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ARC In the Region, a weekly snapshot of news, announcements and other tidbits from the Appalachian Regional Commission
ARC NEWS ROUND-UP  |  MARCH 16, 2017

In this Issue

 
ARC Spotlight
Appalachia in the News
Investments in Action
Upcoming Events

ARC SPOTLIGHT

Building Silicon Holler in Eastern Kentucky

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) and ARC’s federal co-chair Earl Gohl speak at Tech Hire Eastern Kentucky event about “Silicon Holler.”
This week, Kentucky’s Governor Matt Bevin, U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY) and ARC Federal Co-Chair Earl Gohl welcomed U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) for a visit to the TechHire Eastern Kentucky (TEKY) training center in Paintsville, Kentucky—the heart of eastern Kentucky’s growing advanced tech sector known as “Silicon Holler.”  As part of this visit, Rep. Khanna, whose district includes California’s Silicon Valley, participated in a roundtable discussion with Kentucky’s economic leaders and national innovators from Amazon and Apple to discuss the potential for eastern Kentucky’s tech sector. “One of the things I’ve seen in this Region [in Kentucky] that’s similar to Silicon Valley is collaboration, a willingness to take risks and to dream big,” said Khanna. 

Silicon Holler is anchored by coding companies like BitSource, community development organizations like Shaping our Appalachian Region (SOAR), and TEKY—a public-private partnership between the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP), Big Sandy Community and Technical College (BSCTC), Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) and Interapt. With ARC support through the POWER Initiative to diversify the economy in coal impacted communities, TEKY recently graduated its inaugural cohort of computer and coding interns. The Coding Academy consists of an intensive 32- week program (16 weeks of paid classroom work, followed by a 16-week paid apprenticeship). Graduates are immediately eligible for full-time employment with the eastern Kentucky division of Interapt, a software development firm. TEKY plans to soon announce available slots for the next round of interns, with intent to train another 200 technology professionals over the next three years. “Silicon Holler is fueled by energy, dedication and determination,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Earl Gohl. “This coordinated approach to developing a robust tech sector is making Appalachia more economically competitive across the nation and across the world.”
 

APPALACHIA IN THE NEWS

Ag Students Get Golden Experience, Times Daily, Florence, Alabama
 
UPIKE Students Awarded Scholarships for Research, Floyd County Times, Prestonsburg, Kentucky
 
Workshop for Getting Connected with Broadband, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, West Virginia
 
Leaders, Experts Discuss High-Tech Jobs for Eastern Kentucky, WYMT Mountain News, Eastern Kentucky
 
Silicon Holler: How Workforce Retraining is Bringing Tech Jobs to Appalachia, TechRepublic
 
The deadline for teams from communities that are the entry points to Appalachia’s most important natural assets to apply for the next Appalachian Gateway Communities Regional Workshop is March 24th. Learn more about the workshop to be held on May 9–11, 2017, in Ringgold, Georgia: 
http://bit.ly/2lNrbRm

INVESTMENTS IN ACTION

POWER at Work: Central Appalachian Food Corridor Connects the Region for Success
It has been just a year since ARC sought applications for projects the POWER Initiative to diversify and encourage growth in coal-impacted, Appalachian communities. Since then, ARC has invested $73 million to diversify and strengthen the economy across 236 coal impacted communities. The Region is already experiencing great returns on these investments. 

One such example is the work being done by the Central Appalachian Food Enterprise Corridor, a coordinated local foods distribution network throughout Central Appalachia which connects established and emerging producers in Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky to wholesale distribution markets, organized by Appalachian Sustainable Development, the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet), and several other food systems partners, with the help of a POWER grant. Recently, Rhonda Dortch, owner of Bluestone Mountain Farm in Summers County, West Virginia, asked for help from ACEnet in securing delivery options to sell and ship 5,000 pounds of heirloom shelled corn. As part of Central Appalachian Food Corridor, Marshall University’s Robert C. Byrd Institute connected the farmer with a new distillery in Davis, West Virginia, who wanted to buy her high-quality Bloody Butcher heirloom corn. ACEnet then matched Bluestone Mountain Farm with a recently launched delivery service run by KISRA (Kanawha Institute for Social Research and Action) to ship the corn and engaged a driver working with Refresh Appalachia in Huntington, West Virginia, to help with delivery. Throughout the process, Appalachian Sustainable Development in Southwest Virginia offered guidance on financial viability, insurance, and DOT compliance. Creating a stronger supply chain can expand market opportunities and help new businesses grow and thrive in the Region as it transitions from a coal-based economy.
Image of Farmer Rhonda Dortch, owner of Bluestone Mountain Farm in Summers County, WV
Farmer Rhonda Dortch, owner of Bluestone Mountain Farm in Summers County, WV was connected to a buyer for her product through Central Appalachian Food Enterprise Corridor.
Photo Source: ACEnet/ kdlett photography

UPCOMING EVENTS

Aspen Institute "Supporting Entrepreneurial Economies" Panel Discussion
Washington, D.C.
March 17
DDAA 2017 Annual Conference
Arlington, Virginia
March 19–21
"Rural Renaissance" Rural Development Conference
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
March 22–23
Appalachia Funders Network 2017 Annual Meeting
Abingdon, Virginia
March 28–30
NACCE Summit: "Leveraging Assets in Your Local Community to Promote Economic Development"
Knoxville, Tennessee
March 30–31
Subscribe
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The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is an economic development agency of the federal government and 13 state governments focusing on 420 counties across the Appalachian Region. ARC’s mission is to innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia to help the Region achieve socioeconomic parity with the nation.
Appalachian Regional Commission
1666 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20009-1068
www.arc.gov
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