FLORENCE, AL - The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has tapped Steven Puckett to be in the inaugural class of the Appalachian Leadership Institute. Puckett is the Business and Community Outreach Director and Lecturer in Management at the University Of North Alabama College of Business.

"We have a long history of support from the Appalachian Regional Commission," said Dr. Doug Barrett, Director of UNA's Institute for Innovation and Economic Development. "It is an honor to have someone from our institute identified as an inaugural fellow for this important program. We applaud Steven for receiving this honor and look forward to benefitting from what is learned."

As part of the Appalachian Leadership Institute, Puckett will work directly with public policy, community development, education, investment, and other professionals who live and/or work in the Region to:

• Design effective economic development project proposals;

• Integrate community assets into long-lasting economic development strategies;

• Identify recourses available to spur economic development;

• Locate and access investment capital from a variety of public and private sources;

• Prepare competitive applications for public grant opportunities;

• Use expanded leadership skills to create strong coalitions.

As a Fellow, Puckett will participate in the Appalachian Leadership Institute, an extensive nine- month program of skill-building seminars, best practice reviews, field visits, mentoring, and networking. The curriculum will be anchored by six multi-day seminars around the region with the first sessions taking place in Morehead, Ky., on Oct. 21-24. Subsequent training sessions will be in Dalton, Ga.; Starkville, Miss.; Beckley, W.V.; Boone, N.C.; and Jamestown, N.Y. The program will culminate in a capstone graduation in Washington, D.C., in July.

Upon completion of the program, Puckett will automatically become part of the Appalachian Leadership Network, a peer-to-peer working group committed to Appalachia's future.

"Our hope is that the Appalachian Leadership Institute will develop leadership and problem- solving, bring advancement, and grow greater prosperity in the Region," said ARC Federal Co- chairman Tim Thomas. "Leadership is the essential foundation on which all of our collective efforts to enhance Appalachia rest."

Puckett was selected from 180 applicants for the 2019-2020 Appalachian Leadership Institute class. Applications for the 2020-2021 class will open in March.

The Appalachian Leadership Institute is a comprehensive regional leadership training program developed by the Appalachian Regional Commission in partnership with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; the Howard H. Baker Center for Public Policy; Tuskegee University; and Collective Impact. More information about the Appalachian Leadership Institute is available at www.arc.gov/leadershipinstitute.

About the Appalachian Regional Commission

The Appalachian Regional Commission (www.arc.gov) is an economic development agency of the federal government and 13 state governments focusing on 420 counties across the Appalachian Region. ARC's mission is to innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia to help the Region achieve socioeconomic parity with the nation.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs through the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Human Sciences, and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of the NCAA Division I's ASUN Big South Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: www.una.edu and www.una.edu/unaworks/