In February 2020, Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Federal Co-Chairman Tim Thomas and States’ Co-Chairman Ohio Governor Mike DeWine hosted Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper at ARC’s annual Governors Quorum in Washington, DC. The business meeting, which is convened according to ARC statute, reviews ARC operations, activities, and highlights from the past fiscal year.
In addition to reviewing key investment accomplishments, the Commission also heard a special presentation by Scott Turner, Executive Director, White House Opportunity & Revitalization Council and Alfonso Costa Jr., Deputy Chief of Staff, Department of Housing & Urban Development, about the Trump Administrations Opportunity and Revitalization Council to promote additional private investment in America’s economically-distressed census tracks designated as Opportunity Zones. Turner noted that via the Opportunity Zone investment strategy, “there are things that we can do to bring about real results for the people of this country long after all of us are gone.” ARC is a member of the Opportunity and Revitalization Council as 737, or 8.5 percent, of the nation’s qualified Opportunity Zones are in the Appalachian region.
ARC’s next business meeting will be held in Marietta, Ohio in conjunction with the ARC Annual Summit, August 17- 19, 2020.