Times West Virginian
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Gayle Conelly Manchin took the oath of office Thursday to serve as federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Manchin, wife of U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is the 13th person to serve as federal co-chair and is the first ARC federal co-chair from West Virginia.
Nominated by President Joe Biden, Manchin will work directly with ARC’s 13 member governors, their state alternates and program managers, and a network of local development districts to continue to develop initiatives that strengthen economic growth throughout Appalachia. The ARC serves 420 counties running from New York state south to Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi west to parts of Ohio. The entire state of West Virginia is in the ARC service area.
“I’m honored to serve our beloved Appalachian Region and its people as ARC federal co-chair,” Manchin said in a press release. “While we’ve come a long way over the years, more work needs to be done to strengthen our Region and seize opportunities to address economic disparities and advance prosperity.”
An alumna of West Virginia University, Manchin worked as an educator in Marion County Schools, served on the faculty of Fairmont State University, and was the director of the university’s first Community Service Learning Program…
