How LIGHTS program is leveraging innovation gateways and hubs toward sustainability in a much broader portion of the Appalachian region:
LIGHTS is helping to facilitate the program. It facilitates connections between programs/other gateways, and making these more readily available to people who need them.
The Innovation Gateway Network is a sister program to complement LIGHTS. LIGHTS received the first POWER grant and was able to establish the hubs and start connecting the gateways. The second POWER grant helped to actually fund three of the gateways (Marietta, Somerset and Nelsonville). LIGHTS was the precursor of doing this work and started to develop the programs for the various locations. The LIGHTS staff also support all programs with additional staffing with specialized skill sets.