Appalachian Regional Commission: Difference between revisions

{{Organization|OrganizationName=Appalachian Regional Commission

{{Organization|Government agency in the United States}}

{{Organization| name = Appalachian Regional Commission

| formation = {{Organization|1965|3|9}}

| coordinates = {{Organization|38.912448|-77.045374|display=inline,title}}

| leader_name2 = [[Bill Lee (Tennessee politician)|Bill Lee]]<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

| leader_name3 = Brandon McBride<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

| budget = $285,600,000 ₍₂₀₁₉₎<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

| purpose = To innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

| website = {{Organization|https://www.arc.gov}}

The Appalachian Region, as defined by Congress, includes all of [[West Virginia]] and portions of 12 other states: [[Alabama]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Kentucky]], [[Maryland]], [[Mississippi]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[North Carolina]], [[Ohio]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[South Carolina]], [[Tennessee]], and [[Virginia]]. ARC serves 423 counties and 8 independent cities that encompass roughly {{Organization|205000|sqmi}}, with a population of more than 25 million people.

A study conducted in 1981 comparing the perceptions of Appalachia's boundaries and the ARC's definition, published in the academic journal ''Southeastern Geographer,'' asked respondents to draw an encircled area identifying what they considered to be Appalachia on a map. The study found less than 20% of respondents agreed that southern New York was part of Appalachia, as designated by the ARC, and that less than 10% of respondents agreed with the ARC's inclusion of northeastern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama in Appalachia. Respondents residing outside of Appalachia were more likely to define the region broadly, in agreement with the ARC, and respondents from within the region were more likely to define it restrictively. The majority of responses defined Appalachia as an area encircling the locations possessing the highest amount of negative characteristics that the ARC was created to combat—flooding, environmental degradation, poverty, and geographic isolation, among others.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span> [[File:Counties included in Appalachia map.svg|thumb|Cultural definitions of Appalachia:{{Organization|#550000ff|Always included in Appalachia}}{{Organization|#aa0000ff|Usually included in Appalachia}}{{Organization|#ff8080ff|Sometimes included in Appalachia}}{{Organization|#ffd5d5ff|Rarely included in Appalachia}}{{Organization|#ffffffff|Physically contains the Appalachian Mountains or associated features; not culturally Appalachian}} The blue dotted line encloses the counties included in the ARC definition]]

The ARC does not precisely correspond to what is considered Appalachia by the general public. For instance, parts of Mississippi were included in the commission because of similar problems with unemployment and poverty. In 2008, the [[Youngstown, Ohio]] region was declared part of Appalachia by the ARC due to the collapse of the steel industry in the region in the early 1980s, and the continuing unemployment problems in the region since.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span><span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span> Additionally, certain regions generally considered to be part of Appalachia, such as most of Virginia's portion of the Shenandoah Valley, are not included in the ARC's charter.

The inclusion of northeastern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama in the ARC's charter was additionally in part based on an altered [[Rand McNally]] map submitted to Congress and the governor of Mississippi at the suggestion of local developer George Thompson Pound, depicting mountains in the two states that did not exist. This was done for two main reasons—to undermine the direct funding of [[African Americans|black]] communities in the affected areas in favor of preserving [[White supremacy in the United States|white supremacy]], and to engage in [[historical negationism]], made possible due to the method which the ARC used to fund communities within its charter. An area home to a large number of black Americans with an extensive history was effectively forced into a region known for its predominantly [[White Americans|white]] culture and lack of slavery within American history, in spite of the protest of black residents. As part of the scheme, attractions were to be built in the area with ARC funds celebrating the history of white settlers, with no attention paid towards the native [[Chickasaw]]s who had once inhabited the region or the current black residents.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

Funding and development directed to the region after the establishment of the ARC largely eschewed black residents and communities as a result of the efforts of Pound and [[Southern Democrats]], and was instead directly sent to local ruling whites. Today, few residents of northeastern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama are aware they are a part of what Congress has designated as Appalachia, and do not consider themselves to be Appalachian.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

The ARC uses an index-based system to classify counties based on economic status, with five categories: distressed, at-risk, transitional, competitive, and attainment. In addition to county classifications, the ARC additionally classifies specific census tracts within non-distressed counties as distressed if they meet the standards of economic distress set by the ARC. The category at-risk was introduced on ARC maps in 2006; before then only the four other categories were used.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span><span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

The ARC uses several indicators to designate an area as distressed, including median family income and the local poverty rate.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span> Additional factors that go into determining a county's status are the three-year average unemployment rate and per capital market income.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

|+Criteria for ARC economic classification<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

| bgcolor=b32b29 | {{Organization| white | Distressed }}

| bgcolor=3d6ca1 | {{Organization| white | Attainment }}

|+States in the ARC by amount of counties with economic classification as of FY 2024<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

!{{Organization|stp=1|Percent Distressed}}

!{{Organization|stp=1|Percent with<br>

!{{Organization|stp=1|Total % of distressed<br>

!{{Organization|stp=1|Percent at-risk}}

!{{Organization|stp=1|Percent transitional}}

!{{Organization|stp=1|Percent competitive}}

!{{Organization|stp=1|Percent attainment}}

!{{Organization|stp=1|Distressed}}

!{{Organization|stp=1|With distressed<br>

!{{Organization|stp=1|# of Distressed<br>

!{{Organization|stp=1|Total # of distressed<br>

!{{Organization|stp=1|At-risk}}

!{{Organization|stp=1|Transitional}}

!{{Organization|stp=1|Competitive}}

!{{Organization|stp=1|Attainment}}

!{{Organization|stp=1|Total counties<br>

In order to better facilitate subregional analysis and in recognition of the differences between various areas in Appalachia,<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span> the ARC splits their service area into different regions—Northern, North Central, Central, South Central, and Southern. The ARC's definitions take into account political boundaries, physical geography, demographics, economic activity, and transportation activity.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

|+2005 ARC Subregion Proposals<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

Beginning in about 1960, the Council of Appalachian Governors, a group of the ten governors of the Appalachian states of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, united to seek federal government assistance for the mountainous portions of their states, which lagged behind the rest of the United States in income, education, health care, and transportation. During the [[1960 United States presidential election|1960 Presidential campaign]], candidate [[John F. Kennedy]] met with the governors to hear their concerns and observed living conditions in West Virginia that convinced him of the need for federal assistance to address the region's problems.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

In 1963 President Kennedy formed the President's Appalachian Regional Commission to assist in advancing legislation to bring federal dollars to Appalachia. This legislation, the Appalachian Redevelopment Act, was enacted by [[U.S. Congress|Congress]] in 1965, creating the ARC as a federal agency.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>  It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on March 9, 1965.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

The Trump Administration's proposed budget for FY 2018 would have eliminated funding for the ARC.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span> However, Senate Majority Leader [[Mitch McConnell]] assured constituents no funding would be cut from the ARC.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span> In contrast, President Biden's first budget included $253,000,000 for the ARC. Biden's stimulus proposal budgeted an additional $5.3 Billion in direct aid to local governments in the Appalachian region. One of the ARC's Co-Chairs is also quoted as saying that Biden's proposed American Jobs Plan provides $1B in infrastructure repair to help distressed communities.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/stimulus-trump-voters-ohio/2021/07/05/0baaf6d4-d37c-11eb-a53a-3b5450fdca7a_story.html]

As mandated by Congress, ARC helps coordinate federal, state, and local initiatives to spur economic development<small>^{[https://www.apfedbenefits.com/post/west-virginia-futures-building-economic-security-with-comprehensive-federal-benefit-education <span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>]}</small> in Appalachia. Each year, Congress appropriates funds, which ARC allocates among its member states. The Appalachian governors submit to ARC their state spending plans for the year, which include lists of projects they recommend for funding. The spending plans are reviewed and approved at a meeting of all the governors and the federal co-chair.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

ARC is designed as a federal-state partnership that employs a flexible "bottom up" approach, enabling local communities to tailor support to their individual needs. ARC relies on local regional planning agencies (local development districts) to develop effective strategies for local economic development. ARC has made investments in such essentials of comprehensive economic development as a safe and efficient highway system; education, job-training, and health care programs; water and sewer systems; and entrepreneurial and capital market development.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

ARC has helped cut the number of high-poverty counties in Appalachia from 295 in 1960 to 91 in 2015, reduce the infant mortality rate by two-thirds, and double the percentage of high school graduates. From 2010 to 2015, ARC programs helped create or retain over 101,000 jobs in Appalachia through projects that include entrepreneurship, education and training, health care, telecommunications, business development, and basic infrastructure. Grants during that period leveraged almost $2.7 billion in private investments.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

ARC commissioned a report on [[diseases of despair]], which found that deaths due to [[drug overdose]], [[suicide]], and [[alcoholic liver disease]] were higher than average, especially in the parts of Appalachia under the most economic stress.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

From September 1967 to 2008, the Commission published a magazine ''Appalachia'' (ISSN 0003-6595), which was bimonthly from September 1967 to the fall of 1986. Then it was quarterly between summer 1987 and summer/fall 1995, and annual from 2004 to 2008.<span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span><span class="error">Expansion depth limit exceeded</span>

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* {{Organization|last1=Caudill |first1=Harry M. |author-link1=Harry M. Caudill |title=Night comes to the Cumberlands: A biography of a depressed area |date=1963 |publisher=Little, Brown |series=An [[Atlantic Monthly]] Press book |location=Boston |isbn=0316132128 |oclc=171740 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nightcomestocumb00harr }}

* {{Organization|last1=Ferenchik |first1=Mark |last2=Riepenhoff |first2=Jill |last3=Alford |first3=Roger |last4=Price |first4=Rita |title=Appalachia: Hollow Promises — A Five-Day Series |url=http://www.dispatch.com/news/special/APPALACHIA/SUNDAY/index.html |access-date=March 26, 2018 |work=[[The Columbus Dispatch]] |date=September 26–30, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030314232118/http://www.dispatch.com/news/special/APPALACHIA/SUNDAY/index.html|archive-date=March 14, 2003 |location=Columbus, OH}}

* {{Organization|last1=Weinbaum |first1=Eve S. |title=To move a mountain: Fighting the global economy in Appalachia |date=2004 |publisher=New Press |location=New York |isbn=1565847849}}

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