar and they explained to those in attendance what a PTAC is and how it can support businesses in the government space. They also provided contact information for the NEPA Alliance PTAC and the Southeastern Pennsylvania PTAC, as well as how to connect with one of the nationwide PTACs for government contracting support. In case you did not have the opportunity to participate on the 24^th, the presentation PowerPoint and session recording are now available on the NASA Office of Small Business Programs website which you can access here.

Federal agencies have released their acquisition forecasts for Fiscal 2022 to help small contractors plan. While most forecasts are available through Web links from Acquisition.gov, some are harder to locate, and some are labeled poorly, outdated, or nonexistent. To date, sixteen out of twenty-two civilian agencies have published their Fiscal 2022 forecasts in easy-to-find locations linked from the Acquisition.gov website.

1988 law orders agencies to publish a list of upcoming contracting opportunities each fiscal year; however, the law does not specify how to do it. Consequently, each agency has its own format and labeling. Some use Microsoft Excel to display it. Others offer online search.

Here are websites from Set-Aside Alert to the fiscal 2022 forecasts of working links – eliminating outdated information, or improperly labeled documents:

U.S. Agency for International Development - USAID

U.S. Department of Agriculture - USDA

U.S. Department of Commerce - Commerce

U.S. Department of Defense - DoD

U.S. Department of Education - Education

U.S. Department of Energy - Energy

U.S. Department of Homeland Security - DHS

U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Dev. - HUD

U.S. Department of Justice - Justice

U.S. Department of State - State

U.S. Nuclear regulatory Commission - NRC

Federal Aviation Administration - FAA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA

National Science Foundation - NSF

Social Security Administration - SSA

NEPA is excited to announce that it is now accepting enrollments for businesses to participate in Phase 4 of the Get Connected E-commerce program. NEPA appreciates the support of the Lackawanna County Board of Commissioners for its continued funding support. To learn more about the program and to submit an enrollment form click here. The program is designed to assist businesses adapt to current market trends by generating online sales via web or e-commerce platform.  Small businesses can contact Kurt Bauman at kbauman@nepa-alliance.org or Steve Zaricki at szaricki@nepa-alliance.org for additional information.

To register, visit https://gis.penndot.gov/ltap/ and log on using your username and password. First time users must set up an account by clicking on “Create Account.” For technical assistance when registering, call 1-800-FOR-LTAP (1-800-367-5827) or contact Daniel Yelito, Transportation Services Manager, NEPA Alliance at 570-891-4652 or email dyelito@nepa-alliance.org.

LTAP will also continue offering some courses, webinars and drop-in sessions in an online format. To learn more about upcoming virtual offerings, click here.

Don’t forget that NCAC Members receive remote access and assistance in accessing the Foundation Directory Online, the most comprehensive foundation database. With access to informative profiles of over 235,000 U.S. foundations, you’ll know exactly which foundation fits your programmatic needs, how much to ask for and where to go for more information. Don’t forget that we’re here to help with all your nonprofit needs! For more information on this service, as well as membership benefits, contact Athena Aardweg, Community Services Manager for NCAC, at Aaardweg@nepa-alliance.org or 570-891-4662.

Click here for an interactive map and click here for a data brief from the Pennsylvania State Data Center. 

For additional information, contact Steve Zaricki at 570-891-4671 or 866-758-1929.