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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  |  OCTOBER 13, 2016

In this Issue

 
• ARC Spotlight
• Appalachia in the News
• Investments in Action
• Upcoming Events

ARC SPOTLIGHT

Investing in Appalachia’s Manufacturing Future
Image of Alabama Governor Robert Bentley at Central Alabama Community College.
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley visited the Central Alabama Community College to announce new investments in manufacturing training.
Establishing and maintaining skilled training programs will help Appalachia’s manufacturing workforce stay competitive. This is one reason Alabama Governor Robert Bentley recently announced an $846,000 ARC investment in Central Alabama Community College’s (CACC) advanced manufacturing training programs which will prepare hundreds of skilled workers for competitive manufacturing careers. With this announcement, the Precision Machining Center on CACC’s Alexander City campus will receive $150,000 to build new classrooms and training opportunities in machine tool and welding. The CACC Central Alabama Automotive Manufacturing Training Opportunities project on CACC’s Childersburg campus will receive $696,000 to upgrade its facilities, purchase new state-of-the-art robotics, electronic and manufacturing equipment, and recruit more students.

The Automotive Manufacturing Training Opportunities project is funded through the Commission’s $16 million FY 2016 congressional appropriation to support workforce training programs in southern and south-central Appalachia. Last month, drawing on the same appropriation, ARC and U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) announced an $8.9 million ARC investment in East Mississippi Community College, Northwest Mississippi Community College, and Itawamba Community College to prepare workers for the region’s growing automotive, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing sector.

APPALACHIA IN THE NEWS
Hack-A-Thon Announces Winners of Event, Harlan Daily Enterprise, Harlan, Kentucky

Report Charts Food Insecurity for Kids in Appalachia, The Athens News, Athens, Ohio

CACC Gets ARC Grants for Work at Alex City, Childersburg, The Outlook, Alexander City, Alabama
 
City Of Chattanooga Launches New Online Business Tool During StartUp Week, The Chattanoogan, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Want to Reinvent Your Rural Community? Farm Futures
Join our team! ARC is looking for a Communications Specialist to help develop content for our social media platforms, press office, this newsletter, and more!

INVESTMENTS IN ACTION
Researching Opioids and Chronic Diseases in Appalachia
A new partnership between the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and ARC is focusing on the relationship between opioid injection drug abuse and HIV, hepatitis infections, sexually transmitted diseases and other related health problems in Appalachia. As part of this collaboration, NIDA and ARC recently awarded research grants to the University of Kentucky Research Foundation and the University of Pittsburgh to study comprehensive, integrated approaches addressing opioid injection use and related health problems in the Region. Expanding on this work, NIDA, ARC, SAMHSA, and CDC  have announced another funding opportunity for clinical public health researchers to study the impact of various interventions and strategies addressing opioid drug abuse and related health problems in Appalachia. This research will be a valuable tool to deepen our knowledge about Appalachia’s current and future public health challenges, especially in the region’s coal-impacted communities.  ARC’s support for this effort is funded through the POWER Initiative.
 
Image from the 2016 Rx Summit photo booth. Sign reads: "Collaborating on this Public Health Issue"
A new partnership between NIDA, SAMHSA, CDC, and ARC is researching the connection between opioid injection drug abuse and related health issues.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Global Appalachia Workshop
Washington, D.C.
October 24–26, 2016
Appalachian Higher Education Network 2016 Fall Meeting
Beaver, West Virginia
November 9–10, 2016
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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   |   info@arc.gov

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