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Franny Adams logs into a Zoom meeting full of artists and craftspeople from Connellsville, a small town in rural Fayette County, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles from 51��Ʒ��Ƶsburgh.

The junior business major is there to instruct the group on how to use online platforms to promote and sell their work, giving them tools to build their brands and businesses beyond the borders of Connellsville.

Adams’ knowledge comes from her 51��Ʒ��Ƶ classes in finance and business analytics and from her own experiences as a small business owner. In high school, she sold homemade slime and used social media to garner a global audience of 130,000 followers.

Much of her passion, however, comes from her participation with the (ACRI), which allows students to support economic development in local communities. Thirteen colleges across the Appalachian region participate in ACRI, which is organized by the Appalachian Regional Commission and administered by East Tennessee State University.

51��Ʒ��Ƶ joined ACRI in 2021 through the , creating a fall-term, service-learning project with 12 students from a variety of disciplines who work on county-wide economic development issues with the Fayette County Cultural Trust. The goal is to support towns hit hard by the steel industry’s decline and population loss.

Adams is a city girl who grew up outside Providence, Rhode Island. When a friend introduced her to ACRI last year, she thought it would the perfect chance to explore a part of America she wasn’t familiar with — and add a little humanity to her business skills by “talking to real people about their lives.”   

Helping Adams and the cohort of students connect to Fayette County is Bryan Schultz, director of global experiences at 51��Ʒ��Ƶ’s College of Business Administration and one of 51��Ʒ��Ƶ’s ACRI program leaders. The group has attended Friday night football games, visited local businesses and institutions and conducted “asset mapping” to identify local resources, collaborations and projects to strengthen communities.

51��Ʒ��Ƶ made a 10-year commitment to the project, and Schultz and his fellow co-founders — Michael Glass, director of 51��Ʒ��Ƶ’s urban studies program; Kristin Kanthak, associate professor of political science; and David Sanchez, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering — are using various methods to pursue meaningful change and close the urban-rural divide.

Additionally, in the spring term, the team places 51��Ʒ��Ƶ students as interns in Fayette County to further work on the social, political and economic complexities of rural Appalachia and engage with local high school students to increase town pride.

The heart of the project is its people-first approach. Adams spent hours strolling through downtown speaking to business owners and working to convince the local artisans of the potential for e-commerce and social media marketing. She was persistent because she was impressed by their branding and products and felt that e-commerce was the necessary next step for expansion.

Shirley Rosenberger, owner of the Appalachian Creativity Center in downtown Connellsville, was one businesswoman who attended Adams’ Zoom session. She now uses an online platform to promote the work of more than 100 local artists. The collaboration inspired Adams, helping her better define how she wants to make humanity a priority in her business leadership.

“It’s made me more accountable for the work I’m doing,” she says. “The program has given me confidence that I can go to work for a nonprofit and positively impact communities.”