Chickasaw and surrounding counties in Mississippi do not have enough Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) to respond to healthcare needs in regional nursing homes, hospices, and home-health agencies ARC invested in The Excel Nurse Assistant Program in Okolona. With ARC support offers CNA preparation annually to 20 residents in Chickasaw County…

BRIGHT Kentucky is a free training program building developed by the Leadership Kentucky Foundation to expand capacity of next-generation economic development leaders in the state’s 54 Appalachian counties. Made possible through support from ARC, The Kentucky Department of Local Government, the Whitaker Foundation, Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR), and others,…

The Appalachian Hatchery is an innovative advanced manufacturing incubator at Marshall University’s Robert C. Byrd Institute (RCBI) in Huntington, West Virginia. Established in 2017 with a $1.5 million ARC POWER grant, along support from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, the Hatchery supports manufacturing, entrepreneurship, and business development in West Virginia’s southern most 20 counties –…

Alabama’s Jefferson State Community College (JSCC) enrolls nearly 14,000 students annually at its campuses in Jefferson, Chilton, St. Clair and Shelby counties. Over half of JSCC attendees are first-generation college students. The College offers more than 33 certificate and training programs in vast array of fields including manufacturing, health care,…

LaunchTN —  a public-private partnership focusing on early-stage capital formation, market access, commercialization resources, talent development and retention for entrepreneurs across the state — has stood up eight Entrepreneurship Centers in Tennessee. With ARC support, three of these centers are dedicated to assist Appalachian entrepreneurs as they develop business plans,…

In Jamestown, New York, the Dream It, Do It program is changing the way girls see manufacturing – and themselves. Though the third-largest industry sector in Western New York, the manufacturing workforce is only comprised 27% by women. As local employers face a serious worker shortage…

The Base Camp Coding Academy’s Class of 2019. Base Camp Coding Academy (BCCA), a non-profit learning center in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, offers intensive computer programming training to recent northern Mississippi high school graduates free of charge. Based in Water Valley, BCCA was first launched in 2016 as a pilot program in…

Western Maryland Works is a full-service makerspace, small-business incubator project that provides access to technology and equipment, and training facility focusing on machining, welding, and industrial maintenance. With ARC support, Western Maryland Works purchased state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing equipment such as computers, electronic classroom systems, general furnishings, equipment for wood working,…

With ARC support, Hazard Community and Technical College (HCTC) Electrical Lineman & Fiber Optics Training Project purchased critical equipment for a training program to help former miners, veterans, and others prepare for in-demand jobs like fiber optic technicians and linemen. The equipment for the training program included utility trucks,…

The Community Colleges of Appalachia (CCA), founded in 1991, is an affiliated council of the American Association of Community Colleges. For member colleges, CCA provides programs and services responsive to the unique cultural, geographic, and economic challenges facing the Appalachian Region. Colleges eligible for membership in the CCA are those…