Study to look at linking Appalachia with ports, foreign trade

Study to look at linking Appalachia with ports, foreign trade    Consulting firm Moffatt & Nichol has been selected by the Appalachian Regional Commission to provide strategic planning support for its new Network Appalachia initiative, designed to strengthen Appalachia’s access to the global marketplace.
   The initiative aims to develop a comprehensive strategy to improve the region’s access to major Atlantic and Gulf ocean ports.
   The goal is to enhance the global reach of the Appalachian Development Highway System through improving intermodal connections and strengthening the 3,090-mile ADHS, the only U.S. highway system authorized by Congress for the purpose of stimulating economic development.
   Moffatt & Nichol’s will perform a detailed analysis of trade flows in the region, identify the drivers of these flows, and forecast the outlook for the future.
   From this fame work, the consultants will develop strategies to improve and strengthen Appalachia’s links to the global supply chain in a way to enhance the global competitiveness of the region’s existing businesses, while also attracting new enterprise and employment into the region.
   The Appalachia Regional Commission is a regional economic development agency representing a partnership of federal, state and local interests. ARC’s 200,000-square-mile inland region follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi and is home to 23 million residents.