This report is the first in a series of annual evaluation reports for ARC’s Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE). ARISE is a multi-state initiative that aims to drive large-scale, regional economic transformation through collaborative projects. Based on a combination of project-level inquiry with initiative-level analysis, key findings for ARISE’s…

The East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Center for Rural Health Research, in collaboration with the ETSU Addiction Science Center, conducted an evaluation of the INSPIRE Initiative on behalf of ARC in 2022-2023. The evaluation was designed to advance understanding of the accessibility of the application process, implementation successes and…

This report presents findings from an evaluation of ARC’s education and workforce development projects that closed between 2015 and 2019, representing 383 grantees and more than $62,500,000 of ARC investment. By the end of the grant period, 337,405 individual beneficiaries had been served. At the time of the follow-up survey,…

This report presents a study to evaluate trends and impacts of investments in the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Local Access Road (LAR) Program using available project data and surveys conducted in this study covering the projects completed from 2001 through 2020. Information about 135 federally funded LAR projects was obtained from…

Stories of Results for Individuals, Businesses, and Communities ARC has worked with Chamberlin/Dunn (C/D) as a third-party evaluator since Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 to understand the successes and challenges POWER grantees have experienced in the implementation of their grants, as well as early impacts of the projects. In FY21, the…

This report presents an evaluation of 379 drinking water and wastewater projects funded by ARC between fiscal years 2009 and 2016. The research team found that communities value the drinking water and wastewater projects, as evidenced by high demand, their key role in project completion, and how they serve to…

This report presents an evaluation of 152 leadership and community capacity projects funded by ARC between fiscal years 2008 and 2015.

This report is the second volume of a study that analyzed the effect of ADHS development on economic growth in Appalachia, and the future economic benefits and costs of completing the system.