Strengthening Economic Resilience in Appalachia, identifies factors common across communities experiencing persistent economic growth in the aftermath of the 2008 Recession and other economic disruptions. The research includes a statistical analysis of key factors common to economic resilience, as well as a guidebook featuring ten communities that have rebounded after experiencing significant economic shocks. Read More

Chosen by his fellow Appalachian governors to serve as the Commission's 2019 states' co-chair, Cooper will work directly with the ARC federal co-chair in this leadership role to continue the agency's commitment to economic growth in the 13-state Appalachian Region. Read More

ARC will host 150 students from 15 Appalachian based colleges and universities at the 18th annual Appalachian Teaching Project Conference in Washington, D.C. Supported by ARC and organized by the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services at East Tennessee State University (ETSU), ATP is an applied-research training program for college and graduate students to design community based economic development initiatives across the Appalachian Region. As a capstone to this work, students and their faculty sponsors present their work to other student delegations from ATP participating institutions, ARC leadership, and community leaders in a formal peer-to-peer symposium in Washington, D.C. Since the program began in 2001, over 2,250 college and graduate students from across the Region have participated in ATP. Read More

On October 11, ARC announced $26.5 million to continue expanding and diversifying the economy in Appalachia’s coal-impacted communities through the POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) Initiative. These 35 awards are projected to create or retain over 5,400 jobs and leverage more than $193 million in private investment into 59 of the Region’s coal-impacted counties by supporting workforce training and education in manufacturing, technology, healthcare, and other industry sectors. They also invest in infrastructure enhancements to continue developing the Region’s tourism, entrepreneurial, and agriculture sectors, as well as increase access to community-based capital, including impact-investing funds, venture capital, and angel investment streams. Read More

A suite of new research reports and resources to support entrepreneurial development in Appalachia outline core elements necessary for a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem, analyze community case studies to provide insight into the unique challenges faced by communities in Appalachia, and offer recommendations to support future economic development across the Region. A companion website at www.arc.gov/ecosystems documents and compares entrepreneurial activity in each of Appalachia’s 420 counties, and includes a working inventory of over 1,000 support services available to entrepreneurs across the Region. Read More

$165 million for ARC is included in the Fiscal Year 2019 Energy and Water Appropriations Act which was signed into law by President Trump on September 21, 2018. This is the largest appropriation for ARC's nonhighway work in the agency's history. Read More

$165 million for ARC is included in the final Conference Report for the Fiscal Year 2019 Energy and Water Appropriations Act which passed both houses of Congress this week. This is the largest appropriation for ARC's nonhighway work in the agency's history. Read More

Three new resources released by ARC, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky offer a fresh approach to understanding health in Appalachia by focusing on community strengths and identifying local factors supporting a Culture of Health. The resources include case studies of ten “Bright Spot” counties, which have better-than-expected health outcomes; the performance-focused research methodology that helped identify these counties; and HealthinAppalachia.org, a website that explores extensive county-level health data for the Appalachian Region. Read More

Both bills provide $155 million for ARC’s nonhighway programs, including $50 million for the POWER Initiative to help Appalachian communities adversely impacted by changes in the coal industry and power sector. Read More

Each of the appropriations bills provides a total of $155 million for ARC’s nonhighway programs, including $50 million for the POWER Initiative to help Appalachian communities adversely impacted by changes in the coal industry and power sector. Read More

Sworn into the post on April 3, 2018, Thomas has more than 20 years’ experience working in Kentucky’s public and private sectors on infrastructure, workforce training, and regulatory issues. Read More

Signed by President Trump on March 23, the omnibus bill provides the highest level of funding for ARC’s nonhighway programs in the agency’s history. Read More

Developed by NORC at the University of Chicago and ARC, the Appalachian Overdose Mapping Tool integrates overdose mortality rates for Appalachia's 420 counties with data on socioeconomic factors including unemployment, poverty, disability, and others. Read More

In February 2018, ARC released a state-by-state overview of the Commission’s fiscal year 2017 economic development investments in the Appalachian Region. The overview includes 13 state investment fact sheets, as well as a companion fact sheet outlining ARC’s regional investments during the fiscal year. Read More

Signed by the president on February 9, the legislation continues agency funding, including ARC’s, at the FY 2017 level, minus a small across-the-board reduction. It also sets overall budget numbers to guide the congressional appropriations committees in drafting an omnibus appropriations bill for the rest of FY 2018. Read More