ARC’s Mike Armour Retires as Director After Nearly 20 Years
Jul 6, 2023 - Tupelo, MS
by: Dennis Seid, Daily Journal
For a few days in 2007, Mike Armour was the most powerful elected official in the state.
Or close enough anyway.
Armour, who was the state director of the Appalachian Regional Commission, was in Washington, D.C. with then-Gov. Haley Barbour. But Toyota Motor Corp. was announcing it had picked Blue Springs as the site of its next manufacturing plant, and Barbour was flying back for the big event.
“That was my most fun day,” Armour said. “We were up in Washington and Barbour came to me and said, ‘We have to fly back for the announcement.’ But somebody had to stay for the meeting, and I didn’t want to. But it was me and (U.S. Sen.) Thad Cochran who were left in Washington, and Cochran took me and showed me around.”
During those meetings, Armour sat alongside governors like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sarah Palin.
“I stayed and collected all the books and handouts, and it was a lot of fun,” Armour said. “I guess that’s the closest I’ll ever be to being governor of Mississippi.”
On Friday, Armour, 66, announced he has retired as ARC state director after nearly 20 years in that role.
“It has been an incredible honor to serve under the leadership of governors Tate Reeves, Phil Bryant and Haley Barbour,” he said in an email. “None of this would have been possible without these great leaders and their staffs.”
Andrea Rose is now acting director for ARC. Armour said she is “smart as a whip and knows it from top to bottom.”
Appointed in 2004
Armour was appointed by Barbour in February 2004 as state director of ARC. Armour, a longtime friend of the former governor, stepped down as vice president and senior relations officer-private banking division at what was then Peoples Bank and Trust Co., in Tupelo. He had been with the bank for eight years.
Before then, Armour worked for Ford Motor Credit Co., where part of his job was as a government liaison.
He was in the ideal position to lead ARC, as the bulk of the organization’s funding comes from the federal government, and ARC’s Mississippi office is in Tupelo.
The ARC, created during the Lyndon Johnson administration in the 1960s, stretches from southern New York to east-central Mississippi. ARC was developed to enhance the infrastructure and quality of life of the region. Each ARC state has a director who works with a federal co-chairman appointed by the president.
ARC is considered part of the state’s economic development effort and works closely with the Mississippi Development Authority, which is the state’s economic development agency.
Armour credits partnerships
Armour worked closely with economic development officials across the region and said he was proud of the role his office played.
“It’s been a pleasure serving as state director,” he said. “I’ve always seen it as ARC being the glue that holds a project together, but I credit our partners. Those partnerships had everybody working together to serve 24 counties. We implemented a lot of workforce training and self-help, and we worked closely with the community colleges and our universities.”
Armour said the congressional delegation — Republicans and Democrats alike — was critical in the success of the ARC projects.
Perhaps his greatest praise was heaped on the local economic developers and planning development districts.
“It is through our combined efforts that we have achieved tangible results in terms of quality of life, job creation, investment and the successful completing the Appalachian Development Highway System,” he said.
As for his retirement plans, Armour said he is going to take some time off.
“I’ve been working every day of my life since I was 13 and it’s all I’ve known,” he said. “I plan to take it easy.”
But not for long.
“It will last about two weeks, probably,” he said. “I do have some catching up to do. I’ll be riding my tractor and bush-hogging and all that fun stuff.