A Federal agency that has provided millions in funding to Athens County, its cities & its organizations is one of the many agencies facing elimination by the current White House administration. The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a 52 year old economic development agency that invests in business development, education, skill training & in infrastructure assets such as broadband access, transportation and wastewater systems. 

The ARC  focuses its attention on Appalachia, a region of the country with high rates of poverty & low rates of job diversity. Over the last 5 years, the ARC has invested over $2 million in Athens County projects, including the creation of workforce development programs, improvement & expansion of county sewage systems and the creation of access roads to make many local businesses more accessible. 

ACEnet also receives funding through the ARC. In late February, partners throughout Central Appalachia celebrated a project milestone of supporting market access, one farmer at a time, with generous support from the Central Appalachian Network (CAN) and the  Appalachian Regional Commission's (ARC) POWER Initiative.

"Through its POWER Plus grant program, which just turned one year old, the ARC channeled $73 million to diversify the economy across 236 coal-impacted communities. With the help of a POWER grant, a local foods distribution network throughout Central Appalachia called the Central Appalachian Food Enterprise Corridor has become able to connect farmers in Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Eastern Kentucky to customers and distributors eager for their wares."

This past December, Rhonda Dortch, owner of  Bluestone Mountain Farm  in Summers County, WV contacted Rosemary, ACEnet's Special Projects Coordinator, looking for delivery options to ship 5,000 pounds of heirloom shelled corn she'd grown and was selling to a new distillery in Davis, WV. ACEnet project partners  KISRA ,  Robert C. Byrd Institute ,  Refresh Appalachia  &  Appalachian Sustainable Development - ASD  all provided different services to make the delivery a success. You can read the whole story on our website, and please let your elected officials know that the ARC is important to our region.

Our Ohio CDC Association VISTA Erin has been working hard all year to help develop new solutions to the unemployment & underemployment issues facing low income and/or ex-offender reentry individuals here in Athens County! Also, thank to Erin, we're hosting out first ever Women in Business conference on My 5th! She has been an unbelievable asset to ACEnet this year & we're sorry to see her leave when her term is up in June.

However, as Erin leaves, we're looking for another fantastic person to fill our VISTA position for the 2017-2018 year! Do you want to serve your community for a year while building your professional skills & earning an education award to help pay off student loans or use for college education? For more info & to apply: Click Here!