The
Appalachian Regional Commission (
ARC) is a
United States federal-state partnership that works with the people of
Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining
economic development and improved quality of life. The Commission is a partnership of 420
counties or county-equivalents in 13 states (including eight independent cities in Virginia, where state law makes cities administratively separate from counties), and the
governors of
West Virginia,
Alabama,
Georgia,
Kentucky,
Maryland,
Mississippi,
New York,
North Carolina,
Ohio,
Pennsylvania,
South Carolina,
Tennessee, and
Virginia, and a presidential appointee representing the federal government. It is headquartered in
Washington, D.C.