It was a great honor for Madison County and Madison Middle School to be chosen to host Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Federal Co-Chair Tim Thomas’s first official visit to Western North Carolina on Monday, October 29. He heard a presentation by Madison Middle School students from the PAGE program to get a better sense of the region’s challenges and opportunities. The visiting ARC team included Olivia Collier, ARC Program Officer for North Carolina, Scott Hamilton – ARC Executive Director, Jim McCleskey – Governor Cooper’s DC Office Director, Libby Smith – NC ARC POWER Grant Specialist, Forrest Gilliam – County Manager, Danna Stansbury – Land of Sky Regional Council of Governments, Deputy Executive Director, Nathan Ramsey – Director, Mountain Area Workforce Development Board.