COUNTY — Pickens County Council member Neil Smith was recently voted as the new vice chairman of the Appalachian Council of Governments.

ACOG is a voluntary organization made up of local governments in the Upstate of South Carolina. This assembly of governments consists of 44 board members who represent 42 municipalities and six counties: Greenville, Pickens, Anderson, Oconee, Spartanburg and Cherokee.

At the end of February, the board voted Smith to vice chairman out of 43 other qualified board members. In addition to being vice chairman of ACOG, Smith is also a board member of Economic Development Information Systems, a partnership which provides the economic database for industrial recruitment for the counties of Greenville, Pickens, Anderson, Oconee, Spartanburg and Cherokee.

As new vice chairman, Smith and all other board members will continue to address regional issues and assist local governments. Regionally, ACOG provides economic/community development, transportation, aging services, workforce development, infrastructure development, and resource management for the six upstate counties. Furthermore, ACOG also provides general administrative assistance, training, planning, technical assistance, information/mapping and grants to local governments of each county. Grant services assist local governments in identifying, securing, and administering funds for a wide range of community and economic development activities including: water and sewer facilities, road improvements, housing rehabilitation, community and senior centers.

“There is no doubt Smith will continue to provide outstanding leadership while serving not only Pickens County, but also all other counties within the region of the great Upstate of South Carolina through the Appalachian Council of Governments,” the organization said in a news release.