Regional commissions deliver infrastructure where it matters most

In a report released in January 2025, we compared the effectiveness of the three largest multi-state federally chartered regional commissions—the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), and the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC)—against traditional federal agencies in distributing infrastructure investments to rural communities.¹

Using data from FY 2018-FY  2020, we found that the ARC, DRA, and NBRC:

• Made infrastructure investment a significant priority, respectively dedicating 57%, 75%, and 82% of their annual budgets to infrastructure.
• Allocated the majority of their infrastructure funding to distressed rural areas.
  • Both the ARC and DRA allocated more than 2/3 of their infrastructure funding to distressed rural communities—nearly seven times the proportion of the population in distressed rural communities for the ARC, and close to double for the DRA.
• Spent more per award for infrastructure than the federal programs we studied within their service areas. The difference is most pronounced in the ARC, as the average ARC award is 1.9 times greater than the average federal award in the region.

While the overall funding available for infrastructure from the regional commissions is relatively modest compared to the funding from other federal infrastructure programs, they are generally more effective in getting these funds to distressed rural communities. The regional commission funding to these communities can also be used to match federal investments, multiplying the effect of these relatively small investments.

Our results suggest several possible reasons for this success. One, the regional commissions’ mandate for serving distressed places incentivizes targeting their funding to those places. Two, the regional commissions provide grants rather than loans and generally require lower match requirements for distressed places, thus making them more accessible to places with limited grant expertise or small budgets.

Our conclusions highlight that the funding provided to the federally chartered regional commissions enables under-resourced communities to access much-needed funding for critical infrastructure in a more effective delivery model as compared to other federal agency programs.

In recognition of the value they provide, the bipartisan legislation reauthorizing the Economic Development Administration in December 2024 created new regional commissions and expanded existing ones. The map below shows the currently authorized regional commissions.

National map of the Federal Regional Commissions and Authorities (by county)

Source: https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45997