Appalachia can’t be an island anymore 

“No community is an island, cut off from the rest of America.” President John F. Kennedy spoke those words about the necessity for an Appalachian highway system during a 1960 campaign stop in Charleston, W.Va.  

It is that ethos — that all American communities deserve equal connectivity and opportunity — which continues to shape the opportunities and inordinate challenges for 13 states, 423 counties and 26 million residents who live in Appalachia.  

While many gains have been made and they need to be acknowledged, President Biden could go today to Cumberland, Md., or Boone, N.C., or Middlesboro, Ky., or any number of large and small towns in this region and proclaim Kennedy’s statement again, not because the distance between Brooklyn or the San Francisco Bay Area and Appalachia has been diminished, but because the gaps remain so profoundly wide.   

Some of this was self-inflicted.  Appalachia’s remoteness made many parents wary of what lay beyond. I’m from West Virginia, and I know that many Appalachian parents never encouraged their children to become educated, particularly avoiding post-secondary schools, because they believed their children would leave home and not return. The truth is that many young people did leave, pursuing opportunities rather than suffering bleak prospects in much of the region.  

But times have changed, and opportunities are improving. The good news is that with government and private-sector grants, and compounding investment in the region’s business, science and educational infrastructure, there is much anecdotal evidence that young people  have returned as they have been able to get jobs or start businesses while re-embracing Appalachia’s rich culture and beauty. We in the region are now “growing” our leaders to come back, live their dreams and enhance the region’s human capital as their presence helps to revitalize communities.   

The fears of older-generation Appalachians were fueled by disconnection from the rest of America. But those days are over. Even though much of Appalachia lags the nation in broadband connectivity, people get it. Even though they don’t have the same quality of bridges, roads and internet availability that much of America has, they know it’s important, and they absolutely want to be built-in. And built-in now.   

A lot of snobbery exists across American cities about what kinds of jobs Americans are really willing to do, scoffing at a lot of service jobs and physical work — but there is little of that “attitude” in Appalachia, where people value the benefits and pride of work. Our many-decades problem was that there just weren’t enough jobs. Appalachia doesn’t see its prospects improving through government payments and handouts, though those help at the fringe. Appalachia will improve as businesses and good jobs, in conjunction with training and educational components,  grow in the region.     

And there are green sprouts. I know a young woman who left home, got a great education and is now teaching in West Virginia where she grew up; she mentors high school students, encouraging them to get a good college degree and come back. My family also has connections with a young single mother who has reconstituted a life of dignity and purpose through drug rehabilitation, vocational training and a job, which includes ongoing counseling and support. This mother has reclaimed her children, her life, and become a productive part of her community.   

We also know a young man who graduated from an Appalachian community college with an associate degree in welding. America needs welders and those who understand and have been trained in the building crafts. He has become a line manager at a local plant building critical airplane parts.    

We need to salute these accomplishments. This is part of the story of aspiration and improvement, rather than the despair that used to define our region.     

We have pockets of artists, innovators and entrepreneurs creating micro-ventures on digital platforms. Appalachia needs more of these kinds of newly hatched businesses, some of which eventually surge into big firms. Appalachia lags the rest of the nation in micro-venture creation, but this rate of entrepreneurship should improve as America delivers on its commitment to universally connecting all communities to the broadband superhighway.    

Whether someone is creating a new energy consulting firm in West Virginia, an arts-and-crafts digital platform in Pennsylvania, or a specialty foods business in Kentucky, such firms create more flexible, nimble and resilient economies that also create stickiness for talent who want to stay and thrive in Appalachia.    

Taking stock of some of the positives in the Appalachia story, it’s important to note that the regional poverty rate has been cut by more than half. That’s progress, but it is not acceptable that so many continue to languish without incomes and jobs. Another positive on the transportation front that can be taken further is that, since Kennedy’s challenge in Charleston, we have completed 91 percent of the Appalachian Development Highway System that connects our communities. In education, the percentage of adults in the region with a high school diploma has nearly tripled since 1960, and students in Appalachia now graduate from high school much closer to the national average. We also continue to raise the bar on the number of individuals seeking post-secondary opportunities.   

While great strides have been made throughout Appalachia, however, too many citizens and too much of the region still lag behind and underperform when compared to the rest of the United States.     

President Biden’s American Recovery Bill and Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill are both big net positives that not only will help Appalachia but will address economic development gaps in other parts of the United States. Yet, for these new resources to be game-changers correcting the lag of opportunity in Appalachia’s 13 states, we need to leverage this money and opportunity into a plan that will continue to reap benefits in oncoming years.  

To that end, the Appalachian Regional Commission, which I co-chair, engaged almost 2,000 stakeholders to write a strategic plan; its pillars are straightforward but important:  

• Build Appalachian businesses by providing support for small business development in the region while working to grow existing industries and support economic diversification;  

• Build Appalachia’s workforce ecosystem, which starts with investing more heavily and consistently in education and training, and supporting substance use recovery-to-work efforts to restore economic vitality; 

•  Build Appalachia’s infrastructure, to ensure that everyone has access to reliable, affordable utilities and broadband services — a necessity to compete in a modern global marketplace — all the way to the last miles of our rural roads; 

• Build regional culture and tourism  by investing in the development of vibrant Appalachian downtowns, as well as projects that preserve and expand our tremendous natural resources to increase opportunities for outdoor recreation industries;  

• Build leaders and community capacity through training, sharing best practices  and technical assistance with community organizations, local development districts and local elected officials to come together to create multi-county, multi-state collaborations to enhance shared visions and outcomes.   

Appalachia has the right ingredients to become part of the story of new American strength again — just as, generations ago, it was the anchor of America’s energy needs. But America writ large and leaders in the Appalachian region must collaborate and set horizons together. 

As West Virginia-born NASA engineer and author Homer Hickam said, “A rocket won’t fly unless somebody lights the fuse.” It’s overdue for those of us in Appalachia and the nation as a whole to collectively light that fuse.   

Gayle Manchin is the federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission and the former secretary of Education and the Arts for West Virginia.