Appalachian Regional Commission

60 Pages·2012·1.17 MB·English

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 470 436
RC 023 754
Appalachian Regional Commission Annual Report, 2001.
TITLE
Appalachian Regional Commission, Washington, DC.
INSTITUTION
2001-00-00
PUB DATE
59p.; For the 2000 Annual Report, see ED 455 991.
NOTE
For full text: http://www.arc.gov/index.do?nodeld=1429.
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Access to Computers; Annual Reports; *Economic Development;
DESCRIPTORS
Entrepreneurship; *Federal Aid; *Labor Force Development;
*Leadership Training; Public Health; Road Construction;
*Rural Development; Rural Education; Secondary Education;
Strategic Planning; Technical Assistance
*Appalachia; Appalachian Regional Commission DC; Capacity
IDENTIFIERS.
Building; *Telecommunications Infrastructure
ABSTRACT
In fiscal year 2001, the Appalachian Regional Commission
invested $63.6 million in 469 economic and human development (nonhighway)
projects and $389.6 million in highway projects in Appalachia. The Commission
launched a new initiative to promote the development of telecommunications
infrastructure, especially in distressed counties. The Commission has
continued to push its 5-year entrepreneurship initiative, which addresses
entrepreneurial education and training activities, technical and managerial
assistance, access to capital and financial assistance for growing companies,
the formation of entrepreneurial networks, and technology transfer
activities. The Commission funded 58 education projects and continued its
work on the Appalachian Higher Education Network, which aims to help
participating high schools boost their college-going rates to the national
average or higher. Seventeen computer learning labs were established in the
region. Efforts to bolster the region's civic capacity continued with the
provision of leadership training programs and technical assistance for
communities. Efforts to strengthen infrastructure included the completion of
72 more miles of the Appalachian Development Highway System and the provision
of water or sewer service to over 24,000 households. During 2001, 68 doctors
were placed in the region. Studies were launched on disparities in health
status and in health care accessibility, and on health care institutions that
are at risk of closure. Tables present funding statistics for the 13
Appalachian states, highway obligations, and population data. Contact
information is given for all local development districts in the Appalachian
region.
(TD)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the on Mal document.
APPALACHIAN REGIONAL COMMISSI
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U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Educauonal Research and Improvement
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)
O This document has been reproduced as
received from the person or organization
onginating it
O Minor changes have been made to
improve reproduction quality.
Points of view or opinions stated in this
document do not necessarily represent
official OERI position or policy.
ARC'S MISSION
with the people
ARC's mission is to be an advocate for and partner
economic
of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining
development and improved quality of life.
GOAL 1
Appalachian residents will have the skills and knowledge necessary
to compete in the world economy in the twenty-first century.
GOAL 2
Appalachian communities will have the physical infrastructure
and improved
necessary for self-sustaining economic development
quality of life.
GOAL 3
The people and organizations of Appalachia will have the vision
economic
and capacity to mobilize and work together for sustained
progress and improvement of their communities.
GOAL 4
Appalachian residents will have access to financial and technical
local economies.
resources to help build dynamic and self-sustaining
GOAL 5
Appalachian residents will have access to affordable, quality
health care.
CONTENTS
SECTION 1
Transmittal Letter
5
Examples of ARC Projects by Goal Area
9
Examples of Entrepreneurship Initiative Projects
11
Examples of Distressed Counties Projects
12
ARC-Designated Distressed Counties, Fiscal Year 2001
13
SECTION 2
Program Funding
15
Nonhighway Project Totals
Appalachian Regional Commission
19
Alabama
20
Georgia
21
Kentucky
22
Maryland
23
Mississippi 24
New York
25
North Carolina
26
Ohio
27
Pennsylvania
28
South Carolina
29
Tennessee
30
Virginia
31
West Virginia
32
Appalachian Development Highway System and
Local Access Roads Obligations
33
Population Tables
35
Local Development Districts in the Appalachian Region
48
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APPAL ACHIA
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ALABAMA
Appalachia, as defined in the legislation from which the Appalachian Regional
Commission derives its authority, is a 200,000-square-mile region that follows
the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern
Mississippi. It includes all of West Virginia and parts of twelve other states:
Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
AVAILABLE
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APPALACHIAN REGIONAL COMMISSION
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a regional economic
development agency representing a unique partnership of federal,
state, and local government. Established by an act of Congress in 1965,
the Commission is composed of the governors of the 13 Appalachian
states and a federal co-chairman, who is appointed by the president.
Grassroots participation is provided through multicounty local develop-
ment districts with boards made up of elected officials, businesspeople,
and other local leaders. Each year Congress appropriates funds, which
ARC allocates among its member states. The Appalachian governors,
consulting with local development districts, draw up annual Appalachian
development plans and select for ARC approval projects to implement
them. The broad objective of these programs is to support development
of Appalachia's human and community infrastructure to provide a
climate for the growth in business and industry that will create jobs.
ARC programs include an interstate-quality highway system, education
and job training, health care, water and sewer systems, housing, and
other essentials of comprehensive economic development.
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Adequate or Complete
September 30, 2001
To be Completed
Interstate System
AVAILABLE
BEST COPY
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March 31, 2002
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. President:
We are pleased to submit for your review a report on the activities of the Appalachian Regional
Commission (ARC) during fiscal year (FY) 2001. This report is the third annual summary of
ARC activities since Congress reauthorized the Commission in 1998 and put into law many
aspects of the agency's strategic plan, adopted in 1996.
OVERVIEW
In FY 2001 the Commission invested $63.6 million in 469 economic and human development
(nonhighway) projects in the Appalachian states. An additional $389.6 million was made
available from the federal Highway Trust Fund to assist completion of the Commission's
planned 3,025-mile Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS). In accordance with
the ARC strategic plan, nonhighway funding was targeted to projects in five areas: education
and workforce training, physical infrastructure, civic capacity and leadership, dynamic local
economies, and health care. These projects are expected to provide direct benefits to more than
181,200 people. Their projected impact includes:
> Creation or retention of 59,600 jobs, which will generate an estimated $200 million
in state and federal tax receipts annually;
> Education programs to benefit 27,300 students and trainees;
> Improved water and sewer systems to serve 24,500 households;
> Leadership development activities involving 1,800 participants; and
> Health-care projects estimated to benefit 25,200 people.
ARC's FY 2001 nonhighway funding attracted $163.5 million in other federal, state, and local
funds, a match of over two to one. Private-sector business investments associated with ARC
nonhighway activities totaled $292 million, a ratio of more than four to one.
THE NEW APPALACHIA
From the February launch of our PowerUP partnership to establish computer learning labs in
communities across the Region to our record-setting "New Appalachia" conference in
November, this truly was the year of the new Appalachia. The conference, which was held in
eastern Kentucky's distressed Floyd County, was our largest conference to date and emphasized
the link between leadership and Appalachia's economic development. Attended by over 800
people from the 13 Appalachian states, it featured best practices in community and economic
development and included a keynote address from motivational expert Dr. Stephen Covey,
who encouraged participants to join together to move Appalachia into a new era of growth
and prosperity.
DISTRESSED COUNTIES
Throughout the year the Commission focused on fostering development in the Region's 114
distressed countiesa continuing priorityspending over 50 percent of total project funds on
programs that benefit these counties. While in the,past our distressed counties efforts have
emphasized public infrastructure, in FY 2001 the Commission partners established a new
program to energize capacity building in distressed areas. This program is designed to strengthen
communities and help local organizations fulfill their mission effectively. Elements of the
program include:
> A mini-grant initiative to provide strategic-planning and technical assistance to local
communities to help jump-start the economic development process;
a
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> Workshops, knowledge-sharing efforts, and other activities to encourage community
learning and leadership development;
> Outreach efforts that give local communities access to other resources, including
nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies.
Ten million dollars has been earmarked for this effort over the next five years.
Additionally, to help draw the people in the Appalachian Regionparticularly those in its
distressed countiesmore fully into the global community, we have begun developing a
multi-faceted online resource center to provide information on funding, grant writing, and best
practices in community and economic development. The online resource center will also offer
research and data on the Region, as well as ideas and resources for strategic planning. By
supporting civic leadership, the center will help foster economic development at both the
community and regional levels. This new resource will be an important tool for individuals and
groups leading Appalachia in the twenty-first century.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
In FY 2001, ARC launched its new telecommunications initiative, "Information Age
Appalachia," to help bridge the digital divide in rural Appalachia by promoting the develop-
ment of telecommunications infrastructure and expanded access to telecommunications
services. With a special focus on helping distressed counties, this initiative is critical to the
Region's future. While much of the United States has been reaping the economic benefits of
the Information Age, rural areas and small towns in Appalachia have too often been left behind.
For a variety of reasons, these areas lack adequate access to a robust telecommunications
infrastructure. This, in turn, exacerbates the Region's geographic isolation and
serves as a
further barrier to the economic, educational, and other benefits that other regions enjoy.
Accordingly, the Commission has approved the following policy statement for the Information
Age Appalachia program:
The Information Age Appalachia program envisions Appalachia as a prosperous and vibrant
region with full access to the tools of the Information Age, and possessing the knowledge and
capacity to use those tools to compete successfully in the twenty-first-century economy.
To achieve this ambitious goal, the Commission has begun assessing the opportunities and
obstacles before communities as they work to bring advanced telecommunications services
into their areas. ARC's new five-year reauthorization legislation, which you signed
on
March 13, 2002, provides significant funding authority for this initiative.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Appalachia's economic future depends on energizing local business, supporting innovation and
risk taking, and fostering investment. To this end, we have continued to push
our five-year,
$20.1 million Entrepreneurship Initiative, which focuses on venture and risk capital formation,
technical assistance, technology commercialization, and entrepreneurship education and train-
ing. Since 1997, ARC has funded 237 entrepreneurship projects, providing over $20 million in
support for a range of program activities. These programs have leveraged $19.3 million from
other sources to support activities targeting the Region.
The 91 entrepreneurship projects that have been completed report the creation of 389
new
businesses, and the creation or retention of 1,283 jobs in Appalachia. The 146 ongoing
programs are projected to create 859 new businesses and to create or retain 2,726 jobs. These
projects address all five of the key elements of an entrepreneurial economy:
> 107 projects focus on entrepreneurial education and training activities;
> 135 projects provide technical and managerial assistance to firms;
> 62 projects enhance access to capital and provide financial assistance to growing companies;
> 81 activities support the formation of sector and entrepreneurial networks; and
> 17 programs target technology transfer. activities.
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As part of the initiative, the Commission has provided over $2 million in support to eight
emerging investment funds designed to address one of the significant barriers to growth facing
Appalachian entrepreneurs: the lack of risk capital. To date, these emergent Appalachian funds
have leveraged ARC's support to bring over $70 million in new capital into the Region from
private, philanthropic, and public sources, including the Small Business Administration's New
Markets Venture Capital Program.
The Commission has also continued to support youth entrepreneurship education, partnering
with the U.S. Department of Education and other organizations in FY 2001 to create the
Appalachian Youth Entrepreneurship Springboard Awards. This program recognizes the
Region's most effective youth business-training programs and their outstanding teacher and
student participants.
In 2001 the ARC Entrepreneurship Initiative was selected as a semi-finalist in the Harvard
University/Council for Excellence in Government's Innovations in American Government
competition.
EDUCATION
Advancing education is crucial to economic development in Appalachia. In FY 2001, ARC
funded 58 education projects that will benefit approximately 27,000 students and trainees.
Over $9.5 million in ARC funds leveraged more than $22.7 million from other sources, a
ratio of 2.5 state and local dollars for every ARC dollar invested.
To raise the levels of educational attainment in the Region, the Commission continues its work
to establish the Appalachian Higher Education Network, with centers currently operating in
Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, and West Virginia. The goal of the network is to help
participating high schools boost their college-going rates to the national average or higher. We
are enthusiastic about the centers' impact thus far: at some participating schools, the percentage
of students going on to college has nearly tripled.
This past year ARC worked with PowerUP, a coalition of nonprofit, business, and government
partners, to help establish 17 computer learning labs in the Region. These labs offer young
people the chance to develop their skills with computers, the Internet, and educational software.
They are also safe places where responsible, caring adults provide guidance and support to youth.
Additionally, ARC continues to work with nonprofit organizations, foundations, for-profit cor-
porations, the U.S. Department of Education, and other federal agencies to bolster education in
all parts of Appalachia.
CIVIC CAPACITY
The Commission has continued to support efforts to build the Region's civic capacity through
training programs for new and emerging leaders, technical assistance for communities, training
for meeting facilitators, and organizational development and management training for commu-
nity-based organizations. These activities have been undertaken with the cooperation of univer-
sities, community foundations and other nonprofit organizations, and community colleges.
Since building capacity is a prerequisite to achieving all of the Commission's goals, significant
resources were designated to this purpose in the counties that needed it most. Using $1.1 mil-
lion in distressed counties funds, ten states have initiated a variety of projects and strategies to
stimulate development.in distressed counties.
ARC has also continued to invest resources in the Appalachian Community Learning Project
(ACLP), which was launched in 1997 to promote self-reliance among participating communities
through an action- and results-oriented community improvement process. In the ACLP's first
three years, 72 projects received $892,000 in mini-grants and training and leveraged another
$10 million from other sources. The projects involved diverse activities, including community
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