Foys Chosen to Lead State Association

Jill Foys, executive director of the Northwest Commission, has been elected to serve as chairman of the Local Development District Association of Pennsylvania.

The association represents the commonwealth’s 52 Appalachian counties that are served by seven Local Development Districts.

The Local Development Districts are local partners of the Appalachian Regional Commission, which was created in 1965, and is governed by a federal co-chairman appointed by the president and a board of directors consisting of governors of the 13 states of the Appalachian Region.

“I am grateful to be elected to lead our state association,” Foys said. “There is so much opportunity for partnership at the local, state and national level currently. As a result of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, ARC and Pennsylvania will receive unprecedented levels of funding for community and economic development projects,” she added.

Foys said the goal of the LDDs is provide technical assistance to any municipality or nonprofit that has a project that is consistent with the five goals of ARC — building businesses, workforce ecosystems, community infrastructure, regional culture and tourism, and building leaders and local capacity.

The Northwest Commission, which is the LDD for the Northwest region, is located in Oil City and provides programs for eight counties in northwest Pennsylvania.