OVRDC Attends ARC Annual Conference Held in Ashland Kentucky

 

OVRDC Attends ARC Annual Conference Held in Ashland Kentucky

Members of the OVRDC team where in attendance for ARC’s 2023 annual conference, Appalachia Rises©: Resilience, Strength & Transformation. The conference welcomed hundreds of collaborators from across Appalachia to Ashland, Kentucky on September 11-12, 2023.

With a special focus on the importance of resiliency and collaboration in the region, the 2023 conference featured partners from across Appalachia who work daily to strengthen communities by creating and expanding workforce development, growing outdoor recreation, developing entrepreneurs, and building leadership and community capacity.

Watch the ARC keynote address on their YouTube channel below.

John Hemmings with Kentucky basketball legend Jack Givens
Executive Director John Hemmings met Jack “The Goose” Givens at the ARC Annual Conference, which was held in Ashland, Kentucky this year. For those of you who don’t know “The Goose”, he is the man who scored 41 points for the Kentucky Wildcats against Duke to win the 1978 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and was named MVP of the tournament. If you listen to the Cats on the radio, you will hear him announce the games. “Jack Givens and his teammates made me a Kentucky basketball fan when I was 10 years old, and I am still a fan. He is a very nice gentleman, and I’m glad I got to meet him,” said Hemmings.