Kostas Skordas

Director, Research and Planning
Appalachian Regional Commission
Washington, DC

Kostas Skordas is the Director of the Division of Planning and Research at the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). The ARC is a federal-state partnership whose mission is to build capacity and boost economic growth in Appalachia, with funding in Fiscal Year 2018 of $155 million. Kostas is responsible for the leadership, direction, and management of the Commission’s strategic planning, research and evaluation, and transportation-related investments. He supervises a variety of Commission-wide activities including development of the five-year strategic investment plan to guide ARC’s annual appropriations, implementation of a $1 million+ annual work plan to research critical issues impacting Appalachia and evaluate the effectiveness of ARC investments, and oversight of the Appalachian Development Highway System, a network of corridors helping connect Appalachia with global markets. Prior to that position Kostas was a regional planner with the ARC, a position he held since 2002. He holds Masters Degrees in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University and in Public Administration from George Mason University. His undergraduate degree is from the College of William and Mary.