Economic Development and Transportation Go Together
Recently Steve Lockett, our Director of Economic, Community and Workforce Development attended the National Association of Development Organization’s (NADO) National Regional Transportation Conference. This year was heavily focused on aligning transportation and economic development needs and strategies. There were workshops on regionalism, building effective rural transportation networks, and looking towards the future of automated vehicles. All of this additional knowledge will be helpful as we look towards holding a Regional Transportation Summit later this Fall.
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Region C Workforce Board Helps Cleveland Community College Receive Grant
The Region C Workforce Board worked closely with Cleveland Community College’s Ken Mooney, VP of Continuing Education, and Emily Sisk, Grant Development Coordinator, to receive a Maximize Carolina grant from the NC Department of Commerce. This $70,447 grant will go towards the College’s Electrical Lineworker Academy, which will prepare workers for Electrical Lineworker jobs in the power industry sector. There is a current shortage of lineworkers in the region, with around 1,000 openings across North Carolina. You can find more information about the Electrical Lineworker Academy on the Cleveland CC program website.
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Work Wellness Program
Good things going on in McDowell County and the Work Wellness Program (http://mcdowellhealthcoalition.org/workforce.php ) Late last year, the CDC, the Dept of Health and Human Services and their film crew reached out to me about filming a video of a successful worksite utilizing the CDC ScoreCard. In the McDowell Work Wellness program, the ScoreCard serves as the comprehensive cornerstone assessment from which we build our wellness strategies.
The McDowell Work Wellness Program chose to do the filming at Metal Industries, so this short infomercial will also be starrring Amy Stroud, HR Director of Metal Industries! The first year of the program was successful, but was also full of many barriers and opportunities to learn! It is extremely humbling that the CDC saw the McDowell program and thought it was innovative enough to be included within their literature and resources.
Here is the link to the video: http://www.workwellnc.com/scorecard.php
If you are interested in learning more about the program's first year of operation or the exciting direction we are heading, please feel free to reach out! We are still holding slots open for prospective worksites to join in on our pilot project we will be launching in January of 2018, so please send this to any of your partners or worksites that could benefit from on-site healthcare and case management!
Contact:
Nick Byrd, Workplace Wellness Advisor
Phone: 828-442-6030 E-mail: nickbyrdmchc@gmail.com
McDowell County Health Coalition
408 Spaulding Rd
Marion, NC 28752
www.mcdowellhealthcoalition.org
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Appalachian Region Commission Funding Update
The Senate Appropriations Committee today approved the FY18 Energy & Water Development Appropriations Bill, which provides funding for ARC’s non-highway work. The measure contains $142 million for ARC. This includes $70 million for ARC’s regular program; $50 million for the POWER initiative for communities that have been adversely impacted by the closure of coal-powered generating plants and the declining coal industry; $16 million for a program of industrial site and workforce development in Southern and South Central Appalachia, focused primarily on the automotive supplier sector and aviation sector; and $6 million for a program of basic infrastructure improvements in distressed counties in Central Appalachia. In discussing the bill, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), the subcommittee chair, pointed out that the bill contained funding for ARC, and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) made a strong statement about the good work that ARC does.
Next week the House plans to take up its version of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill as part of a “national security” package of four appropriations bills. The House bill contains $130 million for ARC, consisting of $70 million for the regular program, $50 million for POWER, and $10 million to continue a program of broadband deployment in distressed counties in Central Appalachia that have been most negatively affected by the downturn in the coal industry. Amendments affecting ARC and the other regional commissions could potentially be offered, though so far appropriations staff are not aware of any.
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Press Release
New ARC Study Illustrates Continued Economic Impact of
Appalachian Development Highway System
ADHS Generates $19.6 Billion in Added Business Sales, and $10.7 Billion in
Transportation Cost Savings and Productivity Gains Per Year
Washington, DC, July 20, 2017— Today, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) released a new study about the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS), a network of 32 distinct highway corridors totaling 3,090 miles and connecting the 13 Appalachian states with other interstate highways. The study, Economic Analysis of Completing the Appalachian Development High System, estimates the economic outcomes of ADHS work completed to date and forecasts the future economic impacts, benefits, and costs associated with completing the system.
“This study shows that the Appalachian Development Highway System continues to be the backbone for economic development across the Region,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Earl F. Gohl. “Each mile of the ADHS opens new opportunities across Appalachia.”
The study’s key findings include:
· Increased economic activity associated with the ADHS system has helped create or support over 168,000 jobs across the 13 Appalachian states, with nearly $7.3 billion of added worker income annually.
· ADHS investments made between 1965 and 2015 generated over $19.6 billion per year of added business sales in Appalachia, representing over $9 billion of added gross regional product.
· The ADHS saves 231 million hours of travel time annually. Twenty percent of car vehicle hours saved and 31 percent of freight truck vehicle hours saved are associated with trips with at least one end located outside the Appalachian states.
· As of 2015, the value of transportation cost savings and productivity gains associated with the ADHS amounts to $10.7 billion annually.
At the end of FY 2016, a total of 2,794.7 miles, or 90.4 percent of the ADHS system, were either complete, open to traffic, or under construction. Completion of the ADHS is estimated to create nearly 47,000 more jobs and facilitate the production and selling of $8.7 billion more in goods and services annually across the 13 Appalachian states.
The ADHS was first authorized by Congress in 1965 with the purpose of stimulating economic development by reducing isolation and improving access for Appalachia, which had been largely left unserved by the interstate highway system. Federal funding for ADHS construction is currently administered by state departments of transportation (DOTs). The Appalachian Regional Commission works directly with the Federal Highway Administration and the state DOTs to monitor ADHS-related activity. Economic Analysis of Completing the Appalachian Development High System was prepared by the Economic Development Research Group in association with WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff for the Appalachian Regional Commission, and managed by Hodge Economic Consulting.
About the Appalachian Regional Commission
The Appalachian Regional Commission (www.arc.gov) 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.
Contact: Wendy Wasserman of ARC for further Information
wwasserman@arc.gov
office: 202 884 7771
mobile: 202 641 4894
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Slow Food Movement
Local Food Summit - the first nationwide, online, local food gathering is happening August 6-16, 2017.
Carol Peppe Hewitt, co-founder and Network Leader of Slow Money NC, is one of more than 60 speakers who will be sharing their insights from the front lines of the local food movement.
Click here to view the preview being shown now. Once you open the video link, you can reserve your space for the entire event. Through a combination of online interviews and presentations, plus live webinars, hear from and interact with the most significant on-the-ground leaders, activists, practitioners, authors and elders who are at the front lines of the local food movement—all for free.
This unprecedented historical event seeks to catalyze a revolutionary acceleration of the local food movement's impact, effectiveness, and scale.
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