"I think this kind of work could really foster the development of high-tech start-ups in central Appalachia," Hanny said. "It wouldn't surprise me over time ... that many [participating students] may stay in the area [after graduating]. A lot of the next Googles could come out of central Appalachia."

Ramsey, of the ACA, said the IBM program gives the schools a huge range of possibilities and resources that they couldn't have obtained on their own. "We're struggling to help an underserved region," Ramsey said of the ACA. "We're delighted to have IBM as a partner. We sort of feel like we're in this little corner of the world that gets overlooked sometimes. This could really catapult a new kind of student into the market that would be so employable by IBM and its partners."