A Digital Future for Appalachia

On Tuesday March 31st, our Bass Connections team, Education and Rural Entrepreneurship in Appalachia, and other panelists, including former North Carolina governor Beverly Perdue and Tom Mirc, senior manager of a Raleigh-based tech company, came together for a panel discussion on revitalizing the Appalachian economy through digital education. The panel "Rethinking Education" explored the possibility of building an education-to-employment pipeline by emphasizing digital education in public schools and incentivizing tech firms to hire in the region. 

The combination of the strong Appalachian work ethic, a business model known as business insourcing, and a local initiative, the Program for Appalachian Girls' Education (PAGE) started by Deborah Hicks-Rogoff, director of the Bass Connections team, could ensure a bright future for Appalachian children. However, many geographic and social obstacles would have to be overcome. Perdue encouraged more "disruptive" entrepreneurs to take charge and change the current state of economic development in western North Carolina. She praised these "disruptors" as a strong source of change in these counties.

For more information, read the full article here.