Brecon - one of four towns administering business grants

A total of 15 projects have the go-ahead to encourage entrepreneurship and raise the profile of the rural region.

Funding for a Resource Information Centre in Crickhowell has been secured while a scheme to promote fishing on the Usk is also set to benefit.

The �9.5m cash injection will also help to open horse riding trails in the Dyfnant Forest, west of Welshpool, and establish a sustainable industry supplying energy from wood-burning sources.

The Usk is the best salmon river in Wales and we want to keep it that way, Stephen Marsh-Smith, Wye and Usk Foundation

The region's business promotion body, Powys Regeneration Partnership, helped the successful applicants win the funding from the European regional funding programmes, Objective 2 and Objective 3.

Powys does not qualify for the main funding scheme, Objective 1 which aims to help those regions whose per capita GDP is less than or close to 75% of the European Community average.

Objective 2 cash is meant for areas which have a higher than average rate of unemployment while Objective 3 aims to promote entrepreneurship, particularly by young people and women.

Anthony Bell, vice-chair of the partnership's voluntary sector said the projects would impact on the whole county.

'Needs'

"I feel so proud to have been part of a process that has endorsed Powys projects to the value of �9.5m," he said.

"We look forward to continuing realising the needs of the people of Powys in a constructive way."

The schemes have attracted �2.5m of European funding, with the balance to come from matched contributions by public, private and voluntary organisations.

The Wye and Usk Foundation has been awarded �400,000 towards the �900,000 project to increase the potential of the River Usk as an attraction for fishermen.

The Usk scheme aims to attract more people fishing for salmon

Dr Stephen Marsh-Smith, director of the foundation said the money would fund the project for the next three years.

"The Usk is the best salmon river in Wales and we want to keep it that way," he said.

"The river is very close to centres of large population and could provide a strong commercial source of revenue."

A �400,000 European cash injection will also allow a resource information centre to be built in Crickhowell.

When completed the �1m scheme will combine a host of services including a tele-centre, tourist information centre, art gallery and archive centre.

Project manager Jan Morgan said the foot-and-mouth epidemic had hit the Crickhowell area hard and heightened the need for the resource centre.

"The new centre will mean that the tourist information centre and other services can be used to their full potential to encourage tourists to visit the area," she said.

Powys County Council will receive �400,000 of Objective 2 funding towards its business development grant scheme.

This money will pay for half the start-up costs of a business up to �2,500 and 30% of business expansion costs up to �10,000.

These grants will be administered at business centres in Welshpool, Llandrindod Wells, Brecon and Ystradgynlais.