With COVID-19 related funding from ARC, ACC was able to support the Parkway Theater’s renovation and survival through the pandemic. Access to capital is one of the biggest obstacles to small business and entrepreneurial growth in Appalachia. In 2013, with seed money from ARC and other partners, Appalachian Community…
What Are Opportunity Zones? Opportunity Zones are economically distressed communities where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. Localities qualify as Opportunity Zones if they have been nominated for that designation by the state, and that nomination has been certified by the Secretary of the…
This report provides an understanding of the challenges confronting economic and community development efforts in rural Appalachian communities and explains the ways local governments, agencies, and community organizations plan and respond to challenging…
This ARC-commissioned study evaluated indicators used to classify counties as economically distressed, with the goal of improving the ability to target resources effectively to counties facing barriers to economic progress.
This report responds to a proactive effort by the ARC to explore new avenues for assessing wellbeing. Despite well-recognized advances, chronic socioeconomic distress persists in various pockets in the region while other areas face instability.
This report analyzes recent demographic data to examine the factors explaining the graduation of distressed counties and the persistence of distress in Appalachia and other regions of the U.S.
This report analyzes changes in the number of distressed counties in Appalachia and the entire United States for the census years 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990.
This report studies the development experience of the distressed counties with the aim of identifying the lessons that might be learned from those counties that have changed socioeconomic status.
