CREC Launches New Website Focused on the Appalachian Regional Commission’s 50-Year Impact
November 4, 2015The Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC), in partnership with West Virginia University (WVU) have launched a new website that seeks to further educate the public about the significant structural and socioeconomic changes that have taken place in the U.S. Appalachian Region following the Appalachian Regional Development Act’s passage in 1965.
The site specifically focuses on changes in the Appalachian Region:
- Poverty
- Economic and industry mix
- Income disparity
- Educational attainment
- Unemployment
- Housing quality
- Employment change
- Health
- Population change
- Transportation access
The site also helps to easily summarize the economic effects that the region accrued through ARC’s non-highway investments and serves as a companion to a research report that CREC and WVU authored for the agency’s 50th Anniversary.
About CREC:
The Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) helps regions compete. It is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides global policymakers the information and technical assistance they need to formulate and execute innovative, regional, job-creating economic strategies.
About ARC:
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a regional economic development agency that represents a partnership of federal, state, and local government. Established by an act of Congress in 1965, ARC is composed of the governors of the 13 Appalachian states and a federal co-chair, who is appointed by the president. Local participation is provided through multi-county local development districts.
About WVU:
West Virginia University is a public land grant research university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. It was founded in 1867. As part of this project, CREC worked with WVU’s Regional Research Institute (RRI) and the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER). RRI promotes scholarly research focusing on theories and history of regional development, methods for studying regions, and policies for stimulating their development. BBER provides the state’s business and policymaking communities with reliable data and rigorous applied economic research and analysis that enables the state’s leaders to design better business practices and public policies.