What are the largest employers in Perry County, Kentucky?

Appalachian Regional Healthcare's Hazard Regional Medical Center is the largest, with 358 beds pulling a ten-county catchment. The Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center runs 120 beds. Hazard Community and Technical College enrolls about 4,000 students across five campuses. The three regional aggregators headquartered in Hazard — KRADD, LKLP CAC, and the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky — carry pass-through procurement for federal and state programs.

Is Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance part of ARH?

No. Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance at 279 East Main Street in Hazard is an independent Health Center for the Homeless and Federally Qualified Health Center. It is PHS-deemed under FTCA coverage with a Patient-Centered Medical Home Behavioral Health Distinction. KMHA operates independently of Appalachian Regional Healthcare.

What federal disaster recovery work is still open in Perry County?

Two FEMA disaster ledgers remain open. DR-4663-KY covers the July 2022 catastrophic flood, with recovery extending through 2029 on the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program timeline. DR-4860-KY covers the February 14-15, 2025 North Fork Kentucky River cresting over 30 feet through downtown Hazard, affecting roughly 60 downtown businesses with damage estimated at $50 million or more. FEMA opened a Disaster Recovery Center in Perry on February 28, 2025.

What business opportunities exist in Perry County under $200,000 startup capital?

Two candidates on this report fit that range. The workforce-credential broker for HCTC, the Challenger Learning Center, Perry County Schools, and Hazard Independent Schools runs $40,000 to $220,000 in founder capital. The entry tier of the municipal-IT MSP serving the Housing Authority of Hazard, the City of Hazard, and the two K-12 districts runs $80,000 to $180,000.

Who is Buckhorn Lake operated by?

The 8,270-acre flood-control reservoir is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District under authority of the Flood Control Act of 1938. The lake straddles Leslie and Perry counties with a 550-acre normal pool and a 1,230-acre seasonal pool. The Kentucky Department of Parks and Recreation operates the Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park on the Perry-resident side with a lodge, cottages, marina, restaurant, and day-use facilities.

What is the Hal Rogers Parkway program?

The Hal Rogers Parkway is the KY 80 east-west corridor through Perry County. Senator Mitch McConnell secured a $20 million improvement program for the corridor, and a new Skyview interchange in Hazard is programmed under the Beshear 2026 Highway Plan. KYTC District 10, headquartered in Jackson, Breathitt County, administers the corridor. Representative Hal Rogers announced a $95 million Southeast Kentucky federal package in February 2026; the Perry-allocation share has not been published as of May 2026.

Who runs the local government in Hazard and Perry County?

Mayor Donald "Happy" Mobelini serves as the City of Hazard's office of record under the mayor-council form of KRS 83A. Judge-Executive Scott Alexander leads the Perry County Fiscal Court; he stands in the May 19, 2026 Kentucky primary, a six-way race four days from this report's publication. The three regional aggregators headquartered in Hazard — KRADD under Executive Director Michelle Allen, LKLP CAC under Executive Director Tawny R. Acker (since 2024), and the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky under CEO Kristin Walker Collins (since December 2023) — carry the regional pass-through layer.

Perry County, Kentucky — Hazard business openings

What this place actually is.

Perry sits in eastern Kentucky on the North Fork of the Kentucky River, roughly 140 miles southeast of Lexington and 175 miles east of Louisville. Hazard, the seat, is the only city of size at about 5,200 residents. The Hal Rogers Parkway (KY 80) is the east-west spine; KY 15 and KY 7 carry the north-south traffic. Adjacent counties are Knott, Letcher, Leslie, Breathitt (where KYTC District 10 is headquartered, in Jackson), Knox, and Owsley.

Median household income runs roughly $36,000 to $40,000 — typical for the eastern Appalachian counties. Healthcare carries the largest share of payroll at about 42 percent, the highest concentration among the rural counties we've reported. Four structural features run simultaneously and define the working economy.

First, three regional aggregators concentrate inside Hazard. The Kentucky River Area Development District at 941 North Main Street under Executive Director Michelle Allen covers eight counties — Breathitt, Knott, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Owsley, Perry, and Wolfe — and handles Older Americans Act Title-III, WIOA, and CDBG pass-through. The LKLP Community Action Council operates the Hazard service center under Executive Director Tawny R. Acker, in the role since 2024 after Ricky L. Baker, and runs Head Start, WIOA, and LIHEAP across Letcher, Knott, Leslie, and Perry. The Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky at 420 Main Street operates as a donor-advised and post-flood philanthropic vehicle under CEO Kristin Walker Collins, in the role since December 2023; founder Gerry Roll continues as Founder-in-Residence. The foundation has deployed more than $30 million across a 15-year operating history.

Second, Appalachian Regional Healthcare's Hazard Regional Medical Center is a 358-bed regional-tertiary acute-care facility under ARH, the investor-supported nonprofit serving Central Appalachia across Kentucky and West Virginia. System CEO Hollie Harris leads the parent; Brian Springate has been the Hazard facility CEO since October 2022. The hospital pulls a ten-county catchment of about 75,000 to 90,000 residents — Perry, Knott, Letcher, Leslie, Harlan, Bell, Knox, Clay, Owsley, and Breathitt — for tertiary-care utilization. It sits above Critical Access Hospital scale (25 beds) and below academic-medical scale.

Third, two FEMA disaster ledgers remain open. DR-4663-KY ran from the July 2022 catastrophic flood; Perry was among the three hardest-hit counties and the recovery extends through 2029 on the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program timeline. DR-4860-KY opened after the February 14-15, 2025 North Fork cresting over 30 feet through downtown Hazard, with roughly 60 downtown businesses affected and damage estimated at $50 million or more. FEMA opened a Disaster Recovery Center in Perry on February 28, 2025. The two ledgers carry a multi-year compliance surface across FEMA Public Assistance under Stafford Act §406, HMGP, HUD CDBG-DR, SLFRF close-out, 2 CFR 200 Uniform Guidance, Davis-Bacon, and 24 CFR Part 58 Environmental Review Record obligations.

Fourth, the two K-12 districts share an address. Perry County Schools, under Superintendent Jonathan Jett, runs roughly 3,593 students across 10 schools as a single county-wide district. Hazard Independent Schools, under Superintendent Sondra Combs, operates the municipal district. Both are legally separate but co-located at 315 Park Avenue.

The healthcare layer also runs an independent Federally Qualified Health Center and a regional Community Mental Health Center. Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance at 279 East Main Street is an independent Health Center for the Homeless and FQHC, PHS-deemed under FTCA coverage with a Patient-Centered Medical Home Behavioral Health Distinction. KMHA operates independently of ARH. Kentucky River Community Care at 115 Rockwood Lane is the regional CMHC for the eight-county Kentucky River footprint. The Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center at 200 Veterans Drive is a 120-bed Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs state veterans nursing home that has been operational since 2002 — a steady-state bench, not a capex-current build.

Hazard Community and Technical College, a KCTCS member, operates five campuses — Hazard, the Technical campus, Lees in Breathitt, Knott, and Leslie — under President Dr. Jennifer Lindon with about 4,000 students. Programs include Industrial Maintenance, Diesel, HVAC, Allied Health, Nursing, Business, and Information Technology. The Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky opened in March 1999 at the HCTC Hazard campus as the 34th in the international Challenger network, the first in rural United States, and the first in Kentucky. Representative Hal Rogers channeled an $800,000 federal grant to the center in September 2020.

KYTC District 10 in Jackson, Breathitt administers the Hal Rogers Parkway, a $20 million Senator McConnell-secured improvement program, a new Skyview interchange in Hazard programmed under the Beshear 2026 Highway Plan, plus KY 15, KY 7, and the broader corridor work. Representative Hal Rogers announced a $95 million Southeast Kentucky federal package in February 2026; the Perry-allocation share has not been published as of May 2026.

Buckhorn Lake (USACE Louisville District) is an 8,270-acre flood-control reservoir straddling Leslie and Perry, authorized under the Flood Control Act of 1938. The 550-acre normal pool expands to a 1,230-acre seasonal pool. Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park is Perry-resident under the Kentucky Department of Parks and Recreation. Tim Short Auto Group's corporate headquarters sits at 101 Cardinal Drive in Hazard; the group operates more than 20 Kentucky dealerships and two in Tennessee. The Bobby Davis Museum at 234 Walnut Street is a municipal World War II memorial museum.

ARH Hazard Regional Medical Center: 358-bed regional-tertiary acute-care hospital; roughly 1,200-1,800 estimated FTE including affiliated outpatient sites · 100 Medical Center Drive, Hazard. Operated by Appalachian Regional Healthcare, the investor-supported nonprofit health system serving Central Appalachia across Kentucky and West Virginia. System CEO Hollie Harris; Hazard facility CEO Brian Springate since October 2022. Ten-county catchment of roughly 75,000 to 90,000 residents (Perry, Knott, Letcher, Leslie, Harlan, Bell, Knox, Clay, Owsley, and Breathitt). Primary anchor for the hospital-composite candidate.
Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center: 120-bed state veterans nursing home · 200 Veterans Drive, Hazard. Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs state veterans home operational since 2002. Steady-state operating bench, not a capex-current build. Primary anchor for the veterans-center services bench candidate.
Kentucky River Area Development District: Regional planning and economic-development pass-through · 941 North Main Street, Hazard. Executive Director Michelle Allen. Eight-county catchment: Breathitt, Knott, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Owsley, Perry, and Wolfe. Older Americans Act Title-III, WIOA, and CDBG pass-through.
LKLP Community Action Council: Community-action agency · Hazard service center. Executive Director Tawny R. Acker since 2024, succeeded Ricky L. Baker. Four-county catchment: Letcher, Knott, Leslie, and Perry. Head Start, WIOA, and LIHEAP.
Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky: Donor-advised and post-flood philanthropic vehicle · 420 Main Street, Hazard. CEO Kristin Walker Collins since December 2023, succeeded Gerry Roll who continues as Founder-in-Residence. More than $30 million deployed across the 15-year operating history.
Hazard Community and Technical College: KCTCS member, roughly 4,000 students · 1 Community College Drive, Hazard. President Dr. Jennifer Lindon. Five campuses: Hazard, the Technical campus, Lees in Breathitt, Knott, and Leslie. Industrial Maintenance, Diesel, HVAC, Allied Health, Nursing, Business, and Information Technology pathways.
Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky: STEM-education center on the HCTC Hazard campus · HCTC Hazard campus. Opened March 1999 as the 34th in the international Challenger network, the first in rural United States, and the first in Kentucky. $800,000 federal grant via Representative Hal Rogers in September 2020.
Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance: Independent Health Center for the Homeless and FQHC · 279 East Main Street, Hazard. PHS-deemed under FTCA coverage with a Patient-Centered Medical Home Behavioral Health Distinction. Operates independently of ARH.
Kentucky River Community Care: Regional Community Mental Health Center · 115 Rockwood Lane, Hazard. Eight-county CMHC catchment.
Perry County Schools: Single county-wide K-12 district, roughly 3,593 students across 10 schools · 315 Park Avenue, Hazard — co-located with Hazard Independent Schools but legally separate. Superintendent Jonathan Jett.
Hazard Independent Schools: Municipal K-12 district · 315 Park Avenue, Hazard — co-located with Perry County Schools but legally separate. Superintendent Sondra Combs.
Perry County Fiscal Court: County government · Hazard. Judge-Executive Scott Alexander stands in the May 19, 2026 Kentucky primary, a six-way race four days from this report's publication.
City of Hazard: Home-rule city under KRS 83A, about 5,200 residents · Hazard. Mayor Donald "Happy" Mobelini serves as the city's office of record under the mayor-council form.
Housing Authority of Hazard: Public housing authority · Hazard. Operates the City of Hazard public-housing portfolio.
KYTC District 10 Headquarters (Jackson, Breathitt): State-DOT district office covering an eastern-Kentucky service area · Jackson, Breathitt County. Administers the Hal Rogers Parkway $20 million McConnell-secured improvement, the new Skyview interchange in Hazard, KY 15, KY 7, KY 80, and the post-flood corridor repair work.
Buckhorn Lake and Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park: USACE Louisville District reservoir and KDPR resort park, co-located · Leslie–Perry boundary; the resort park is Perry-resident. USACE Louisville District authorized under the Flood Control Act of 1938. 550-acre normal pool and 1,230-acre seasonal pool.
Tim Short Auto Group: Auto-dealer group corporate headquarters · 101 Cardinal Drive, Hazard. More than 20 Kentucky dealerships and two in Tennessee. Family-owned; referenced as cross-sell context.
Hazard-Perry County Economic Development Corporation: Local economic-development entity · Hazard.
Housing Development Alliance: Affordable-housing developer · Hazard. Affiliated with the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky.

The candidates.

6 business openings the data points to. Each carries a candidate page with the operating math, named operators to call, and the acquisition or build path. Capital and Year-3 ranges are surfaced here; full assumptions live on each candidate page.

Candidate register 6 ranked openings math, operators, and next calls inside each memo

Rows are clickable

By reader profile

Tradesperson going independent: Veterans-center facility services in Hazard Hazard heavy-civil sub-trade firm
Existing operator pivoting: Veterans-center facility services in Hazard Healthcare-services composite in Hazard Workforce-credential broker in Hazard Hazard managed-IT + aggregator-services bundle Hazard heavy-civil sub-trade firm
Relocator with capital: Dual-ledger grant administration in Hazard

Who to call this week.

Who to call. The contacts below are public-record offices and operations leads for the anchors that define Perry's working economy. Use them to test or kill each candidate's thesis quickly.

Tier 1

Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center — 200 Veterans Drive, Hazard

Administrator's office plus plant operations, dietary, environmental services, social services, and discharge coordination for the veterans-center services candidate. KDVA state-agency master-vendor coordinator and Finance and Administration Cabinet eMARS vendor registration.
ARH Hazard Regional Medical Center — 100 Medical Center Drive, Hazard

Discharge planning, Director of Materials Management, Director of Case Management, and the ARH corporate Lexington enterprise-procurement contact. Engagement is at the multi-lane composite level, not single-channel direct supply.
Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance — 279 East Main Street, Hazard

Executive Director's office, Director of Clinical Operations, and billing-and-credentialing contact for the behavioral-health and FQHC adjunct lanes.
Kentucky River Community Care — 115 Rockwood Lane, Hazard

Director of Clinical Operations, Director of Substance Use, Director of Supported Housing, and the HCBS waiver coordinator.
Hazard Community and Technical College — President Dr. Jennifer Lindon's office

CEWS director, Allied Health director, and program coordinators for Industrial Maintenance, HVAC, Welding, Diesel, and Workforce Solutions in-demand-occupation leads.
Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky — HCTC Hazard campus

Executive director's office, the CLCK board chair, HCTC CEWS coordination, and the NASA Office of STEM Engagement partnership channel.
Perry County Schools — Superintendent Jonathan Jett's office, 315 Park Avenue, Hazard

Director of Facilities, Director of Career and Technical Education, Director of Procurement, and the Buckhorn Elementary and Robinson Elementary rebuild-project coordinators.
Hazard Independent Schools — Superintendent Sondra Combs's office, 315 Park Avenue, Hazard

Director of Facilities, Director of CTE, Director of Procurement, and the Perry County Area Technology Center director.
Perry County Fiscal Court — Judge-Executive Scott Alexander's office

Procurement officer for the road department, jail, and courthouse facilities-services, plus the sheriff, jailer, and Emergency Management offices.
City of Hazard — City Hall under Mayor Donald "Happy" Mobelini

City Hall procurement officer, Hazard PD, public works, finance, codes enforcement, and the city engineer.
Housing Authority of Hazard

Executive director's office, HAH procurement, unit count, HCV voucher allocation, post-2022-flood CDBG-DR allocation through Kentucky DLG, NSPIRE inspection posture, and Capital Fund Program five-year action plan.
Housing Development Alliance — Hazard

Executive director and post-flood single-family and multifamily replacement scope under CDBG-DR sub-grant programs.
Hazard-Perry County Economic Development Corporation

Executive director, tenant-introduction lead, KCED incentive-package coordination, and the Pine Ridge Regional Industrial Authority coordination contact.
Kentucky River Area Development District — Executive Director Michelle Allen, 941 North Main Street, Hazard

Federal-pass-through coordinator, Area Agency on Aging Title-III coordinator, EDA Economic Development District planner, ARC POWER+ coordinator, and WIOA Title I coordinator.
LKLP Community Action Council — Executive Director Tawny R. Acker, Hazard service center

Head Start director, WAP coordinator, LIHEAP intake coordinator, and housing-counseling coordinator.
Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky — CEO Kristin Walker Collins, 420 Main Street, Hazard

CEO's office, Founder-in-Residence Gerry Roll, donor-advised-fund administrator, post-flood disaster-relief fund coordinator, and ARC POWER+ coordinator.
KYTC District 10 — Jackson, Breathitt County

Project Development Branch, Maintenance Branch, and Small Business Office contacts. Hal Rogers Parkway $20 million McConnell improvement, the new Skyview interchange, KY 15, KY 7, and KY 80 letting cadence.
Representative Hal Rogers (KY-05) office — February 2026 Southeast Kentucky package

Pass-through coordination for the Perry-allocation share, plus Kentucky DLG, USDA Rural Development, EDA, and FEMA Region IV coordination.
USACE Louisville District — Buckhorn Lake operations office, Buckhorn KY 41721

Small-business-utilization office, dam-safety inspector channel, shoreline management, and boundary-survey coordinator.
Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park — Buckhorn KY 41721

Resort Park general manager, KDPR central procurement in Frankfort, and the concessioner-reserve coordinator. Lodge, cottages, marina, restaurant, and day-use facilities.
Kentucky EEC Division of Abandoned Mine Lands — Hazard regional office

AML reclamation regional supervisor. SMCRA Title IV, 30 USC 1231, 405 KAR Chapter 24, and the OSMRE FY26 Kentucky state-allocation table.

(606) 487-1110
FEMA Region IV (Atlanta), HUD Region IV (Atlanta), Kentucky ODR, Kentucky DLG, and KYEM

FEMA Public Assistance project-worksheet, HMGP period-of-performance, CDBG-DR Action-Plan, Section 3, and 24 CFR Part 58 ERR coordination for DR-4663-KY and DR-4860-KY.

Tier 2

SBA Kentucky District Office (Louisville)

7(a), 504, Microloan, HUBZone, and 8(a) referrals across all six candidates. Perry County HUBZone status against the current SBA map.
Kentucky League of Cities Buying Network and KLC Insurance Services

Multi-municipal cooperative purchasing referrals across the City of Hazard, the City of Buckhorn, and the fractional principals, plus cyber-insurance channel.
Kentucky School Boards Association cooperative bid

K-12 cooperative purchasing referrals for PCS and HISD finish-trades, FF&E, and technology, plus KDE district-cybersecurity-plan and KOHS SLCGP coordination.
Advantage Kentucky Alliance (the UK-affiliated MEP)

Regional NIST MEP, CMMC, ISO, and lean-manufacturing programming plus HCTC apprenticeship-pipeline coordination.
Kentucky APEX Accelerator — Eastern Kentucky

Federal-procurement counseling, DIBBS bid-match, and SAM.gov supplier-portal registration for federal-aid and DOD-channel adjacency.
AICPA and Kentucky Society of CPAs

Single-audit Uniform Guidance referrals for federal-grant-recipient principals on FY26-27 expenditure thresholds.
FMCSA National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners, Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, Kentucky Board of Nursing, and KASPER

DOT-physical certification and clinician licensure for the occupational-medicine adjunct and the discharge-driven NEMT and VA Beneficiary Travel lanes.
Kentucky Skills U, the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet Office of Employer and Apprenticeship Services, and DOL ETA Apprenticeship.gov

WIOA Title II AEFLA Kentucky River region sub-recipient flow and Registered Apprenticeship sponsor administration.
Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program — Local Workforce Development Board

WIOA Title I dislocated-worker, adult, and youth funding flow plus Perry-resident jurisdictional attribution.
Kentucky River AHEC

HRSA Title VII AHEC clinical-rotation coordination, HOSA, and health-careers-pipeline programming.
NIGP Kentucky chapter, NAHRO Kentucky chapter, APCO, and NENA Kentucky

Procurement-officer, housing-program, and public-safety-communications credentialing for the municipal-IT specialty scope.
Commonwealth Office for Technology — KIT master agreement

State-IT subcontract-path channel for small-jurisdiction projects routed through COT.
Hazard-Perry County Chamber of Commerce, Hazard Herald, WYMT, and the Lexington Herald-Leader Eastern Kentucky desk

Chamber-Gold member roster, local-news placement, heritage cooperative-marketing programming, and destination marketing for cross-sell across all six candidates.

Operators in this market.

Top operators across the four currents that define Perry's working economy. ARH Hazard as the 358-bed regional-tertiary anchor under Appalachian Regional Healthcare; the Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center as the 120-bed state veterans nursing home; the three Hazard-headquartered regional aggregators — KRADD, LKLP Community Action Council, and the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky — carrying four-to-eight-county pass-through volume; Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance and Kentucky River Community Care as the independent FQHC and CMHC pair; Hazard Community and Technical College and the Challenger Learning Center as the workforce and STEM layer; Perry County Schools and Hazard Independent Schools as the two co-located K-12 districts; the City of Hazard, Perry County Fiscal Court, and the Housing Authority of Hazard as the local-government layer; KYTC District 10 as the corridor administrator; the Buckhorn reservoir and resort park as the co-located federal-state recreation anchor; Tim Short Auto Group as the family-owned dealer headquarters.

Market posture labels

Active in market Institution Out-of-county

Operator

Role

Market posture

ARH Hazard Regional Medical Center

Regional-tertiary acute-care hospital, 358 beds — operated by Appalachian Regional Healthcare

Active in market

100 Medical Center Drive, Hazard. Ten-county catchment: Perry, Knott, Letcher, Leslie, Harlan, Bell, Knox, Clay, Owsley, and Breathitt. System CEO Hollie Harris; Hazard facility CEO Brian Springate since October 2022.
Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center

120-bed state veterans nursing home — Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs

Active in market

200 Veterans Drive, Hazard. Operational since 2002. KDVA contracting under 38 CFR Part 51, 200 KAR 5, and KRS 45A.345-460.
Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance

Independent Health Center for the Homeless and FQHC — PHS-deemed FTCA; PCMH Behavioral Health Distinction

Active in market

279 East Main Street, Hazard. Operates independently of ARH.
Kentucky River Community Care

Regional Community Mental Health Center, eight-county catchment

Active in market

115 Rockwood Lane, Hazard.
Kentucky River Area Development District

Regional planning and economic-development pass-through — Hazard-headquartered, eight-county catchment

Institution

941 North Main Street, Hazard. Executive Director Michelle Allen. Breathitt, Knott, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Owsley, Perry, and Wolfe.
LKLP Community Action Council

Community-action agency — Hazard-headquartered, four-county catchment

Institution

Hazard service center. Executive Director Tawny R. Acker since 2024, succeeded Ricky L. Baker. Letcher, Knott, Leslie, and Perry. Head Start, WIOA, and LIHEAP.
Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky

Donor-advised and post-flood philanthropic vehicle — Hazard-headquartered

Institution

420 Main Street, Hazard. CEO Kristin Walker Collins since December 2023, succeeded Gerry Roll who continues as Founder-in-Residence. More than $30 million deployed across 15 years.
Hazard Community and Technical College

KCTCS two-year campus, five-campus footprint

Active in market

President Dr. Jennifer Lindon. About 4,000 students across Hazard, the Technical campus, Lees in Breathitt, Knott, and Leslie.
Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky

STEM-education center — HCTC-affiliated; 34th in the international Challenger network

Active in market

HCTC Hazard campus. Opened March 1999 as the first in rural United States and the first in Kentucky. $800,000 federal grant via Representative Hal Rogers in September 2020.
Perry County Schools

Single county-wide K-12 district, roughly 3,593 students across 10 schools

Active in market

315 Park Avenue, Hazard — co-located with Hazard Independent Schools but legally separate. Superintendent Jonathan Jett.
Hazard Independent Schools

Municipal K-12 district

Active in market

315 Park Avenue, Hazard — co-located with Perry County Schools but legally separate. Superintendent Sondra Combs.
City of Hazard

Home-rule city under KRS 83A — county seat, about 5,200 residents

Active in market

Mayor Donald "Happy" Mobelini serves as the city's office of record under the mayor-council form.
Perry County Fiscal Court

County government

Active in market

Judge-Executive Scott Alexander stands in the May 19, 2026 Kentucky primary.
Housing Authority of Hazard

Public housing authority

Active in market

Operates the City of Hazard public-housing portfolio.
Hazard-Perry County Economic Development Corporation

Local economic-development entity

Institution

Hazard.
Housing Development Alliance

Affordable-housing developer

Institution

Hazard. Affiliated with the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky.
KYTC District 10 (Jackson, Breathitt)

State-DOT district office, eastern-Kentucky service area

Out-of-county

Jackson, Breathitt County. Administers the Hal Rogers Parkway $20 million McConnell improvement, the new Skyview interchange, KY 15, KY 7, and KY 80.
Buckhorn Lake and Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park

USACE Louisville District reservoir and KDPR resort park, co-located

Out-of-county

Leslie–Perry boundary; the resort park is Perry-resident. Authorized under the Flood Control Act of 1938.
Tim Short Auto Group

Auto-dealer group corporate headquarters, more than 20 Kentucky dealerships and two in Tennessee

Active in market

101 Cardinal Drive, Hazard.
AMR Hazard

EMS provider — non-emergency medical transport adjacency

Out-of-county

Hazard service area.
Kentucky Department for Local Government

State-agency pass-through for FEMA Public Assistance, HMGP, and CDBG-DR

Out-of-county

Frankfort. Handles DR-4663-KY and DR-4860-KY pass-through allocations.
Representative Hal Rogers (KY-05) office

Federal-appropriations channel

Out-of-county

February 2026 $95 million Southeast Kentucky package announcement; Perry-allocation share not yet published as of May 2026.

Acquisition register.

Businesses for sale or near succession in Perry County. The Perry slate runs at founder capital from $30,000 to $800,000. Tier 1 sits at the smallest capital floor with a single-credential workforce or services bench. Tier 2 carries a multi-surface customer-concentration mitigation structure across healthcare, federal-grant administration, or sub-trade work. Tier 3 sits at the top of the founder band with optional SBA 504 graduation on real estate. The bridged list preserves larger acquisitions to revisit later as more facts come into hand.

Strongest

Strongest succession signal

A Hazard-resident workforce-credential broker running sub-contracted CEWS post-flood-rebuild-trades cohorts, Allied Health and clinical-pipeline programming with HCTC, NASA-STEM curriculum delivery with the Challenger Learning Center, CTE-equipment installation and instructor coordination across Perry County Schools and Hazard Independent Schools, and ARC POWER+ pass-through cohort delivery from prime-award holders. Founder solo or founder plus a part-time bookkeeper in year one, with a 6 to 12-month working-capital reserve. Name withheld pending consent

Workforce-credential broker for HCTC and the two K-12 districts — $40K–$220K founder capital
- Prior HCTC, PCS, or HISD instructor or program-coordinator tenure, or a post-flood-rebuild trades-contractor background
- Multi-credential stack achievable inside a 9 to 15-month launch arc
- Hazard or adjacent eight-county residence with recruiting reach across HCTC Industrial Maintenance, HVAC, Welding, Diesel, and Allied Health pipelines
- 6 to 12-month working-capital reserve
Call the HCTC CEWS director, the PCS director of CTE, and the FAK ARC POWER+ coordinator.
A Hazard-resident managed-IT operator running a small bundle of municipal and special-district clients. Engagement scope includes CJIS Local Agency Security Officer support, KORA records-fulfillment workflow, HUD-CFR-24 third-party contractor access at the Housing Authority of Hazard, and dual-K-12 facilities-IT add-ons across Perry County Schools and Hazard Independent Schools. NAHRO Specialist of Housing Programs and 24 CFR Part 58 Environmental Review Record familiarity expected. Name withheld pending consent

Municipal-IT MSP entry tier — $80K–$180K founder capital
- Prior municipal-IT MSP foreman or NAHRO-credentialed PHA-operations tenure
- CJIS LASO credential or training timeline of 6 to 9 months
- Relationship-portfolio target of 12 to 20 named contacts inside the first 12 months
Call the Housing Authority of Hazard procurement office and the City of Hazard codes and finance offices.

Mixed

Some signals, not all

A Hazard-resident healthcare-services composite running a DMEPOS supplier lane into ARH Hazard's discharge-planner channel, a behavioral-health sub-contracting lane into Kentucky River Community Care and Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance, and an occupational-medicine adjunct. Year-3 mature take-home of $140,000 to $220,000 on a multi-counterparty diversification posture with no single anchor above 30 to 45 percent of revenue. Name withheld pending consent

ARH plus KMHA plus KRCC healthcare-services composite — $80K–$550K founder capital
- Prior DMEPOS operations, hospital discharge-planning, home-health operations-manager tenure, or LCSW / LPCC / LMFT clinical licensure
- CMS DMEPOS supplier enrollment plus the $50,000 surety bond plus CMS-deemed accreditation
- Kentucky Medicaid MCO panel credentialing across the five-plan roster
- 12 to 18-month working-capital reserve sized for broker payment cycles
Call the ARH Hazard discharge-planning office, the KRCC director of clinical operations, and the KMHA executive director.
A Hazard-resident grant-administration micro-firm running sub-contracted FEMA Public Assistance close-out, HMGP forward, HUD CDBG-DR Action-Plan support, and SLFRF close-out documentation labor for Perry County Fiscal Court, the City of Hazard, the Housing Authority of Hazard, the Housing Development Alliance, and the Hazard-Perry County Economic Development Corporation. Founder owns the documentation labor; the principals carry the prime federal-grant compliance liability. Name withheld pending consent

Dual-disaster grant-administration micro-firm — $100K–$300K founder capital
- Prior county-government or city-government finance, grants-coordinator tenure, CDBG-DR or PHA-side compliance tenure, or AICPA single-audit experience
- 24 CFR Part 58 ERR, 2 CFR 200, Davis-Bacon, FEMA-PA project-worksheet, and HMGP fluency, plus CGMS or AICPA Yellow Book credential
- 12 to 18-month working-capital reserve for federal-grant cadence
Call the Perry County Fiscal Court treasurer, the City of Hazard finance office, and the Housing Authority of Hazard procurement office.
A Hazard-resident heavy-civil sub-trade contractor running maintenance-of-traffic, striping, flagging, KY-811 locate, SWPPP, and erosion-control lanes across the KYTC District 10 corridor — Hal Rogers Parkway, the new Skyview interchange, KY 15, KY 7, and KY 80 — plus small-services work at Buckhorn Lake under USACE Louisville District and KDPR. AML reclamation sub-trade work runs as an additional lane through KY EEC Division of AML. Name withheld pending consent

KYTC District 10 and Buckhorn sub-trade bench — $150K–$300K founder capital
- Prior KYTC District 10 sub-prime field-team-lead tenure, USACE Louisville District small-services subcontractor tenure, or AML reclamation crew-lead tenure
- OSHA 30, KY-811, MUTCD MoT, SWPPP, DBE, KYTC pre-qualification, USACE small-business utilization, and KY EEC AML sub-contractor pre-qualification
- 12 to 18-month working-capital reserve for progress-payment timing under SBA equipment financing
Call the KYTC District 10 Small Business Office and the USACE Louisville District small-business utilization office at Buckhorn Lake.

Long tenure

Long tenure, no exit signal yet

The upper end of the healthcare-services composite at multi-county DMEPOS scale across the ten-county ARH catchment with multiple delivery routes, a behavioral-health small-group practice, a peer-support sub-bench, and an occ-med adjunct. SBA 504-graduation flag at Year 3 to 5 if the founder owns the warehouse outright. Name withheld pending consent

Multi-county DMEPOS scale across the ARH catchment — $400K–$800K founder capital
- Prior multi-county or multi-anchor operations-manager tenure
- No single anchor above 60 percent of revenue (the SBA 7(a) credit-review threshold)
- 12 to 18-month working-capital reserve sized for commissioning-window timing
Call the ARH corporate Lexington enterprise-procurement contact and the SBA Kentucky District Office about 504 graduation.
The upper end of the heavy-civil sub-trade stack with a founder plus 5 to 8 W-2 crew, 3 to 5 KYTC sub-prime lanes, 1 to 2 USACE small-services lanes, an active AML sub-trade lane, 3 to 6 composite post-flood landslide-on-reclaimed-mine-land remediation engagements, and a KDPR concessioner-reserve adjacency. SBA 504-graduation flag at Year 3 to 5 for real-estate-plus-equipment acquisition. Name withheld pending consent

Multi-channel KYTC and Buckhorn and AML bench at maturity — $300K–$500K founder capital
- Prior multi-channel field-operations tenure
- No single anchor above 60 percent of revenue
- 12 to 18-month working-capital reserve for prevailing-wage progress-payment cadence
Call the KYTC District 10 Project Development Branch and the KY EEC Division of AML Hazard regional office.

Bridged

Already-bridged operators — reference benchmarks, not targets

Operators whose succession transitions are publicly executed. Included as the local pattern, not as acquisition opportunities.

Four larger acquisitions are preserved here for the next pass. Tier-2 supply adjacent to the BrightNight Starfire 800-megawatt tri-county Breathitt-Knott-Perry reclaimed-mine-land solar project, if the project advances to construction. Sub-trade roster expansion around two AML reclamation operators whose corporate identities are pending SAM.gov triangulation. UPIKE-KYCOM clinical-rotation short-stay housing for medical students rotating at ARH Hazard, EKVC, KMHA, and KRCC sites, conditional on banker acceptance of standalone short-stay housing demand outside the rotation calendar. And an ARC POWER+ direct-subrecipient workforce-training scope for a data-center-equivalent operator in the KRADD eight-county catchment. Name withheld pending consent

Acquisitions deferred to v0.2 pending verification
- BrightNight Starfire project advances to construction inside the founder's operating window
- Clean SAM.gov plus state-of-incorporation plus USAspending cross-reference verification for the two AML operators
- UPIKE-KYCOM Office of Clinical Education rotation-site roster confirmation
- Data-center-equivalent operating presence in the KRADD catchment and banker acceptance of direct-subrecipient status

What we ruled out — and why.

We ruled these out because each one loses to a stronger candidate already on this list. Four features define Perry's working economy: the three regional-aggregator headquarters concentrated in Hazard (KRADD, LKLP CAC, and the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky), the 358-bed ARH Hazard ten-county catchment, two open FEMA disaster ledgers (DR-4663-KY and DR-4860-KY), and the two K-12 districts co-located at 315 Park Avenue.

Cuts below mis-attribute non-Perry work to Perry, lean on captive-prime dynamics that kill founder margins, repeat a mechanic we have already published at smaller scale, or drift up-capital beyond what a working operator can finance.

Out-of-county work or factual misattribution that should not be credited to Perry

Veterans-center new-build framing

The Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center is a 120-bed state veterans nursing home operational since 2002 — a steady-state contracted-services bench, not a new-build. The $90.3 million 2026 veterans-center capex belongs to the Robert E. Spiller Bowling Green Veterans Center in Warren County.
Lockheed Martin Perry or Knott site

All Lockheed Martin Kentucky operations are at the Lexington Coldstream campus. No Perry-resident or Knott-resident Lockheed facility exists.
Federal courthouse vendor work

The Bobby Davis Museum on Walnut Street is a municipal World War II memorial museum, not a federal building. The Carl D. Perkins Federal Courthouse is in Ashland, Boyd County, not Hazard.
Carr Creek State Park concession lanes

Carr Creek State Park is in Knott County. Buckhorn Lake straddles Leslie and Perry, but the Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park is Perry-resident — the singular co-located reservoir-and-resort anchor.
KMHA as an ARH captive

Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance is an independent Health Center for the Homeless and FQHC, PHS-deemed under FTCA coverage. It operates independently of ARH.

Captive-prime dynamics and unverified-operator suppression

Two AML reclamation operators pending verification

Two AML reclamation sub-trade operators are referenced procedurally only until SAM.gov, state-of-incorporation, and USAspending cross-reference verification clears.
BrightNight Starfire 800-megawatt solar direct lanes

The tri-county Breathitt-Knott-Perry reclaimed-mine-land solar project sits on a 2027-or-later horizon and is not founder-addressable today. Preserved on the bridged list for the next pass.
Direct ARH Tier-2 hospital supply as the sole anchor

A standalone ARH supply lane sits above the 60 percent single-customer-concentration threshold that triggers SBA 7(a) credit review. The composite candidate is built across three lanes precisely to break that dependency.
Direct CDBG-DR or ARC POWER+ subrecipient as founder customer

Direct subrecipient status carries federal-grant cyclicality, project-cliff risk, and zero collateral — a banker decline. The grant-administration candidate runs as a sub-contracted advisory service underneath the Perry-resident principals who carry prime compliance.

Single-customer concentration that fails banker review

Standalone EKVC clinical-staffing-agency scope

Contracted clinical-staffing-agency work under KRS 216.500 and 902 KAR 20:430 carries regulatory-cliff risk and zero collateral. The veterans-center candidate is structured as facility, dietary, linen, and transport services only.
Standalone ARC POWER+ direct-subrecipient lane

Federal-grant cyclicality and project-cliff risk make this a banker decline. The workforce-credential broker candidate sub-contracts from prime-award holders instead.
Solo licensed-clinical-counselor practice

A solo LCSW or LPCC practice with no DMEPOS, no peer-support, and no occupational-medicine adjacent revenue sits below the SBA 7(a) product floor at rural Eastern Kentucky reimbursement rates. Folded into the multi-lane healthcare composite.
Standalone Hazard tourism solo lane

Standalone single-line entertainment, lodging, or food-and-beverage scope tied to Hazard heritage and festival programming carries seasonality risk a banker won't underwrite.
Standalone Challenger Learning Center single-event scope

A standalone practice sized to the September 2020 $800,000 Hal Rogers grant cycle is single-event-anchored. The Challenger Learning Center is one of four anchors inside the workforce-credential broker candidate.
Standalone DOL ETA Registered Apprenticeship consultancy

Faces free competition with KCTCS Workforce Solutions in-house apprenticeship coordination at zero-cost referral. Folded as one of several lanes inside the broker bundle.

Capital wrong-sized for working operators

AML reclamation as a prime-acquirer play

A prime-acquirer scope on existing reclamation operators sits above the founder envelope. The corridor candidate runs hydroseed, ARRI, erosion-control, reclamation-engineering, and impoundment site-prep work as sub-trade contractor scope under regional reclamation general contractors.
Big Pond Pike hyperscale data-center direct lanes

The hyperscale data-center work belongs in the Pike County report. No Perry-resident hyperscale facility exists.
Tim Short Auto Group dealership-fleet acquirer scope

Tim Short operates as closed family enterprise procurement across more than 20 Kentucky dealerships and two in Tennessee. Referenced as cross-sell context only.

Mechanics already published in other counties at different scale

Hopkins active-coal MSHA office pattern

Hopkins is a Western Kentucky active-Illinois-Basin underground-coal county with an eighteen-portal coal-camp fragmentation and a dual-public-housing-authority structure. Perry carries no active-coal MSHA office and a different fragmentation shape.
Mason MELCO HVAC US retrofit and KY-OH dual-bridge pattern

Mason carries an industrial retrofit anchor and two Ohio River bridges. Perry has no industrial-retrofit anchor, no KY-OH cross-state geometry, and no Ohio River bridges.
Carter dual-municipal Olive Hill and Grayson pattern

Carter is a dual-municipal county with two regional aggregators headquartered side-by-side. Perry is single-primate Hazard with three regional-aggregator headquarters across distinct catchment shapes.
Henderson aluminum-cluster and KY-IN bi-state pattern

Henderson is a three-tier aluminum cluster under cross-river Indiana corporate parentage with a co-located municipal-utility trio. Perry has no aluminum cluster, no co-located utility trio, and no bi-state dimension.
Pike academic-medical adjacency pattern

Pike anchors on Pikeville Medical Center academic-medical scale. Perry has no academic-medical anchor — ARH Hazard runs regional-tertiary scale above Critical Access Hospital ceiling and below academic-medical.
Bell Cumberland Gap NPS tri-state cluster

Bell sits on the National Park Service tri-state cluster with three K-12 districts. Perry has no NPS tri-state anchor and two co-located but separate K-12 districts.
Boyle private-LAC plus independent-regional MFP

Boyle anchors on Centre College and Ephraim McDowell Health's $120 million MFP completion. Perry has no private liberal-arts college, no independent-regional MFP completion, and no state-agency K-12 layer.

Frequently asked questions.

What are the largest employers in Perry County, Kentucky?: Appalachian Regional Healthcare's Hazard Regional Medical Center is the largest, with 358 beds pulling a ten-county catchment. The Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center runs 120 beds. Hazard Community and Technical College enrolls about 4,000 students across five campuses. The three regional aggregators headquartered in Hazard — KRADD, LKLP CAC, and the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky — carry pass-through procurement for federal and state programs.
Is Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance part of ARH?: No. Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance at 279 East Main Street in Hazard is an independent Health Center for the Homeless and Federally Qualified Health Center. It is PHS-deemed under FTCA coverage with a Patient-Centered Medical Home Behavioral Health Distinction. KMHA operates independently of Appalachian Regional Healthcare.
What federal disaster recovery work is still open in Perry County?: Two FEMA disaster ledgers remain open. DR-4663-KY covers the July 2022 catastrophic flood, with recovery extending through 2029 on the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program timeline. DR-4860-KY covers the February 14-15, 2025 North Fork Kentucky River cresting over 30 feet through downtown Hazard, affecting roughly 60 downtown businesses with damage estimated at $50 million or more. FEMA opened a Disaster Recovery Center in Perry on February 28, 2025.
Why are Perry County Schools and Hazard Independent Schools at the same address?: Both districts operate from 315 Park Avenue in Hazard but are legally separate K-12 districts. Perry County Schools, under Superintendent Jonathan Jett, runs about 3,593 students across 10 schools as a single county-wide district. Hazard Independent Schools, under Superintendent Sondra Combs, operates the municipal district. The co-location reflects shared administrative space, not a shared district.
What business opportunities exist in Perry County under $200,000 startup capital?: Two candidates on this report fit that range. The workforce-credential broker for HCTC, the Challenger Learning Center, Perry County Schools, and Hazard Independent Schools runs $40,000 to $220,000 in founder capital. The entry tier of the municipal-IT MSP serving the Housing Authority of Hazard, the City of Hazard, and the two K-12 districts runs $80,000 to $180,000.
Who is Buckhorn Lake operated by?: The 8,270-acre flood-control reservoir is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District under authority of the Flood Control Act of 1938. The lake straddles Leslie and Perry counties with a 550-acre normal pool and a 1,230-acre seasonal pool. The Kentucky Department of Parks and Recreation operates the Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park on the Perry-resident side with a lodge, cottages, marina, restaurant, and day-use facilities.
What is the Hal Rogers Parkway program?: The Hal Rogers Parkway is the KY 80 east-west corridor through Perry County. Senator Mitch McConnell secured a $20 million improvement program for the corridor, and a new Skyview interchange in Hazard is programmed under the Beshear 2026 Highway Plan. KYTC District 10, headquartered in Jackson, Breathitt County, administers the corridor. Representative Hal Rogers announced a $95 million Southeast Kentucky federal package in February 2026; the Perry-allocation share has not been published as of May 2026.
Who runs the local government in Hazard and Perry County?: Mayor Donald "Happy" Mobelini serves as the City of Hazard's office of record under the mayor-council form of KRS 83A. Judge-Executive Scott Alexander leads the Perry County Fiscal Court; he stands in the May 19, 2026 Kentucky primary, a six-way race four days from this report's publication. The three regional aggregators headquartered in Hazard — KRADD under Executive Director Michelle Allen, LKLP CAC under Executive Director Tawny R. Acker (since 2024), and the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky under CEO Kristin Walker Collins (since December 2023) — carry the regional pass-through layer.

How we read this place.

How we read this place. Perry is a county of about 26,000 people in eastern Kentucky on the North Fork of the Kentucky River. Hazard is the only city of size, with about 5,200 residents. Four features carry the working economy. The three regional aggregators headquartered inside Hazard — the Kentucky River Area Development District, the LKLP Community Action Council, and the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky — carry pass-through volume across catchments from four to eight counties. ARH's Hazard Regional Medical Center runs 358 beds and pulls a ten-county catchment of roughly 75,000 to 90,000 residents for tertiary care, sitting above Critical Access Hospital scale and below academic-medical scale. Two FEMA disaster ledgers remain open — DR-4663-KY from July 2022 and DR-4860-KY from February 14-15, 2025 — and carry a multi-year compliance surface across Public Assistance, HMGP, CDBG-DR, and SLFRF close-out. Perry County Schools and Hazard Independent Schools both operate from 315 Park Avenue as legally separate K-12 districts.

Six candidates run at $30,000 to $800,000 in founder capital. The veterans-center bench is contracted facility, dietary, linen, and resident-transport work into the 120-bed Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center. The hospital composite layers DMEPOS, dietary, linen, behavioral-health coordination, and an SRNA-instructor lane across ARH Hazard, Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance, and Kentucky River Community Care. The workforce-credential broker covers HCTC, the Challenger Learning Center, and the two K-12 districts. The grant-administration micro-firm runs Public Assistance close-out, HMGP forward, CDBG-DR Action-Plan support, and SLFRF close-out for the Perry-resident principals. The managed-IT and regional-services bundle serves the three aggregators and the small-municipal stack. The corridor and Buckhorn bench picks up KYTC District 10 sub-trade work, USACE small services at Buckhorn Lake, and KY EEC Division of AML reclamation specialty sub-trade.

Several factual corrections shape the published frame. The Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center is operational steady-state since 2002, not a new build; the $90.3 million 2026 veterans-center capex is in Bowling Green, Warren County. ARH Hazard is 358 beds, not 200 to 300. Carr Creek State Park is in Knott County; Buckhorn Lake straddles Leslie and Perry, and the Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park is Perry-resident. The Bobby Davis Museum on Walnut Street is a municipal World War II memorial museum, not a federal building; the Carl D. Perkins Federal Courthouse is in Ashland, Boyd County. Lockheed Martin Kentucky operations are at the Lexington Coldstream campus, not Perry or Knott. The BrightNight Starfire 800-megawatt solar project sits on a 2027-or-later horizon and is not founder-addressable today. Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance is an independent FQHC, not an ARH captive.

Source families. We pulled the federal business-mix and contracting data, the BLS and Census demographics, FEMA OpenFEMA and Kentucky DLG CDBG-DR portals for the two disaster ledgers, ARH corporate disclosures and CMS Hospital Compare provider-number records, KCTCS HCTC and KDE district records, IRS Form 990 filings and state Area Development District annual reports for KRADD, LKLP CAC, and FAK, KYTC District 10 lettings and the Beshear 2026 Highway Plan, USACE Louisville District and KDPR Buckhorn Lake records, and local news from the Hazard Herald, WYMT, WKYT, and the Lexington Herald-Leader Eastern Kentucky desk.

Source families

Federal business-mix and top-awardee data: Captured May 2026
Census ACS 5-year and FRED labor data: ACS 2024 release; FRED through May 2026
FEMA OpenFEMA and Kentucky DLG CDBG-DR Action Plan portal: 2022-current and 2025-current
ARH corporate disclosures and CMS Hospital Compare provider-number records: FY24-25
KCTCS HCTC and KDE district records (Perry County Schools and Hazard Independent Schools): 2026 cycle
KRADD, LKLP CAC, and FAK 990 filings and state ADD annual reports: FY24-25
KYTC District 10, Beshear 2026 Highway Plan, and Representative Hal Rogers Southeast Kentucky package press records: 2026
USACE Louisville District and KDPR Buckhorn Lake Resort Park operating records: 1938-current
Local news (Hazard Herald, WYMT, WKYT, and the Lexington Herald-Leader Eastern Kentucky desk): May 2026

Full source register with claim-level provenance is maintained internally and available on request.

Acronyms used in this report.

Show all 68 acronyms ↓

AAA — Area Agency on Aging: HHS Administration for Community Living Title-III Older Americans Act designation.
ACS — American Community Survey: Census Bureau 5-year estimates.
ADD — Area Development District: Kentucky regional planning structure under KRS 147A.050.
AML — Abandoned Mine Lands: Kentucky EEC Division of AML; federal authority under SMCRA Title IV.
ARC — Appalachian Regional Commission
ARH — Appalachian Regional Healthcare: Investor-supported nonprofit health system serving Central Appalachia.
ARRI — Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative
BIL — Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (IIJA, P.L. 117-58)
CAC — Community Action Council
CDBG-DR — Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery: HUD program for federally declared disasters.
CEWS — Continuing Education and Workforce Solutions: HCTC workforce arm.
CJIS — Criminal Justice Information Services: FBI security policy for law-enforcement data.
CLCK — Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky
CMHC — Community Mental Health Center
CMS — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
COT — Commonwealth Office for Technology
CTE — Career and Technical Education
DBE — Disadvantaged Business Enterprise: 49 CFR Part 26.
DLG — Kentucky Department for Local Government
DMEPOS — Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies: CMS supplier category under 42 CFR 424 Subpart P.
EDC — Economic Development Corporation
EEC — Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet
EKVC — Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center
FAK — Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky
FEMA-PA — FEMA Public Assistance: Stafford Act §406.
FQHC — Federally Qualified Health Center
FTCA — Federal Tort Claims Act
HAH — Housing Authority of Hazard
HCTC — Hazard Community and Technical College
HISD — Hazard Independent School District
HMGP — FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program: Stafford Act §404.
KCTCS — Kentucky Community & Technical College System
KDPR — Kentucky Department of Parks and Recreation
KDVA — Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs
KMHA — Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance
KOHS — Kentucky Office of Homeland Security
KORA — Kentucky Open Records Act: KRS 61.870-61.884.
KRADD — Kentucky River Area Development District
KRCC — Kentucky River Community Care
KRS — Kentucky Revised Statutes
KYCOM — Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine: University of Pikeville osteopathic medical school.
KYTC — Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
LASO — Local Agency Security Officer: CJIS role.
LCSW — Licensed Clinical Social Worker
LIHEAP — Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
LKLP — Leslie-Knott-Letcher-Perry Community Action Council
LPCC — Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor
MCO — Managed Care Organization: Kentucky Medicaid panel.
MOT — Maintenance of Traffic: KYTC and MUTCD.
MSP — Managed Services Provider
NAHRO — National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials
NEMT — Non-Emergency Medical Transportation
OSMRE — Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement: U.S. Department of the Interior.
PCATC — Perry County Area Technology Center
PCMH — Patient-Centered Medical Home
PCS — Perry County Schools
PHA — Public Housing Authority
SAMHSA — Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
SBA — Small Business Administration
SLCGP — State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program: Administered through KOHS.
SLFRF — State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds: ARPA program.
SMCRA — Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977
SNF — Skilled Nursing Facility
SOAR — Shaping Our Appalachian Region
SRNA — State Registered Nurse Aide
SWPPP — Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan
USACE — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
WIOA — Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

Disclosures.

Items we have not independently confirmed, items under active litigation, and items where the responsible party is not publicly named. Listed so a reader can weight the report accordingly.

Not publicly named Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center current administrator name
Unverified Housing Authority of Hazard Executive Director name and unit count
Unverified Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance and Kentucky River Community Care 2026 leadership names
Unverified KYTC District 10 2026 Chief District Engineer
Not publicly named Two AML reclamation sub-trade operators referenced procedurally only (pending SAM.gov triangulation)
Pending DR-4860-KY Perry-allocation FEMA Public Assistance project-worksheet dollar figures and CDBG-DR Action-Plan sub-grant allocation amounts
Pending DR-4663-KY FEMA Public Assistance close-out balance at the 2026 capture date and HMGP forward period-of-performance status
Pending Representative Hal Rogers February 2026 $95 million Southeast Kentucky package Perry-allocation pass-through share
Unverified KRADD, LKLP CAC, and FAK FY26-27 IRS Form 990 revenue bases and current federal pass-through scopes
Unverified ARH Hazard 2026 service-line capex pipeline and supplier-portal threshold structure
Pending Hal Rogers Parkway Skyview interchange letting schedule and FHWA Emergency Relief Program record attached to DR-4663-KY and DR-4860-KY
Pending BrightNight Starfire 800-megawatt tri-county solar 2027-or-later construction status
Unverified UPIKE-KYCOM clinical-rotation host roster across ARH Hazard, EKVC, KMHA, and KRCC

END

Published: May 15, 2026
Last updated: May 15, 2026

Perry County