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ARC NEWS ROUNDUP | JANUARY 4, 2018 | VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1
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This year, ARC will move into our third year of our five year Strategic Plan for Capitalizing on Appalachia’s Opportunities. With that, we are looking back at some investments in action from each of our five key investment goal areas over the past year.
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A class with the Green Mining Model Business Program preps the soil of an inactive surface mine land for planting lavender. Photo Source: Green Mining Model Business Program Facebook page
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Goal 1: Creating Economic Opportunities
Investing in entrepreneurial and business development strategies that strengthen Appalachia’s economy.
Green Mining Model Business Program, South Charleston, West Virginia
The Green Mining Model Business Program, a project of The West Virginia Regional Technology Park in South Charleston, is proof of concept that agriculture, especially high value crops like lavender, can repurpose unused surface mine lands into viable economic assets. With ARC support, this project brings 17 public and private partners together to use reclaimed soils on inactive surface mining land to grow value-added crops on reclaimed mine lands. Producers extract high-value products from these crops for sale and leverage land reclamation, crop cultivation, chemical extraction and processing activities. In addition to creating 250 new jobs, the Green Mining Model Business Program is expected to improve seven businesses, spur the creation of six new businesses, and advance entrepreneurial training.
Goal 2: Developing a Ready Workforce
Increasing the education, knowledge, skills, and health of residents to work and succeed in Appalachia.
West Alabama Works, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
ARC continued to invest in its southern automotive workforce development effort to support, strengthen, and grow the automotive and aviation sectors in Southern and South Central Appalachia. West Alabama Works (WAW) was awarded a POWER grant for the WAW 2020 Initiative to deliver job training services to fill critical regional workforce needs in the rapidly growing automotive and advanced manufacturing industries. WAW has partnered with Mercedes Benz to develop a specific recruitment and training plan for positions in mechatronics and industrial maintenance at its facilities in the area. In addition, the project will create a “pop-up” Community Resource Center in Brookwood, Alabama, to serve as a hub for community engagement; renovate the Brookwood Technical High School and Training Center to offer credentialing services to students at four regional high schools for employment in hospitality and culinary arts, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing; and, through a partnership with Energy Alabama and the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association, develop business-specific plans that will speed the adoption of sustainable energy in the state’s automotive industry. The project anticipates training 1,000 displaced workers and credential 500 students over the life of the award.
Goal 3: Investing in Critical Infrastructure
Investing in critical infrastructure—especially broadband; transportation, including the Appalachian Development Highway System; and water/wastewater systems.
Fiber Extension Project, Somerset, Pennsylvania
Research has shown that 80 new jobs are created for every additional 1,000 broadband users served, and that gaining 4 Mbps of broadband speed can increase household income by $2,100 a year. During the fiscal year, ARC continued its commitment to help rural Appalachian communities expand broadband service. One such example is the Somerset County, Pennsylvania, Fiber Extension Project, which is using ARC funds to install 22 miles of fiber optic cable on existing pole lines that will allow a variety of business, residential, medical, and educational customers in underserved Somerset County access to broadband services. The project will serve 1,094 businesses and 3,962 households, and will act as an economic and tourism driver in the county.
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Shovels used during the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Doodle Trailhead Park groundbreaking in Pickens, SC.
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Goal 4: Leveraging Natural and Cultural Assets
Strengthening Appalachia’s community and economic development potential by leveraging the Region’s natural and cultural heritage assets.
Doodle Trailhead Park, Pickens, South Carolina
To capitalize on the expanding recreational tourism industry in the Region, the Commission invested in projects creating and extending hiking, biking, and motorsports trails. In Pickens, South Carolina, ARC funded the Doodle Trailhead Park project to redevelop a city-owned rail depot into a community recreation and exercise area featuring an ADA-compliant accessible playground and accessible restrooms, outdoor exercise equipment, and an open-air farmers market with outdoor seating, with access to the 7.5-mile Doodle Trail. The trail is heavily used by residents and visitors for walking, running, skating, and cycling. Once completed, the new park could attract and accommodate over 100,000 visitors annually to visit the trail and other parts of historic downtown Pickens.
Goal 5: Bolstering Leadership and Community Capacity
Building the capacity and skills of current and next-generation leaders and organizations to innovate, collaborate, and advance community and economic development.
Community Colleges of Appalachia
The Community Colleges of Appalachia (CCA) is a voluntary association of public community colleges serving the common interests of member colleges and their communities through programs and services responsive to the unique cultural, geographic, and economic development challenges facing the Region. With ARC support, CCA provides venues for the colleges to meet and share their learning. In FY 2017, CCA, in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges, also administered additional funds to assist member colleges, especially those in ARC-designated economically distressed and/or at-risk counties, in attending the association's annual Workforce Development Institute. Additionally, this fiscal year, CCA offered scholarships for up to 10 faculty or staff members from 10 CCA member colleges to enroll in one of three graduate programs at East Tennessee State University, including the Community College Leadership Graduate Certificate, the Doctorate in Education program, and the Master's in Education in Student Personnel.
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Montgomery mayor hopes Virginia Tech report will help city, Charleston Gazette-Mail, Charleston, West Virginia
Tusculum College Is Transitioning to a University, Associated Press – Tennessee
ATV tourism expanding: Hatfield-McCoy system adding 100 miles of new trails, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, West Virginia
Shoals Shift, Business Alabama
Tourism in coal country: Digging into culture, ecotourism, Associated Press
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ARC is hiring an Applications Developer
ARC is hiring an Applications Developer experienced in C#, ASP.Net, and all aspects of software project design, implementation and maintenance.
Find out more and apply.
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