WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced $1,081,958 in federal Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) funding for the Floyd County Economic Development Authority to construct a new access road for the Floyd Regional Commerce Center. The funding, which leverages $30 million in private investment—will fund approximately 0.21 miles of access road, an industrial cul-de-sac, as well as pedestrian and bike path to facilitate Floyd County’s development of the Floyd Regional Commerce Center. The Floyd County Economic Development Authority estimates that completion of the Commerce Center would promote economic development with the potential to support more than 100 new jobs in the region. 

“The Appalachian Regional Commission has supported communities in Appalachia since its formation and we are proud to advocate for the program in the Senate and announce funding for projects like this that expand economic development and opportunity in the region,” the Senators said. “This funding will allow Floyd County to improve its access to the Regional Commerce Center and spur further opportunities for growth in the area. We hope that projects like this, and the impact they have in Southwest Virginia, will encourage President Trump and House Republicans to rethink their choice to end ARC in their 2018 budget proposals. ”

Since its inception in 1965, ARC has generated over 300,000 jobs and $10 billion for the 25 million Americans living in Appalachia. ARC has provided funding and support for job-creating community projects across the 13 Appalachian states, producing an average of $204 million in annual earnings for a region often challenged by economic underdevelopment. President Trump’s budget proposes eliminating the program entirely.

In June, Warner and Kaine joined a group of six other U.S. Senators urging Senate appropriators to fully fund the Appalachian Regional Commission in 2018 at $152 million and reject the Trump Administration’s proposal to end the state-federal partnership.

The project will be administered through the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

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