Profile: Cumberland Valley ADD

Residential Area of Cumberland ADD

Like the Appalachian Mountains that surround the Cumberland Valley Area Development District (ADD) in Kentucky, the ADD supports rural regional development by providing resources. “Cumberland Valley provides resources that improve the quality of life and protect the environment, like loan funds for business start-ups and physical planning for health care and transportation services, to name a few,” explains Cumberland Valley’s Executive Director John Bruner II.

The ADD, now an Economic Development Administration (EDA) funded district and also an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) local development district, was established in 1968 with funding from ARC. As one of Kentucky’s 16 regional development organizations, it is best described as an instrumentality of local government whose mission is to “provide a systematic linkage between local leadership, the governor’s office, state and federal agencies, and private organizations.”

Road in Cumberland Valley ADD Region

Kentucky area development district boundaries, as Bruner explains, were selected according to geography. Regional boundaries respect the geography of the land allowing mountains and rivers to determine boundaries. Kentucky, however, has so many mountains and rivers that even within regions, communities are isolated by geographic barriers. The Cumberland Valley ADD covers 3,200 square miles consisting of eight counties that are challenged by many geographic barriers. Communities have been working with the ADD and using its resources to overcome these barriers.

A good example of how communities work with the ADD, also a rural planning organization (RPO) for transportation, to overcome geographic barriers was the construction planning of the Cumberland Valley section of the new Appalachian Corridor. The ADD used its planning and technical resources for the corridor development by documenting the unsafe nature and inefficiency of the old highway. The ADD managed the corridor development as a transportation route that would benefit the community by improving safety, making commercial deliveries faster and more cost- effective.

One of the ADD’s most valuable resources in transportation planning has been its in-house geographic information system (GIS) technology. It has used GIS to monitor roads for repair inventory and to make regional project suggestions for the Kentucky Six Year Road Plan. Also, working with Kentucky’s Personal Responsibility in Desirable Environment (PRIDE) program, the ADD uses its GIS data to provide information to communities for other planning efforts, such as flood mapping and emergency response planning.

Communities using the ADD as a resource have created several physical plans and workforce development programs. Some of the sites include a hospital infrastructure expansion and businesses ranging from hosiery production to a chemical plant. These projects, according to Bruner, were largely started with revolving loan funds (RLF) from EDA and ARC. The overall impact on workforce development is the creation of an estimated 2,300 new jobs over the past few years.

The ADD also has helped communities protect themselves and their natural resources. The ADD worked with the US Army Corps of Engineers to construct water tunnels that control flooding and wastewater flow. Bruner explained the need, “A common source of uncontrolled wastewater comes from straight pipes or the illegal direct piping of wastewater discharge into rivers and lakes without treatment. Flooding then creates a health hazard to the community, as well as a threat to our watershed resources.”

Straight pipe in Cumberland Valley ADD Region

Local officials and businesses work closely with the ADD to solve problems like straight pipe discharge. Like most regional development organizations, the ADD has found that a constructive way to do this is by having local officials serve on the ADD’s board. Harlan City Mayor Danny Howard says his participation as a board member convinced him, “The ADD provides leadership. Leadership like this is difficult to find.”

The ADD has also been successful in combining its resources with communities’ resources to build programs. For example, ADD Program Coordinator Mary Calhoun has worked with six county school districts and private businesses to build the ADD’s School-to-Work program. The program’s local business partners provide school children an opportunity to job shadow, get summer jobs and choose career paths. “We built this program to focus on promoting entrepreneurship and school-based enterprise according to labor market needs,” says Calhoun. The program celebrated a five-year anniversary last October attended by Kentucky Governor Paul Patton. Bruner says, “Although we have many accomplishments, there is still a lot to do just to meet ongoing needs.” Ongoing needs that the ADD has fulfilled include acting as a Census 2000 data affiliate, providing elderly transit, and acting as the Area Agency on Aging to handle long waiting lists for in-home services.

The community also recognizes the ADD’s accomplishments and its importance as a regional development resource. ADD Board Member and Harlan County Judge Joe Grieshop notes, “ They manage federal funding that we could not otherwise manage. We’d be 20 years behind where we are now without their support.” Bruner agrees. “After 32 years of service,” he says, “the ADD will continue to support the Cumberland Valley region with development resources.”

By Kelly Novak, NADO Research Foundation Research Manager

For more information, contact John Bruner of Cumberland Valley ADD at (606) 864-7391 or by email at cvadd@cvadd.org.

Cumberland Valley ADD Profile

Budget Distribution	$1.4 million: 5% Local; 25% State; 55% Federal; 15% Service fees
Staff Size	28 total: 26 Full-time; 2 Part-time
Office Facilities	Constructed in 1991; Owned by Cumberland Valley ADD
Programs	EDA planning, technical assistance, RLFs; ARC Local Development District, RLFs; Transportation Planning/RPO; Rural & Elderly Transit; Area Agency on Aging; EPA Clean Water & Safe Drinking Water; USDA Rural Utilities Wastewater; School-to-Work; and Census
Board	59 Total: 30 local elected officials; 2 minority; 16 private citizens; 11 committee chairs
Advisory Committees	12
GIS/GPS Activities	In-house operation used for economic development planning and water/sewer. Funding: Contracts
ADD Dues	$75,000 total or 40¢ per person in the district