By Matt Combs for The Register-Herald in Beckley, W.Va.
BECKLEY, W.Va. — Each year the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) updates designation labels for each of its 420 counties based on economic average data from previous years.
For the Fiscal Year 2020, which begins in October, the ARC used a three-year unemployment average from 2014-16, the per capita market income from 2016 and the poverty rate in each county from 2012-16 to categorize counties as distressed, at-risk, transitional, competitive or at attainment.
While the data used to categorize the counties may be from the past, the designations matter in the now.
Counties that win ARC funding from programs and projects receive a percentage of the total cost based on their status, with distressed counties receiving 80 percent, at-risk counties receiving 70 percent and transitional counties receiving 50 percent. …
