ARC Head Visits Toccoa

The city of Toccoa receives a visit from a top official for a multi-state agency.

Last Friday, the Executive Director of the Appalachian Regional Commission, Scott Hamilton, visited Toccoa to meet with local leaders from the city and county.

The Applachian Regional Commission, or ARC, is a regional economic development agency that represents a partnership of federal, state, and local government in 13 states, including Georgia.

According to the agency’s website, the ARC provides funding for several hundred projects in areas such as business development, education and job training, telecommunications, infrastructure, community development, housing, and transportation.

The agency said these projects are designed to create new jobs; improve local water and sewer systems; increase school readiness; expand access to health care; assist local communities with strategic planning; and provide technical and managerial assistance to emerging businesses.

Toccoa Main Street Director Connie Tabor said one of the reasons Hamilton is in Toccoa is to see the results of the canopy removal and re-opening of Doyle Street in downtown.

Tabor said the ARC played a big role in making that happen.

“They were the first funding source for the project of the canopy removal and the mall opening,” said Tabor. “They provided $300,000 to us and acted as a catalyst for other agencies to come on board.”

Hamilton said helping to improve communities is one of the main jobs of the ARC.

He said he is happy to see the results of that assistance first-hand.

“It is always good to be there and see, feel, and touch what those projects are and to see how they have impacted the communities and the lives of people in those communities,” said Hamilton.

Meanwhile, Hamilton also said this trip is serving as a way to familiarize himself with the communities and the states he serves.

“I have just started at ARC in September and I am making my way around to different states and looking at those projects and those investments,” said Hamilton. “I have heard so much about how the ARC dollars were the catalyst for change in downtown Toccoa.”

Following meeting with local leaders at Toccoa City Hall, Hamilton went on a tour of downtown Toccoa to see those results first hand.