WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) recently announced that Philip M. Heneghan has been appointed ARC Inspector General and will head the Agency’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). Heneghan will succeed Hubert Sparks, who served as ARC’s Inspector General for over 22 years. As the Inspector General, Heneghan will report directly to ARC’s Commission leadership, which includes the Federal Co-Chairman and the Governors of the 13 Appalachian states.

Heneghan comes to ARC most recently from serving as the Inspector General of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) since December 2009. Prior to his position with the USITC, Heneghan served as the Chief Information Security Officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

From 1998–2002, he served as the Assistant Inspector General for Auditing at the Peace Corps. He also spent eight years at the U.S. Agency for International Development as an Assistant Director for Special Audits, and worked in progressively responsible audit positions at the Environmental Protection Agency and the General Services Administration.

Heneghan holds a Master of Science degree in information systems with an emphasis on database design and security from the University of Maryland, and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and accounting from the University of Maryland.

Established as an independent office in 1989, ARC’s OIG recommends policies to prevent and detect fraud and abuse; and promotes economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in agency programs and operations. The OIG also provides a means for keeping ARC’s leadership and Congress fully informed about problems and deficiencies at the Commission.

The OIG issues semi-annual reports to Congress reviewing the Office’s work and findings and issuing financial recommendations for ARC. The last such report, issued in January 2020, covered the period from April 1, 2019, through Sept. 30, 2019, and included 16 grant audits and four management reports. The report determined there was overall implementation of grants in accordance with policies, procedures and regulations.

About the Appalachian Regional Commission

The Appalachian Regional Commission (www.arc.gov) is an economic development agency of the federal government and 13 state governments focusing on 420 counties across the Appalachian Region. ARC’s mission is to innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia to help the Region achieve socioeconomic parity with the nation.