Appalachia Works: Expanding Opportunities for Our Region’s Future September 2018

Click to view the Appalachia Works summit program

An Appalachian Regional Commission Conference
Hosted by the State of Mississippi
September 12–14, 2018
BancorpSouth Arena and Conference Center
Tupelo, Mississippi


ARC’s September 2018 Appalachia Works: Expanding Opportunities for Our Region’s Future summit, hosted by the State of Mississippi, featured a range of plenary discussions, best-practice examples, emerging ideas, and lasting strategies for economic development across Appalachia. Sessions focused on key issues shaping development in the Region's communities, including capital access, the opioid crisis, and land reclamation.

Learn more about the summit:

Summit Program
PDF: 1.2 MB

Speaker Presentations
Presentations are posted here as available. This list does not include all presentations given.

• Maintaining Appalachia’s Ready, Steady Workforce
  Johnny Moore, President, Pierpont Community and Technical College, Fairmont, WV
  PDF: 500 KB
  
  
• Downtown Strong
  Brooxie Carlton, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, State of Tennessee, Nashville, TN; Olivia Collier, ARC Program Manager, North Carolina Department of Commerce, Raleigh, NC; Tamarah Holmes, Associate Director, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, Richmond, VA; Annaka Woodruff, ARC Program Manager, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Atlanta, GA
  PDF: 7.5 MB
  
  
• Planning for Mine Land Reclamation
  Nathan Hall, Project Director, Sprouting Farms, Charleston, WV
  PDF: 1.7 MB
  
  Patrick Kirby, Director, Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center at West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
  PDF: 1.4 MB
  
  Joey James, Project Scientist, Downstream Strategies, Morgantown, WV
  PDF: 1.7 MB
  
  Duane Miller, Executive Director, LENOWISCO Planning District Commission, Duffield, VA
  PDF: 9.0 MB
  
  
• Understanding Economic Resiliency
  Fritz Boettner, Principal, Downstream Strategies, Alderson, WV; Christine Gyovai, Principal, Dialogue + Design Associates, Charlottesville, VA
  PDF: 1.3 MB
  
  
• Appalachia’s Air and Autos
  Glenn Dennis, Director, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Extension, Mississippi State University, Canton, MS
  PDF: 4.4 MB
  
  Samuel Munnerlyn, President, Trenholm State Community College Montgomery, AL
  PDF: 1.5 MB
  
  
• Successful Strategies for Entrepreneurial Growth
  Joe Kapp, CEO, National Center for Resource Development, Lost City, WV
  PDF: 800 KB
  
  Aleta Botts, Executive Director, Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, Elizabethtown, KY
  PDF: 250 KB
  
  Joe Carlucci, Membership Success Director, International Business Innovation Association, Orlando, FL
  PDF: 800 KB
  
  Steve Mercil, Chief Business Development Officer, Angel Capital Group
  PDF:100 KB
  
  Lamont Price, Innovation Director, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Nashville, TN
  PDF: 500 KB
  
  
• Transportation and Economic Development
  Carrie Kissel, Associate Director, National Association of Development Organizations, Washington, DC
  PDF: 6.0 MB
  
  Justin Murphree, Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway Operations Manager, US Army Corps of Engineers, Columbus, MS
  PDF: 2.2 MB
  
  Chad Miller, Professor, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS
  PDF: 2.2 MB
  
  Mike Tagert, Commissioner of the Northern District, Northern District Highway Commissioner, Tupelo, MS
  PDF: 4.6 MB
  
  
• Funding Your Project: Successful Grantsmanship
  Jeff Schwartz, Workforce and Education Program Manager, Appalachian Regional Commission, Washington, DC
  PDF: 1.3 MB
  
  
• Appalachia’s Smart Future in Manufacturing
  David Hughes, Business Development Program Manager, Appalachian Regional Commission, Washington, DC
  PDF: 1.5 MB
  
  Stephan Lier, Chief Engineer, Mueller Industries - Copper Tube Mill, Fulton, MS
  PDF: 1.0 MB
  
  Ron Painter, CEO, National Association of Workforce Boards, Washington, DC
  PDF: 1.0 MB
  
  Angela Pate, Manager, Business Development, Public Consulting Group, Gainesville, FL
  PDF: 700 KB
  
  
• Expanding the Behavioral Health Workforce
  Ray Feroz, Professor and Department Chair, Human Services, Rehabilitation, and Sport Sciences, Clarion University, Clarion, PA
  PDF: 120 KB
  
  
• Turning Brownfields into Rural Gold
  Melanie Busby, Grant Writer and Manager, City of West Point, West Point, MS
  PDF: 4.5 MB
  
  Mark Castleberry, President, Castle Properties, Columbus, MS
  PDF: 6.8 MB
  
  John Hargraves, Regional Manager, PM Environmental, Inc., Decatur, AL
  PDF: 7.2 MB
  
  Patrick Kirby, Director, Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center at West Virginia University, Morgantown WV
  PDF: 5.0 MB
  
  Paula Middlebrooks, Environmental Consultant, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Nashville, TN
  PDF: 1.0 MB
  
  
• Financing New Opportunities
  Jane Henderson, President and CEO, Virginia Community Capital, Inc., Richmond, VA
  PDF: 500 KB
  
  Lora Smith, Executive Director, Appalachian Impact Fund, Hazard, KY
  PDF: 7.1 MB