The Appalachian Regional Commission helps to create jobs and improve economic fortunes of distressed counties in West Virginia and Kentucky.
Chad Trador is a coal miner who has benefited from ARC-funded programs. Trador, who voted for Trump, said Trump's cuts to the ARC were wrongheaded and would hurt many people who are already mired in poverty. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
This post originally appeared at Yes! Magazine.
Last week, President Trump proposed eliminating 19 federal agencies, including some high-visibility cultural icons like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts. But among the smaller agencies he suggests getting rid of are the economic lifelines for three regions of the country struggling with high levels of poverty and unemployment.
The Appalachian Regional Commission, centering on the coalfields of West Virginia and Kentucky, currently has a budget of $119 million. The Delta Regional Authority, which includes counties on both sides of the Mississippi River from southern Illinois to Louisiana, has a budget of $45 million. The Northern Border Regional Commission, which supports counties along the Canadian border from Maine to New York, has a budget of $7 million.
One of the fundamental ideas behind these regional commissions is that some economic issues, which affect multiple states, are too big for one state government to take on but too localized for traditional federal policy to be effective. A regional commission provides a partnership between the federal government and all the affected states.
So how do these agencies improve the lives of their regions people? Whats at stake if Trumps budget cuts succeed?
Peter Hille has been building projects in eastern Kentucky with funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission for 27 years. Hes currently the executive director of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, which is using an ARC grant to help laid-off coal workers transition to jobs in energy efficiency. He spoke to us about his experiences working with ARC.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
James Trimarco: How did you first hear about the Appalachian Regional Commission?
Peter Hille: In 1990, I took a job at Berea College, with the Brushy Fork Institute, and Brushy Fork was created to do leadership and community development in Appalachia. The Appalachian Regional Commission was one of our early supporters. I was at Brushy Fork for 22 years and was executive director there.
A lot of the funding we had was for a program called the Flex-E-Grant program, which was specifically for whats called distressed counties places that fall into the bottom 10 percent of counties, nationwide, in terms of per capita income, percentage of families below the poverty level, and the three-year average unemployment rate.
Trimarco: What did Brushy Fork do to help those people?
You can only do economic development if it is supported by all the layers underneath it you need leadership development, organization development and community development first.
Hille: The idea with the Flex-E-Grants was to get small amounts of federal funding right down to the grass roots in communities. And those people did all kinds of innovative stuff with that money everything from park cleanups to walking trails to improving some local facilities, exercise programs, projects with kids. We were always learning that they knew much more than we did about what was important and possible in their communities.
Trimarco: How does that kind of program create jobs?
Hille: You can only do economic development if it is supported by all the layers underneath it you need leadership development, organization development and community development first. So when you ask, Does this create jobs? its yes and no. It doesnt create jobs explicitly, but its an essential precondition to creating jobs.
Eventually, though, youve got to create jobs. You can only do so many park cleanups, beautifications, signs, brochures about the community. If theres not any jobs, people are going to go away.
Trimarco: Five years ago, you transitioned from Brushy Fork doing economic development work at the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development. Whats that been like?
Hille: Its been tough. Eastern Kentucky suffers from deep economic distress that is the result of a mono-economy and a resource extraction economy. Economists talk about how resource extraction economies tend to not build durable wealth and assets in a region but actually create poverty because you are literally extracting the value. And they tend to starve out other economic initiatives that would create a more diverse, sustainable and resilient economy.
We describe our work at MACED as helping to shape the just transition to a new economy for post-coal Appalachia. That means respecting the contribution that regions like this have made to building the economy we have today. We owe a debt to help these regions, so we should approach the economic transition in a way that helps to level the playing field. Thats why the investments that were seeing right now from the federal government are so critical. They are based in that understanding of just transition.
Economists talk about how resource extraction economies tend to not build durable wealth and assets in a region but actually create poverty because you are literally extracting the value. And they tend to starve out other economic initiatives that would create a more diverse, sustainable and resilient economy.
In 2015, MACED was fortunate to get just over $2 million for projects that include a series of 12 internships for displaced coal industry workers to be retrained as energy auditors and energy efficiency retrofit installers. But its in two phases: The first phase builds a market so that these workers can find jobs once theyre trained.
Trimarco: How do you do something like that?
Hille: We have a residential energy efficiency program called How$mart Kentucky. In that program, we partner with six rural electric cooperatives and we send trained staff to go to a house, literally put a blower-door on the front door which is a big fan that they attach to the front door of the house. The fan sucks on the house, and they use it to determine what the degree of air leakage is in the house. Then the homeowner can pay for energy efficiency upgrades in payments that appear on their power bill.
We also do energy efficiency audits for businesses. We did a lighting retrofit for a commercial warehouse a couple years ago where theyre now saving a couple hundred thousand dollars a year. And its going to pay for itself in two years. They just got a hundred thousand dollars a year in gravy to their bottom line.
Trimarco: What do you think the consequences of cutting or eliminating the ARCs budget would look like?
Hille: Its the only federal agency that is really paying attention to Appalachia.
Rep. Hal Rogers represents the 5thDistrict of Kentucky, which is the eastern portion deep in the Appalachian Mountains the coalfields of Kentucky. Rogers, a conservative Republican, said these cuts are draconian, careless and counterproductive. Sen. Mitch McConnell, just within the last few days, also made a statement to the effect that ARC would not be cut.
Trimarco: Whats it like to work with the Appalachian Regional Commission?
Hille: Most federal grants are a pretty cut-and-dried process. Thats not the way it works with ARC. You can call somebody up and have a conversation about what youre thinking. This $2 million grant that we got from ARC last year, it started with a whole series of conversations. To have that kind of collaborative approach is rare. Its special.
Trimarco: The Appalachian Regional Commission was created in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson. Has it been threatened before?
Hille: When Ronald Reagan was president, he was also trying to zero out the ARC. So theres been this history of presidents trying to zero out the commission, and powerful forces in Congress keeping it in the federal budget. And thats included voices on both sides of the aisle.
Trimarco: Are people you know doing advocacy to protect the ARC?
Hille: A friend and colleague of mine runs a housing organization deep in the coalfields. And he put up a post on Facebook, just after the White House budget proposal came out, and he led off with I voted for President Trump. Then he proceeded to enumerate all the programs they use for their housing work that are slated to be cut. And it just went on and on and on.
So I think youre seeing people making these kinds of statements to one another. Thats in many ways as important a form of advocacy as what theyre saying to their elected officials.
More:
Trump's Budget Cuts Will End an Economic Lifeline - BillMoyers.com
- QazInnovations: Kazakhstan seeks to bring volume of innovative ... - inform.kz/en - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- World Earth Day: What is green finance, and why do we need it so much? - The Economic Times - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Netarts Bay cleanup scheduled for Earth Day with SOLVE and ... - Tillamook Headlight-Herald - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Shaping humanitarian and ethical governance in Pakistan - The Express Tribune - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen on the U.S. ... - Treasury - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Investing in nature: Building local economies through conservation - McKinsey - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Lalith's economic vision for Lanka: Export or perish - The Sunday Times Sri Lanka - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy to help A.P. govt. implement energy-efficiency projects - The Hindu - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- President Biden Announces Key Appointments to Boards and ... - The White House - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- A Restraint Approach to U.S.China Relations: Reversing the Slide ... - Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Carrollton Mayor and City Council Election Preview 2023: Meet your ... - Star Local Media - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Governor Kelly Signs Bipartisan Bill to Expand Teacher Workforce in ... - Kansas Governor - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Indigenous Peoples Must Have Full Representation, Participation in ... - United Nations - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- The EPA Region 6 Announces a Total of $23 Million to ... - U.S. EPA.gov - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Kansas governor strikes funding for anti-abortion pregnancy centers ... - Kansas Reflector - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Can You Fight for Climate Justice Without Being Antiwar? - Common Dreams - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Sustainable Tourism: A World leading to the road of Environment consciousness - Nomad Lawyer - NomadLawyer - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Atlanta's Cop City and the Struggle for Climate Justice - Resilience - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Jaishankars visit to Uganda, Mozambique went almost unnoticed but it indicated Indias bold gambit in Africa - Firstpost - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Natural resource - Wikipedia - October 30th, 2022 [October 30th, 2022]
- Non-renewable resource - Wikipedia - October 30th, 2022 [October 30th, 2022]
- Minister Wilkinson Launches Phase 2 of the Regional Energy and Resource Tables - Canada NewsWire - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Executive Secretary participates in Russian Energy Week to advocate for decarbonization in the UNECE region ahead of COP27 - UNECE - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Renault Group: The Future Is NEUTRAL: The circular economy is stepping into a new era! - Yahoo Finance - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Economy Expected to Contract Further in 2023, as the Fed Appears Resolved to Tame Inflation - PR Newswire - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Brazils Runoff Election Will Have Enormous Effects on the Global Climate Crisis - Truthout - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Health disparities and health inequalities: applying All Our Health - GOV.UK - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Opinion: Biopolitics is the invisible hand shaping mental health - The Connecticut Mirror - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Avaaz urges Georgieva and Trudeau to lasso-in commitments from IMF to attend December's vital UN Biodiversity Talks in Montreal - GlobeNewswire - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Kochi as a global city? Why not, asks the man behind Ahmedabads mega city story | Manorama English - Onmanorama - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Hennessy and Thurgood Marshall College Fund Announce partnership with Group Black and The Bishop Gallery to make "America's Most Influential... - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Pollution Prevention Week highlights ways to reduce, reuse and recycle waste - Michigan (.gov) - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- England headed for incineration overcapacity, warns UKWIN - Resource Magazine - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- 3 years of the Principles for Responsible Banking: our vision for change United Nations Environment Finance Initiative - UNEP Finance Initiative - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Isn't It Time To Challenge The Growth Paradigm? OpEd - Eurasia Review - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Coalition of Nearly 50 Organizations Launches 'Tear the Paper Ceiling' Campaign to Raise Awareness Around the 70+ Million Workers in the U.S. Skilled... - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Remote work can actually be more productive: More Hub readers respond to the work-from-home phenomenon - The Hub - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Mendocino Public Health on record-setting Sept. heat: We can't just treat this as a once-in-15-years occurrence - The Mendocino Voice - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Carbon Ridge Secures $6 Million Investment from Leading Climate Investors and Maritime Industry Leaders - Business Wire - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Regenerative Travel Is the Next Phase of Responsible Tourism - Outside Online - Outside - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- NNPC: Between rebranding and reforms, By Tijah Bolton-Akpan - Premium Times - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Embodying the spirit of Malaysia - The Edge Markets MY - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Nonprofit executive takes on state-appointed economic development role - MiBiz: West Michigan Business News - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Noble Mineral Exploration Signs Exploration Agreement with the Constance Lake First Nation - Junior Mining Network - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Progressively Deepening Bilateral Partnership - The Geopolitics - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Oil money is flooding into Guyana. Who will benefit? - Reuters - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Remote-work revolution exposes need for better data, tracking tools to evaluate workforce, pay and economy - The Spokesman Review - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- We need rare earth elements for a greener future, but there's a catch - CBC.ca - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- BRNHA the steward of the living traditions of WNC: Opinion - Citizen Times - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- The Fiji Times Back in history: Future of forestry sector - Fiji Times - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Hochul announces grand opening of Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical Education Center - Troy Record - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Predicting the Future of Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Columbia University - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- JD.com Ranks 46th on 2022 Fortune Global 500 - Yahoo Finance - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Minister Wilkinson Releases New Report Showing the Impacts of Climate Change and Necessity of Climate Adaptation in Ontario - Canada NewsWire - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Do Armenians have a future as an independent nation? Part 4 - Armenian Weekly - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Getting the diagnostics right 2 - BusinessWorld Online - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- GrammaTech and T.E.N. Announce Call for Nominations for Product Security Executive of the Year Awards - Business Wire - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Energy Vault and Jupiter Power Announce Agreement for Battery Energy Storage Projects in Texas and California Totaling 220 MWh - Business Wire - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- The North East LEP: Thinking bigger and planning together for the future - Bdaily - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- It's not enough to buy American. You also need to sell American all around the world. - The Ripon Society - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Bid to designate 50k acres in UP as wilderness highlights tension over public lands - MLive.com - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- A 'Living Wall' At Texas A&M Could Be The Key To Smarter Cities - Texas A&M University Today - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Architects and designers must embrace the circular economy - Project Scotland - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Strategic Minerals increases Tin and Tantalum production in June and Q2 2022 at its Penouta Mine - Yahoo Finance - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Issues of the Environment: Improving recycling rates and quality of recycling materials in Washtenaw County - WEMU - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Joe Oliver: The Liberal Cabinet Needs an Intervention - The Epoch Times - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- SDG&E and Cajon Valley Union School District Flip the Switch on Region's First Vehicle-to-Grid Project Featuring Local Electric School Buses Capable... - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Reimagining business: The greatest debt of all time - Newsroom - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Moody's affirms A1 rating of Newfoundland and Labrador, changes outlook to stable - Moody's - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- New Mexico's oil and gas revenues are breaking records and complicating budgets - New Mexico Political Report - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- FACT SHEET: White House Announces over $40 Billion in American Rescue Plan Investments in Our Workforce With More Coming - The White House - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- The Class of 2022 Is Ready to Workon Their Terms - SHRM - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Faraday Copper Announces Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Copper Creek Project in Arizona; Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources Exceed... - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Inside the Triangle's latest job opening data: What boards are showing and who's hiring - WRAL TechWire - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Reserve Bank keeps blinkers on inflation, raising OCR to 2.5% - Stuff - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Abe's drive to bring back Japan | The Interpreter - The Interpreter - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- UCF Hospitality Researchers Expertise Is Tapped for Global Sustainable Tourism Report - UCF - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Feminist Economics and the Fight for Human Rights - OHCHR - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Biden Administration announces historic coastal and climate resilience funding - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Why green ammonia will be the workhorse of EU's future hydrogen economy - EURACTIV - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]