Mountain Association for Community and Economic Development

Famed for its rolls and fried chicken, the Bread and Chicken House operated as a women-owned cooperative in Big Stone Gap, Virginia from 1971 to 1988. Through determination, shared ownership, and the support of partners like the Mountain Association, the cooperative evolved into a popular bakery and restaurant that created lasting economic opportunity for its owners. 

The cooperative was originally organized by Mother Mary Catherine Rumschlag, a former Mother General of the Glenmary Sisters, a Catholic religious order known for working alongside underserved rural communities. After moving to Big Stone Gap in 1970, she established the restaurant as a long-term community project to provide local employment. 

Recognizing both the economic challenges facing local women and the potential for community-owned business development, Rumschlag’s vision centered on empowering local women to become business owners rather than simply employees. Every member would have a stake in the business and a voice in its future. 

Through a partnership with Demoisey’s Coach House who had baking equipment, the women tested the local market for their goods. Their baking proved to be a success and they opened up next door, adding chicken to their slate of offerings.  

Like many growing businesses, however, success brought new challenges. As the cooperative gained customers and expanded its reputation, it quickly outgrew the facility. At the same time, the management systems that had worked during the organization’s early years were becoming strained. Competition was also increasing as national fast-food franchises began entering the community, creating pressure for the cooperative to adapt and strengthen its operations. 

Bread and Chicken House partnered with the Mountain Association, shortly after we formed in 1976. Our early staff provided business support, technical assistance, and financing guidance to entrepreneurs and community enterprises throughout Appalachia, with a particular focus on cooperatives.  

The Mountain Association’s assistance proved transformational. Staff helped the cooperative secure a larger facility that could accommodate its expanding operations and growing customer base. They also assisted with recruiting and training new management, helping the organization develop leadership capable of guiding the business through its next phase of growth. 

Equally important was the work done to strengthen the cooperative’s internal structure. As any member-owned organization grows, balancing democratic participation with effective business management can become challenging. The Mountain Association worked with Bread and Chicken House to implement a stronger cooperative governance model, ensuring that each of the seven members could continue sharing ownership and decision-making responsibilities while maintaining an efficient operation. The organization also helped the cooperative secure the financing necessary to support expansion and modernization efforts.  

As profitability improved, the cooperative began making distributions to members’ share accounts, allowing the owners to directly benefit from the success they had worked together to create. However, over the years, members faced family emergencies, coinciding with local economic issues and increased competition. As a result, the members decided to sell the business. With no buyer found, they made the decision to close in 1988. 

“From wedding and birthday cakes to peanut butter roll and fudge, from rolls the angles could sing about to cornbread and soup beans that lured the most stalwart dieters to break over, it’s all still there for the balance of the week, then the Bread and Chicken House in Big Stone Gap will be a thing of the past,” wrote the local paper on June 8. 

Though many of the people originally involved have since passed away, several families of the women involved highlighted their accomplishments at the restaurant in their obituaries and in their celebrations of life.  

The story of Bread and Chicken House illustrates what is possible when community leadership, cooperative ownership, and targeted technical assistance come together. The Glenmary Sisters helped plant the seeds by supporting a vision for women-owned economic opportunity. The women brought dedication, hard work, and entrepreneurial spirit. And the Mountain Association provided the expertise, financing support, and organizational guidance needed to help the cooperative grow beyond its initial challenges. 

For 50 years, the Mountain Association has invested in people and places throughout Eastern Kentucky and Appalachia. To learn more stories of our history, visit mtassociation.org/history.  

The post Bread and Chicken House: How Women Built a Cooperative in Southwest Virginia in the 70s and 80s appeared first on Mountain Association.

The grant is part of a $45.5 million award package, and will support economic development in coal communities in the 54 Appalachian Kentucky counties

Mountain Association was awarded $2 million by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) in September 2026 for its new project: Strong Foundations: Fortifying the Building Blocks of Economic Development in Appalachian Kentucky.

This award is part of a recently announced $45.5 million award package supporting 47 projects through ARC’s POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) Initiative, which directs federal resources to help Appalachian coal communities expand economic opportunities by creating high-quality, in-demand jobs in multiple industries, attracting new sources of private investment and providing comprehensive workforce services and skills training. 

Mountain Association will use POWER funding to strengthen and expand enterprises in sectors that are foundational to economic development in Appalachian Kentucky. Project activities include deepening support of key economic sectors, including housing and childcare industries, and food access and disaster recovery related businesses and projects. They will also expand access to capital, and implement a new technical assistance approach to more efficiently and effectively meet the needs of small businesses in Appalachian Kentucky.

“For 50 years, the Mountain Association has worked to strengthen the foundation of our local economies,” said Robin Gabbard, President of the Mountain Association. “By investing in essential businesses in these critical sectors, we’re building resilience for the future and helping create lasting jobs.”

As a Community Development Financial Institution, the organization serves small business owners and community leaders with flexible financing to start or grow their enterprises particularly when traditional financing is not an option. They also offer personalized guidance, training, and resources designed to help business and nonprofit leaders succeed and grow sustainably. Their energy experts help businesses and nonprofits reduce costs and plan for long‑term savings, providing bill analysis, energy efficiency and solar assessments, grant application assistance, and financing options. The organization has offices in Berea, Hazard and Prestonsburg.

Mountain Association and partners bring a combined $500,000 in matching funds to the grant. This project will serve 450 businesses, improve 360 businesses with technical assistance, serve 100 participates, improve 80 participants through group training, create 50 new businesses and 150 new jobs, retain 120 existing jobs, and generate $6,000,000 in leveraged private investment over the course of the two-year performance period.

Partners include Appalachian Cradle to Career Partnership, Appalachian Early Childhood Network, Invest606, Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, Kentucky Small Business Development Center, and TEK Center.

To date, ARC has invested over $518 million in 605 projects, which are helping to leverage nearly $1.9 billion in additional private investment in coal communities. These investments are projected to have created or retained nearly 54,000 jobs and prepared nearly 190,000 workers and students for new opportunities.

About the Mountain Association: 

The Mountain Association is a 50-year-old nonprofit that invests in people and places in Eastern Kentucky to build a new economy and a brighter future. At the Mountain Association, small business owners and community leaders can access flexible financing to start or grow their enterprises, even if traditional lending options aren’t a fit. Beyond loans, business and nonprofit leaders can also receive personalized guidance, training, and resources designed to help them succeed and grow sustainably. To help businesses and nonprofits reduce costs and plan for long‑term savings, their energy experts provide bill analysis, energy efficiency and solar assessments, grant application assistance, and financing options. The Mountain Association also collaborates with partners to research challenges, share local stories, and advocate for policies that support community‑led growth. For more information, visit www.mtassociation.org. 

About the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC):

The Appalachian Regional Commission is an economic development entity of the federal government and 13 state governments focusing on 423 counties across the Appalachian Region. ARC’s mission is to invest and partner to strengthen economic development in Appalachia to help the region reach its full economic potential.

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By Robin Gabbard, President

My connection to Appalachia didn’t begin when I became a community development professional; it began generations ago. Like many Appalachians, my story is woven into the history of our mountains and the communities that call them home. I chose to spend my career serving Eastern Kentucky because I believe in the people and places that shaped me.

As Mountain Association marks its 50th anniversary, I’m reminded of a truth that has endured through every economic shift and challenge our region has faced: Appalachia’s future has always been shaped by people willing to invest their time, talent, and resources in the places they call home. 

Fifty years ago, the leaders of eight community development organizations came together around a simple but powerful idea that the people of Appalachia were never the barrier to a resilient economic future. Too often, our people and communities lacked the voice, capital and resources, and opportunities needed to turn local ideas into local prosperity. 

That belief became five decades of impact. Since 1976, Mountain Association has been a partner, investor, and catalyst for economic growth throughout Central Appalachia. We’ve invested nearly $95 million across Eastern Kentucky since 2000, provided 66,190 hours of business expertise to 4,628 entrepreneurs since 2013, and facilitated more than 380 energy savings projects. This work has supported small businesses, communities, and nonprofits, and helped launch enterprises that continue to shape the region today.

These numbers reflect meaningful impact, but they tell only part of the story. Over the past five decades, we have watched entrepreneurs build businesses in towns many had written off. We have seen local leaders develop solutions to challenges ranging from food access and childcare to housing and workforce development. We have witnessed communities respond to economic change and natural disasters not by giving up, but by coming together. Those experiences reinforced the belief that resilience is not something communities discover in a crisis. It is something they build every day.

When coal employment declined, communities across Eastern Kentucky created new opportunities in manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, healthcare, arts and culture, and technology. More recently, devastating weather disasters have tested our communities once again. Neighbors help neighbors, local organizations step forward, and towns rebuild.

But resilience requires recovery and persistence. It means preparing for what’s next by strengthening local systems, investing in critical infrastructure, and building the capacity to navigate future challenges. This is why resilience has become central to Mountain Association’s work. Whether we’re helping businesses manage energy costs or supporting solar investments, financing equipment that creates affordable housing, revitalizing downtowns, or investing in people who turn ideas into action, our vision remains the same: helping people, places, and local economies prosper and thrive through change.

As I look across Appalachia today, I see reasons for optimism. Historic buildings are coming back to life, entrepreneurs are creating new opportunities, and community leaders are rallying neighbors around shared visions. These are more than signs of economic progress; they are the foundation of communities where people can build a life, feel welcome, and envision a future. Most importantly, I see people choosing to build their futures here. 

Appalachia has often been defined by what it lacks. Those of us who call it home know a different story. We are creative, determined, ingenious, and generous. We are innovators and problem-solvers, workers, and builders. Above all, we are neighbors, bound together by a deep commitment to one another and to this place. The challenges facing our region are real. But Mountain Association was founded on a belief that remains just as powerful today as it was in 1976: local people, equipped with the right resources and opportunities, can build stronger communities and a more prosperous future. 

If the last 50 years have taught us anything, it’s that investments in people and place matter most. When we trust local leadership, support local ownership, and strengthen communities, we create conditions for lasting prosperity. By investing in our people and strengthening our communities, we are writing the next chapter of the story of Eastern Kentucky together. Appalachia’s greatest asset has never been what can be taken from the region; it is what can be built here. The same mountains that shaped my story generations ago now challenge us to leave something of lasting value for future generations. And I believe our best chapter is still ahead.

To learn more about the Mountain Association, please visit our 50 Years of Impact Report at MtAssociation.org/Fifty.

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Courtney Allen, owner of Believe Fitness in London, Kentucky, is the star of this highlight. The Believe Fitness mission is to “to help women break free from the world’s unrealistic fitness standards and pursue health without comparison, shame, or pressure, focusing instead on strength, joy, and identity rooted in” their faith.  

This highlight will not be me recounting Courtney’s story, as she will be doing that herself at a virtual workshop we are hosting on Monday, October 12th at 3:30 PM (register here). Instead, I will give you the behind-the-scenes scoop of how she used more than 40 hours of business support to grow not only her business, but herself as well. 

Courtney came to Mountain Association in 2024. Because Courtney is a lending client of Mountain Association, she can participate in a business support project free of charge. This technical assistance service provides entrepreneurs and nonprofits with the resources that they need to fill the gaps their business is experiencing.  

Courtney’s first project (25 hours of support) was with S Media, a consultant whose business is also based in London. After some big changes to her fitness business, Courtney wanted to visually align her brand more with her vision and faith. The purpose of this project was to design and deliver a cohesive set of digital marketing assets that strengthened the fitness studio’s brand presence, increased visibility across digital platforms, and supported member acquisition and retention efforts.  

Jason, owner of S Media, and his team helped Courtney update her branding and develop an app that allows studio members to access a library of prerecorded workouts, anytime, anywhere.  

“I am also grateful for the tools and knowledge that Mountain Association and S Media helped me to gain through this process,” Courtney said at the end of the project. “Jason, Greg, and Maggie at S Media were always accessible and extremely helpful with any issue or question I had. Their assistance in building and navigating our new website and software was priceless and alleviated a lot of stress for me.” 

Courtney’s second project, business coaching with Misty Lakes Coaching, helped to diversify revenue streams and establish back-end systems that help to make her life easier. With business coaching, I watched Courtney’s confidence in her ability to lead not just her studio, but her employees, grow. As her point person on the Mountain Association’s Business Support team, it has been amazing to watch her grow. 

Courtney and Misty spend 29 hours together strengthening the harmony between her personal life and business responsibilities while preparing her studio for future growth. This project provides peace-centered, purpose-driven business development training to help her lead confidently, build organizational clarity, develop her team, streamline her operations, and prepare for expansion. The project included training on various topics such as “brand voice development,” “personality training and team communication development,” and “CEO mindset and delegation.”  

At the end of the project, Courtney explained, “Working with Misty was a complete joy and answer to my prayers! She shared such insightful knowledge to help grow and scale my business, as well as promote better communication within my team.” 

We’re excited to host the upcoming workshop with Courtney, S Media and Misty Lakes and hear how this support is helping not only her small businesses in London, but businesses across the region. 

Please join us for “What 40 Hours Did for My Business” on Monday, October 12 from 3:30-4:30PM in a special edition of our Learn with an Expert series.  

Register here: https://mtassociation.org/workshop  

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