Appalachian Regional Commission
Expanding Access in Appalachia
EMILY RICE
Photo by Tracy A . Toler Photography .
In 1965 , Congress passed the Appalachian Regional Development Act ( ARDA ), which declared that the Appalachian region of the U . S ., while abundant in natural resources and rich in potential , lags behind the rest of the nation in its economic growth and that its people have not shared properly in the nation ’ s prosperity .
Fifty-six years later , Appalachia remains abundant in natural resources and rich in potential but unfortunately harbors some of the same persistent economic disparities Congress cited in 1965 when enacting the ARDA , the precursor to the Appalachian Regional Commission ( ARC ). Today , it is not the lack of a physical highway that holds Appalachia back but the lack of a broadband highway .
The idea behind the ARC stemmed from then presidential candidate John F . Kennedy ’ s campaign visit to West Virginia in the 1960s . He witnessed firsthand the poverty caused by isolation from a highway system . When Kennedy was elected , he remembered his campaign stops through the rolling hills of the Mountain State and , in 1963 , formally convened the President ’ s Appalachian Regional Commission . When President Lyndon B . Johnson signed ARDA into public law on March 9 , 1965 , the ARC was formally established as a unique federal-state partnership committed to strengthening Appalachia ’ s economy .
Today , the ARC includes 423 counties across the Appalachian Mountains , which encompasses 26 million people . On May 6 , 2021 , Gayle Manchin was sworn in as the ARC ’ s 13th federal co-chair , becoming the first ARC federal cochair from West Virginia . An alumna of West Virginia University , Manchin worked as an educator in Marion County Schools , served on the faculty of Fairmont State University , directed the AmeriCorps Promise Fellows in West Virginia between 2000 and 2004 and implemented a statewide initiative , West Virginia Partnerships to Assure Student Success . In addition , Manchin previously served as West Virginia ’ s First Lady between 2005 and 2010 . She was appointed to serve as a member of the state board of education , serving her last two years as president .
“ I see education as the foundation of anything we do . Whether it is workforce development or improving the quality of life in a community or family , it begins with education ,” Manchin says . “ When I look at grants or projects
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE