Introduction
Rural communities have many distinctive assets that can provide a basis for economic development activities. Natural amenities like mountains, rivers, forests, wildlife, and open space are appealing to people and present unique opportunities for rural development. Rural and agricultural communities have higher rates of self-employment, increasing opportunities for entrepreneurial ventures.
However, taking advantage of these unique assets present challenges for rural communities. Low population density and lack of basic infrastructure, particularly
transportation and communications systems, often hinder economic development efforts that could bring new jobs to rural areas. Rural communities are more likely to depend on a single employment sector. This dependence coupled with government agency job creation programs offer wages that tend to be lower and seasonal. Fewer people living and working in rural areas make it difficult to provide services that support work. Lower per capita incomes limit tax revenue in rural areas resulting in fewer resources for social services. This page suggests a range of strategies that can tie job creation to small business and economic development in rural communities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tools
Business.gov
Web site
A single access point to federal government services and information to help the nation's businesses with their operations. Includes resources to help business find compliance information, forms, and contacts.
CAP Services Virtual Business Incubator
Web site
Provides technical advice and referrals.
Energizing Entrepreneurs
Web site
A website that provides resources to learn more about energizing entrepreneurs in a community. Includes information about development organizations and how they can energize entrepreneurship in general and support local entrepreneurs individually.
Equitable Development Toolkit
Web site
Tools to help community builders achieve equitable development, diverse, mixed-income/mixed wealth neighborhoods that are strong, stable, and welcoming to all.
FedBizOpps
Database
A single government point-of-entry for Federal government procurement opportunities over $25,000. Government buyers are able to publicize their business opportunities by posting information directly to FedBizOpps via the Internet. Through one portal - FedBizOpps (FBO) - commercial vendors seeking Federal markets for their products and services can search, monitor and retrieve opportunities solicited by the entire Federal contracting community.
FIELD Health Insurance Resources
Web site
A set of resources for microenterprise practitioners to help them access affordable health insurance.
Foundation Center FAQs: Where can I find information on funding to start a business?
Web site
Information about funding and other resources for for-profit enterprises.
GovLoans.gov
Web site
Single point of access for information about Federal loan programs from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and U.S. Small Business Administration.
Historic Preservation Resources
Web site
Provides web links to more than 50 full-text "how to" information guides and manuals on general and technical aspects of historic preservation. It includes web links to specialty resources on historic barns, farms, bridges, schools, battlefields, landscapes, lighthouses, interiors, exteriors, preservation techniques, and other facts of historic preservation.
Measuring Community Success and Sustainability: An Interactive Workbook
Web site
Discusses community development outcomes and measurements.
Microenterprise Employment Statistics
Web site
A U.S. county-by-county breakdown of three indicators of microenterprise: (1) total number of microenterprises, (2) total microenterprise employment, and (3) microenterprise as a percentage of total employment. Includes a classification for each county as rural or urban, and provides a breakdown of rural/urban microenterprise employment and the percentage of rural/urban counties employed by microenteprise.
National Content Standards for Entrepreneurship Education
Web site
Designed to provide the standards and Performance Indicators framework necessary for developing curriculum for entrepreneurship programs as a lifelong learning process.
National Rural Transit Assistance Programs (RTAP)
Technical assistance
A federal-state-local partnership that provides training and technical assistance products and services, that are developed nationally, for distribution and replication by the states to rural transit agencies and operators. A National Transit Resource Center is supported that offers access to information and expertise, including an online list of state Rural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP) contacts.
National Veterans Business Development Corporation (TVC)
Web site
A resource for current and prospective Veteran and Service-Disabled Veteran business owners, and for companies interested in working with Veteran-owned businesses. Provides online education and training services.
Regional Asset Indicators (For Economic Development)
Web site
The regional asset indicator project provides new, forward-looking metrics which regions can use to better understand their economic assets and to help inform private, public, and non-profit regional development strategies. These metrics may be useful to researchers who explore regional attributes and growth. Indicators are available in these categories: financial, lifestyle, innovation, and workforce.
Rural Economic Development: Database on Federal Economic Development Funding
Database
Compares federal funding for rural and urban economic development programs, with spending data available by region, state, county, agency and program.
Rural Health Research: Economic development
Web site
Provides summaries of current and completed rural health research projects and related publications addressing the topic of economic development, produced by the Office of Rural Health Policy's funded rural health research centers.
Rural Housing and Economic Development Gateway
Web site
Connects rural organizations with information, technical assistance, training, and investment capital to help them develop, rebuild, and preserve affordable housing, local economies, and essential infrastructure.
Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room
Web site
Provides links to information and reports from the ERS on rural employment, earnings, and education levels.
SBA Online Training
Web site
SBA's listing of free available online courses for starting and planning a small business. Available in Spanish.
SBA State Economic Profiles
Web site
A tool that contains documents profiling the economic condition of small businesses in the United States, for each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories.
Small Business Planner
Web site
Information and resources that will help small business individuals plan and manage a business at any stage of the business lifecycle.
State Brownfields and Voluntary Response Programs: An Update from the States
Web site
Explores the evolving landscape of state environmental, financial, and technical programs, including the incentives designed to promote brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. This tool looks at multiple components of state brownfields and voluntary response program(s), and provides a synopsis of each state's response program(s) and contact information. Appendix A provides a review of state program changes that resulted from the federal brownfields law and Appendix B provides a condensed state-by-state reference guide.
USA.gov: Locate In-Person Services
Web site
An online portal for U.S. citizens to locate services from the U.S. government.
VirtualCAP.org
Web site
A clearinghouse of information and material that can be used by Community Action Agencies and others to help low-income persons and families move toward self-sufficiency and to reduce poverty in communities across the United States.
Will it Fly?
Web site
Online resources for entrepreneurs that features expert prep modules designed to provide support to its users. Willitfly.com's mission is to make it easier to avoid the failure that frequently accompanies new business ventures.
Funding
Colonia Economically Distressed Areas Program
This fund provides assistance to colonia areas to connect to a Texas Water Development Board Economically Distressed Areas Program (TWDB EDAP)-funded water and sewer system improvement project.
Community Economic Development Program Operational Projects
Grants to provide technical and financial assistance for community economic development activities designed to address the economic needs of low-income individuals and families through the creation of employment and business opportunities.
HUD State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program
Funding for revitalizing neighborhoods, expanding housing, improving community facilities and services, acquiring property such as land and buildings, and improvements to property.
Laura Jane Musser Fund: Rural Initiative Program
Fund hopes to fund projects where citizens work together towards improving their rural communities.
Midwest Assistance Program Loan Fund
Provides low-cost, short and intermediate term loans for community water and wastewater projects through its Community Revolving Loan Fund.
Patriot Express Loan Initiative
A loan Initiative for veterans and members of the military community wanting to establish or expand small businesses.
Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Grants and Guaranteed Loans
Grants to purchase renewable energy systems and make energy improvements for agricultural producers and rural small businesses.
Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program
Loans and grants are to assist in economically developing rural areas.
Rural Housing and Economic Development Program
Provides support for innovative housing and economic development activities in rural areas.
Rural Passenger Transportation Technical Assistance Program
Technical Assistance program to provide transit planning assistance for facility and service development and expansion.
Rural Passenger Transportation Technical Assistance Program - Short-term Technical Assistance
The focus of the program is economic development: helping small and emerging businesses and stimulating economic development through new and improved public transportation.
SBA Certified Development Company (504) Loan Program
Provides growing businesses with long-term, fixed-rate financing for major fixed assets, such as land and buildings.
Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program
Funding that provides communities with a source of financing for economic development, housing rehabilitation, public facilities, and large-scale physical development projects.
Tribal Transit Technical Assistance Program - Short Term Technical Assistance
Assistance for tribal communities to enhance economic growth and development by improving transportation services.
U.S. Bancorp Foundation Grants
Support for the creation of economic opportunity through grants to organizations that provide affordable housing, encourage self-sufficiency, and assist economic development.
USDA Business and Industry Guaranteed Loans
Helps create jobs and stimulates rural economies by providing financial backing for rural businesses.
Inactive Funding
Inactive Funding Opportunities -
Lists additional funding programs for this topic that are not currently accepting applications. Programs that are inactive may be offered again in the future.
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
Amenities, Local Conditions, and Fiscal Determinants of Factor Growth in Rural America
Author(s): Eric Thompson, George Hammond, Stephan Weiler
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Examines how amenities, asset indicators, and fiscal factors influence the growth in factors of production in 1972 to 1999 in the 466 non-metropolitan labor market areas in the continental United States.
Date: 06 / 2006
American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness
Author(s): Stuart Anderson, Michaela Platzer
Provides an objective overview of the impact of
immigrant entrepreneurs and professionals on
the U.S. economy.
Date: 2006
Arts, Culture, and Design in Rural North Carolina
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center
Report suggests that rural areas may be overlooking an opportunity for economic growth centered on creative and cultural assets. Focuses on three case studies involving four North Carolina counties.
Date: 04 / 2007
Beyond Health Care: The Economic Contribution of Hospitals
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
Discusses economic impact of hospitals to communities, including rural communities.
Date: 04 / 2008
Broadband Use by Rural Small Business
Author(s): Stephen B. Pociask
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Small Business Administration
Describes the urban-rural digital divide in the provision of broadband services and the impact this can have on rural small businesses. Includes comparison of rural versus urban broadband costs and demographics of broadband users. Also discusses the use of VoIP (voice over IP) in rural versus urban areas.
Date: 12 / 2005
Building Better: A Guide to America's Best New Development Projects
Sponsoring organization: Sierra Club Foundation
Highlights a variety of development projects nationwide because of their ability to offer transportation choices, revitalize neighborhoods and preserve local values.
Date: 10 / 2005
Building Entrepreneurial Communities: The Appropriate Role of Enterprise Development Activities
Author(s): Greg A. Litchenstein, Thomas Lyoons, Nailya Kutzhanova
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
Discusses the idea of building entrepreneurial communities as a strategy for economic development.
Date: 01 / 2004
Can Ethanol Power the Rural Economy?
Author(s): Nancy Novack, Jason Henderson
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Discusses the economics of ethanol, how it can affect the rural economy, and the factors that may endanger the stability of this upcoming industry.
Journal citation: Main Street Economist
Date: 01 / 2007
Can Rural America Support a Knowledge Economy?
Author(s): Jason Henderson, Bridget Abraham
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Empirical evidence is used to identify the factors that are essential to rural knowledge-based activity. Authors describe how some rural communities are leveraging these factors to build their own knowledge economy.
Journal citation: Economic Review Pages: 71 - 96
Date: 2004
Competitiveness in Rural U.S. Regions: Learning and Research Agenda
Author(s): Michael E. Porter, Christian H. M. Ketels, Kaia Miller, Richard T. Bryden
Sponsoring organization: Economic Development Administration
In-depth review of the literature on rural economic development. Discusses rural economic performance and the role of clusters in the rural economy. Includes policy recommendations and recommendations for further research.
Date: 02 / 2004
Crafting a Competitive Future: Capitalizing on Rural America
Looks at strategic options for revitalizing rural America. The report's guiding principles include: 1) Focus on opportunities, not problems; 2) Look internally and connect regionally rather than searching for external solutions; 3) Identify and replicate success stories. The report also calls for a new institutional framework to direct rural development efforts.
Date: 2005
Creating an Entrepreneurial Appalachian Region
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Findings and lessons from an evaluation of the Appalachian Regional Commission's Entrepreneurship Initiative, 1997-2005.
Date: 04 / 2008
Creative Class: A Key to Rural Growth
Author(s): David A. McGranahan, Timothy R. Wojan
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Provides an overview of the creative class concept, that people in highly creative occupations have a greater impact on an area's economic development. Discusses how the creative class has impacted rural areas' economies.
Journal citation: Amber Waves
Date: 04 / 2007
Demographic Trends in Rural and Small Town America
Author(s): Kenneth Johnson
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Summarizes population redistribution trends in the rural and small town communities that are an important part of the social, economic and political fabric of the country.
Date: 2006
Economic Development in Tribal Reservations and Rural Communities
Author(s): A. Wilkins
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
Discusses barriers to successful economic development and options reservations and rural communities should consider to develop feasible, long-term economic development plans. Available for purchase for $15.
Date: 2004
Economic Gardening in Littleton, Colorado
Author(s): Lisa Bauer
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
Describes the award-winning and internationally recognized Economic Gardening Program, in Littleton, Colorado, which provides sophisticated information services to existing businesses to make them more competitive.
Date: 03 / 2005
Economic Gardening: Growing Your Own Business
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Identifies how successful economic development depends on economic competitiveness,
diversification of our economies and the quality of jobs being created.
Date: 11 / 2005
Effective Rural Governance: What Is It? Does It Matter?
Author(s): Nancy Stark
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Defines effective governance and lists eight key principles of effective rural governance. Includes examples of rural governance efforts that address these principles.
Date: 2005
Emerging Immigrant Market and Microenterprise
Sponsoring organization: Aspen Institute
Discusses how markets that include ethnic- and women-owned firms, urban and rural communities, companies serving low-to-moderate-income populations, and other small- and medium-sized businesses affect microenterprise in the U.S.
Date: 04 / 2007
Empirical Approach to Characterize Rural Small Business Growth and Profitability
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Small Business Administration
This study explores the factors that lead to small business growth in rural areas, supplemented with a case study analysis from six states: Kentucky, Maine,
Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, and Utah.
Date: 02 / 2006
Empirical Approach to Characterize Rural Small Business Growth and Profitability
A new study that examines the factors that lead to small business growth in rural areas. Among the key findings are: 1) the number of high school graduates increases the number of rural small businesses; 2) the presence of natural amenities also exerts a positive influence on business growth; 3) rural areas have difficulty attracting high-tech businesses due to workforce and infrastructure concerns; and 4) rural development centers and non-profit organizations are vital to rural economic development. The report features detailed case studies from six states, including Kentucky and North Carolina.
Date: 02 / 2006
Encouraging Investments: Using Federal Tax Credits for Community and Economic Development
Author(s): Deborah Bocian, Cheryl D. Hayes
Sponsoring organization: Finance Project
Describes federal tax credits intended to encourage private capital investments in low-income neighborhoods.
Date: 03 / 2003
Energizing Rural Entrepreneurs Energizing Our Community's Development
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Discusses how successful economic development still depends on business investment, job creation and tax base expansion.
Date: 11 / 2005
Engines of Community Development: Banking Opportunities in Rural America
Author(s): John D. Hawke, Jr.
Sponsoring organization: Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
Discuss the roles of banks in rural communities in financing affordable housing and economic development efforts and discusses the qualities of the best-performing rural banks.
Date: 2003
Farm-Based Recreation: A Statistical Profile
Author(s): Dennis M. Brown, Richard J. Reeder
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Looks at the characteristics of who operates farm-based recreation enterprises, an important niche market for farmers. Statistics are from the 2004 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) and the 2000 National Survey on Recreation and the Environment.
Date: 12 / 2007
GIS Technology: Enhancing Regional Planning and Development
Author(s): Matthew D. Chase, Laurie Thompson
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Development Organizations
Summarizes a project to help regional development organizations currently using GIS at
a minimal level to become more proficient and enhance their GIS capacities, and to give those
without GIS a chance to acquire the technology and receive training. The project was focused on the many uses of GIS and how to incorporate these applications into daily routines as well as economic planning.
Date: 10 / 2004
Growing Entrepreneurs from the Ground Up: A Community-based Approach to Growing Your Own Businesses
Author(s): Thomas G. Johnson, Vickie M. Rightmyre, Darryl Chatman
Sponsoring organization: Community Policy Analysis Center (University of Missouri - Columbia)
Guidebook designed to assist in assessing the strength and deficiencies of a community's environment. Information is targeted for people who are building a small business.
Date: 10 / 2004
Hired Farmworkers a Major Input For Some U.S. Farm Sectors
Author(s): William Kandel
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Summarizes what is known about farmworkers’ immigration status, housing, and other factors.
Journal citation: Amber Waves
Date: 04 / 2008
Impact of Wildlife Recreation on Farmland Values
Author(s): Jason Henderson, Sean Moore
Sponsoring organization: Regional, Public and Community Affairs Division, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Wildlife recreation - hunting, fishing, and wildlife watching - appears to be an increasingly important past time for many Americans as people continue to increase their spending on wildlife recreation. Land lease and ownership expenditures by wildlife recreation participants are rising and appear to be capitalized into farmland values. This paper analyzes the impact of hunting lease rates on farmland values in Texas. The results indicate that counties with higher wildlife recreation income streams have higher land values.
Date: 12 / 2005
Incorporating Brownfields Revitalization Projects into Regional Comprehensive Economic Planning: The Impact on Rural and Small Metropolitan Redevelopment
Author(s): Kelly Novak, Laurie Thompson
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Development Organizations
Reports on a 2002 meeting of brownfields and economic development professionals regarding brownfields revitalization projects that are included into regional economic development plans.
Date: 10 / 2004
Informal Economy and Microenterprise in the United States
Sponsoring organization: Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination
Discusses the informal economy, the industries that are most prevalent, the reasons people choose to work in the informal economy, and challenges to providing support for informal entrpreneurship.
Date: 03 / 2003
Informal Economy: Making it in Rural America
Author(s): Elaine L. Edgcomb, Tamra Thetford
Sponsoring organization: Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination
Discusses the informal economy and its role in rural areas. Describes results of a study of low-income workers in rural Nebraska who work informally. Includes examples of types of informal work and microenterprise.
Date: 02 / 2004
Innovation-Entrepreneurship NEXUS: A National Assessment of Entrepreneurship and Regional Economic Growth and Development
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Small Business Administration
Addresses the needs of local policymakers to understand the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in creating an environment where local economic growth can thrive.
Date: 04 / 2005
Long-Term Impacts of Retiree In-Migration on Rural Areas: A Case Study of Cumberland County, Tennessee
Sponsoring organization: University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service
A summary of a report commissioned by the Institute for Public Service to inform state, local, and regional officials, and other interested individuals about the various impacts of a substantial influx of in-migrant retirees (IMRs) on a rural community.
Date: 01 / 2007
Low-Skill Workers in Rural America Face Permanent Job Loss
Author(s): Amy Glasmeier, Priscilla Salant
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Reviews the data on job displacement nationally and in rural communities, with a focus on regions of the country where job losses due to displacement are significant and the rate of displacement has been increasing.
Date: 2006
Lower Cost Domestic Sourcing: A Niche Opportunity for the US
Synthesizes opinions and provides a view of how the US can become a more cost effective global sourcing destination by encouraging and nurturing job creation in smaller American communities, thereby enabling more cost effective IT services delivery in the US.
Date: 07 / 2007
Measurement of Community Capitals through Research: A Study Conducted for the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation by the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
Author(s): Susan Fey, Corry Bregendahl, Cornelia Flora
Reports the results of a study of 57 rural communities in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to determine how financial investments in rural communities could be maximized to bring about the greatest positive community economic development outcomes.
Journal citation: Online Journal of Rural Research and Policy Issue 1
Date: 2006
Microenterprises in the Informal U.S. Economy: Summary Research Findings
Sponsoring organization: Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination
Describes the informal economy in the U.S. Includes information on the types of work microentrepreneurs engage in and income levels. Compares informal entrepreneurs in rural Nebraska with their urban counterparts in Baltimore, Chicago, New Jersey, and New York.
Date: 07 / 2004
Missing the Bus: How States Fail to Connect Economic Development with Public Transit
Author(s): Mafruza Khan
Sponsoring organization: Good Jobs First
Report of a survey of economic development subsidy programs, including loans, grants, and tax incentives, and their connection to state public transportation planning.
Date: 2003
Myth About Grants for Business
Author(s): Nancy Staton
Sponsoring organization: Small Business Development Centers
Discusses how grant money is not only scarce, but the time invested in applying, performing the work required and reporting on the use of funds may be better spent elsewhere in your business.
Networks, Systems, Strings...and Other Appalachian Futures
Author(s): Brian Dabson
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Discusses the future of rural America in general and Appalachia in particular regarding policy, innovation, sustainability, and entrepreneurship.
Date: 02 / 2005
New Architecture of Rural Prosperity
Author(s): Jim Clinton, Carol Conway, Scott Doron, Linda Hoke, Sandra Johnson
Sponsoring organization: Southern Growth Policies Board
Reports on how southern rural communities can achieve greater economic prosperity.
Date: 2005
New Directions in Rural Economic Development
Sponsoring organization: Economic Development Administration
Issue focused on rural economic development, with articles covering a range of issues including workforce development, innovation entrepreneur networks, value-added agriculture and more.
Journal citation: Economic Development America
Date: 2004
New Governance for a New Rural Economy: Reinventing Public and Private Institutions
Author(s): Mark Drabenstott, Nancy Novack, Stephan Weiler
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Regional governance is about how public and private leaders work together to build new economic engines that can compete in globalizing markets. Article discusses how rural regions can make economic decisions quickly and effectively.
Journal citation: Main Street Economist
Date: 08 / 2003
New Issues on the Rural Horizon
Author(s): Mark Drabenstott
Sponsoring organization: Regional, Public and Community Affairs Division, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
The year-end 2005 report from the Center for the Study of Rural America at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Summarizes the performance of the rural economy in 2005 and focuses on three issues facing rural America in 2006--energy prices, the budget climate, and sprawl.
Date: 12 / 2005
Opening Opportunities, Building Ownership: Fulfilling the Promise of Microenterprise in the United States
Author(s): Elaine Edgecomb, Joyce Klein
Sponsoring organization: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
A comprehensive look at the 20-year-old microenterprise field - its accomplishments, weaknesses and future potential. Describes the current economic context for self employment; explores the development and performance of the industry; examines the value of microenterprise to low-income Americans; and recommends eight directions that can help transform the industry and position it for long-term growth and sustainability.
Date: 02 / 2005
Outsourcing High-Tech Jobs to Rural America
Author(s): Howard Berkes
Sponsoring organization: National Public Radio
Discusses how the company, Rural Sourcing, is attempting to bring outsourcing jobs back to smaller cities and towns.
Date: 02 / 2005
Policy Options for a Changing Rural America
Author(s): Leslie A. Whitener, Tim Parker
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Overview of the changing demographics and economy of rural America and policy options to address these changes.
Journal citation: Amber Waves
Date: 05 / 2007
Population Aging, Entitlement Growth, and the Economy
Author(s): John R. Gist
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
Identifies how the aging of the baby boom generation and increased longevity are transforming the demographic composition of the U.S. population. Also discusses how this change in demographics will increase federal spending and effect the national economy.
Date: 01 / 2007
Power of Technological Innovation in Rural America
Author(s): Jason Henderson
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Explores how technological adoption can help invigorate rural economies by creating new products, improving production processes, and opening up new markets.
Journal citation: Main Street Economist Volume 2 Issue 4
Date: 2007
Promising Opportunities: A Fresh Look at Opportunities for Rural Communities
Author(s): Kim Preston, Jon M. Bailey
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Discusses economic development strategies used by rural communities in the Great Plains. Covers environmental, energy, agricultural, microenterprise, and other economic development activities. Includes examples of state initiatives.
Date: 10 / 2007
Promoting Tourism in Rural America
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Covers the major issues in rural tourism including agritourism, cultural/heritage tourism, ecotourism, planning, marketing, economic impact and more. It provides web links to more than 50 full-text "how to" information guides, manuals, and handbooks for assisting local officials, communities, and citizens involved in tourism development and includes a section of resources organizations.
Recreation, Tourism, and Rural Well-Being
Author(s): Richard J. Reeder, Dennis M. Brown
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Assesses the effect of recreation and tourism development on socioeconomic conditions in rural recreation counties. The findings imply that recreation and tourism development contributes to rural well-being, increasing local employment, wage levels, and income, reducing poverty, and improving education and health.
Date: 08 / 2005
Reframing the Work of Rural Community Development: Case Studies in Innovative Rural Business Strategies
Author(s): David Dangler, Anne Gass, Marcia Nedland
Sponsoring organization: NeighborWorks America
Case studies of six business strategies being used in diverse rural markets across America.
Date: 01 / 2007
Regional Asset Indicators: Tapping the Skills Surplus in Rural America
Author(s): Sean Moore
Sponsoring organization: Regional, Public and Community Affairs Division, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Reports on the new indicators for measuring a region's potential assets in five categories: innovation, workforce, finance, lifestyle, and information. Analyzes the underused and overlooked local resource, underemployment, which is a critical workforce asset.
Journal citation: Main Street Economist
Date: 02 / 2005
Retirees Boosting States' Rural Economies
Author(s): Christine Vestal
Sponsoring organization: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
Discusses how the baby boom generation could provide economic growth for rural communities.
Date: 03 / 2006
Rural Development: Executive Summary, July 2006
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Describes the current state of rural development, discusses and evaluates current key rural development programs available to communities and individuals through the USDA, and concludes with a discussion of general policy alternatives.
Date: 07 / 2006
Rural Development: July 2006
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
This paper describes the current state of rural development, discusses and evaluates current key rural development programs available to communities and individuals through the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and concludes with a discussion of general policy alternatives.
Date: 07 / 2006
Rural Economic Development: More Assurance is Needed That Grant Funding Information is Accurately Reported
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
Overview of federal funding for rural economic development programs, covering 86 federal programs at 10 federal agencies and three regional commissions.
Date: 02 / 2006
Rural Employment at a Glance
Author(s): Lorin Kusmin, Timothy Parker
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Provides indicators of employment and unemployment in rural areas. Covers changes and differences in metro and nonmetro employment growth, unemployment, earnings per job, and occupational mix, as well as differences across nonmetro areas by location and county type.
Date: 12 / 2006
Rural Homes: Reinvesting in Rural Communities
Sponsoring organization: Housing Assistance Council
A special issue of Rural Voices that examines the impact of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and the ways in which banks and community organizations have partnered using CRA to
reinvest in rural communities.
Journal citation: Rural Voices Volume 12 Issue 1
Date: 03 / 2007
Self-Employment in Rural America: The New Economic Reality
Author(s): Stephan J. Goetz
Sponsoring organization: Rural Sociological Society
Offers a snapshot of how self-employment is
playing out in different locales across the country, with particular focus on rural areas. Documents the numbers of self-employed and their wages relative to standard wage and salary workers.
Journal citation: Rural Realities Volume 2 Issue 3
Date: 2008
Staying Connected: Building Entrepreneur Networks
Author(s): Candace Nelson
Sponsoring organization: Aspen Institute
Discusses how networking, associations, and
peer and affinity groups can support business growth and provides guidance on how to assess
the costs and benefits of these strategies.
This is Volume six of the FIELD Best Practice Guide series.
Date: 03 / 2004
Staying Connected: Building Entrepreneurial Networks
Author(s): Candace Nelson
Sponsoring organization: Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination
Discusses how networking, associations, peer and
affinity groups can support microenterprise and entrepreneurship. Includes examples of successful networking in rural communities.
Date: 03 / 2004
Telling Their Stories: Women Business Owners in Western Maine
Author(s): Coastal Enterprises, Inc.
Describes the entrepreneurship and businesses of 14 women business owners in rural communities in Western Maine.
Date: 2006
Thinking Regionally, Acting Locally: Emerging Rural Regions in the U.S.
Author(s): Kendall McDaniel
Sponsoring organization: Regional, Public and Community Affairs Division, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Identifies ways rural communities can work on a regional plan to promote economic development. Case studies are included.
Journal citation: Main Street Economist
Date: 05 / 2003
Turning Around Downtown: Twelve Steps to Revitalization
Author(s): Christopher B. Leinberger
Sponsoring organization: Brookings Institution
This paper lays out the fundamentals of a downtown turnaround plan and the unique "private/public" partnership
required to succeed. Beginning with visioning and strategic planning to the reemergence of
an office market at the end stages, these 12 steps form a template for returning "walkable
urbanity" downtown.
Date: 03 / 2005
Turning Bases Into Great Places: New Life for Closed Military Facilities
Author(s): Mary Kay Bailey, Rosemary Monahan, Ilana Preuss, Aimee Storm, Megan Susman
Sponsoring organization: Environmental Protection Agency
Provides advice to communities near military bases that are closing to reducing operations. It notes that many of the most successful military-base redevelopment projects share several important traits, including: 1) planning for redevelopment early; 2) keeping the public involved throughout the redevelopment process; and 3) using the base's location, infrastructure, historic buildings and environmentally sensitive lands to the best advantage. The use of smart growth principles in base redevelopment is emphasized.
Date: 01 / 2006
Wealth Building in Rural America: Programs, Policies, Research (Draft Report)
Sponsoring organization: Center for Social Development
Explores research on existing wealth building policies and programs in rural America and
identifies approaches that are working well in some regions that might provide models for other
regions.
Date: 2006
Why Some Rural Communities Prosper While Others Do Not
Author(s): A. M. Isserman, E.Feser, D. Warren
Sponsoring organization: USDA Rural Development
Focuses on rural prosperity that occurs in some communities to provide answers and insights on the rural condition and rural policy.
Date: 05 / 2007
Wind Energy for Rural Economic Development
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Energy
Discusses the positive economic growth from establishing wind energy projects in rural communities. Identifies successful operations and contact information for additional resources.
Date: 08 / 2004
Workforce Development Networks in Rural Areas of the United States
Author(s): Gary Paul Green
Sponsoring organization: Southern Rural Development Center
Examines how workforce development networks are organized, why employers and community colleges participate in them, and the factors influencing
their success.
Date: 09 / 2003
Organizations
Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO)
National organization
Provides a forum, information, and a voice to promote enterprise opportunity for people and communities with limited access to economic resources.
Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living: Rural Transportation Homepage (APRIL)
National organization
An advocacy home page to develop policies to promote universally accessible rural transportation for people with disabilities.
Center for Brownfields Initiatives (CBI)
National organization
The business and community portal for identifying, structuring, closing and supporting Brownfields and Urban Redevelopment transactions on the Internet. This includes acting as a clearinghouse for information, property listings, and supporting services.
Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
National organization
Works to stimulate and support private and public entrepreneurship development in rural communities.
CFED
Nonprofit/Foundation
Promotes asset-building and economic opportunity strategies, primarily in low-income and distressed communities, that bring together community practice, public policy, and private markets in new and effective ways.
Council of State Community Development Agencies (COSCDA)
National organization
Supports the common interest and goals of states, with major emphasis on community development, affordable housing, local economic development and state-local relations.
Economic Development Administration (EDA)
Federal government
EDA assistance is available to rural and urban areas of the Nation experiencing high unemployment, low income, or other severe economic distress. Established to generate jobs, help retain existing jobs, and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically-distressed areas of the United States.
Part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
National organization
Commitment is to foster both ends of the opportunity continuum: education and entrepreneurship.
Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination (FIELD)
Academic/Research
Works to identify, develop, and disseminate best practices in the field of microenterprise, and to publicize the value of microenterprise as an anti-poverty intervention.
Heartland Center for Leadership Development
Nonprofit/Foundation
Works to develop local leadership that responds to the challenges of the future. Focused on practical resources and public policies for rural community survival. Provides training and services in leadership, community development, strategic planning, evaluation, and energizing entrepreneurship.
Housing Assistance Council (HAC)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Helps local organizations build affordable homes in rural America.
Insight: Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED)
National organization
A national research, consulting, and legal organization dedicated to building economic health in vulnerable communities. Develops and promotes solutions that help people and communities become economically secure.
MicroMentor
National organization
Helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses through mentoring relationships with experienced business professionals. Mission is to improve the economic well-being for families located in distressed communities and neighborhoods nationally, by providing personalized mentoring assistance and business support to underserved small and emerging business owners through the Internet.
Mid-South Delta Initiative (MSDI)
Nonprofit/Foundation
The Mid South Delta Initiative (MSDI) is a long-term economic, community and leadership development effort focused on 55 contiguous counties and parishes along the Mississippi River in rural Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP)
National organization
Works to improve the visibility, coordination, professional status and resource base of community and economic development extension programs and professionals.
National Association of Development Organizations (NADO)
National organization
Advocates for a regional approach to community, economic and rural development. Provides a network for its members to share ideas and innovations.
National Association of Towns and Townships (NATaT)
National organization
Works to strengthen the effectiveness of town and township government by educating lawmakers and public policy officials about how small town governments operate and by advocating policies on their behalf in Washington, D.C.
National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB)
National organization
Represents the interests of the nation's Workforce Investment Boards that provide workforce development leadership in their communities. Governs and oversees the federal resources that support the operations of the national network of One-Stop Career Centers and federal training investments.
National Business Incubation Association (NBIA)
National organization
Provides training and a clearinghouse for information on incubator management and development issues and on tools for assisting start-up and fledgling firms.
National Center for Rural Health Works
National organization
Develops tools for local residents to measure the economic impact of their health care system and to identify new health care services needed by their community. Provides training workshops and technical assistance to help clients understand and use these tools.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Federal government
Responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related disease and injury. Part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Provides an information service on workplace health and safety issues.
National League of Cities (NLC)
National organization
The National League of Cities is the oldest and largest national organization representing municipal governments throughout the United States. Its mission is to strengthen and promote cities as centers of opportunity, leadership, and governance.
National Rural Development Partnership (NRDP)
Federal government
Works to strengthen rural America through collaborative partnerships among key institutions. The NRDP brings together partners from local, state, tribal, and federal governments, and from the for-profit and nonprofit private sector, through State Rural Development Councils. USDA Rural Development's Office of Community Development (OCD) administers the National Rural Development Partnership.
Orton Family Foundation
Nonprofit/Foundation
A nonprofit, private, operating foundation working with small communities as they cope with rapid economic, social and environmental change.
Mission is to provide communities with the tools they need to undertake responsible land use planning.
Rural Development Leadership Network (RDLN)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Supports community-based development in poor rural areas through hands-on projects, education and skills building, leadership development and networking. Does not provide funding, but asks participants' sponsoring organizations to provide funds needed to pay standard tuition costs for the participants to the schools worked with.
Rural Opportunities, Inc. (ROI)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Regional community development and human service organization providing services to farmworkers, low-income families and economically depressed communities throughout New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, and Puerto Rico.
SCORE: Counselors to America's Small Business (SCORE)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Provides small business counseling and training through a network of 389 chapters, 800 branches and its Web site www.score.org. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)
Federal government
Small Business Development Centers are one-stop assistance centers that enhance economic development by providing small business with management and technical assistance. They also provide counseling assistance to prospective small business owners. There are more than 1100 SBDC central and branch offices in the U.S. and territories. The program is a cooperative effort of the private sector, the educational community and federal, state and local governments.
Sonoran Institute
Nonprofit/Foundation
The Sonoran Institute works with communities to conserve and restore important natural landscapes in Western North America, including the wildlife and cultural values of these lands.
Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC)
State/regional organization
The Southern Rural Development Center seeks to strengthen the capacity of the region's 29 land-grant institutions to address critical contemporary rural development issues impacting the well-being of people and communities in the rural South.
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
Federal government
Provides financial, technical and management assistance to help Americans start, run, and grow their businesses.
USDA Economic Research Service (USDA ERS)
Federal government
Provides economic analyses to support a competitive agricultural system, a safe food supply, a healthy, well-nourished population,
harmony between agriculture and the environment, and enhanced quality of life for rural Americans.
USDA Rural Development
Federal government
Helps improve the economy and quality of life in all of rural America through programs that support essential public facilities and services, encourage economic development and offer technical assistance and information.
Terms & Acronyms
Brownfield Abandoned, idled, or underused industrial or commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by environmental contamination or the fear of such contamination.
Business Incubator An enterprise that is set up to provide office space, equipment, and sometimes mentoring assistance and capital to new businesses that are just getting started.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) provides funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that enables state and local governments to target their own economic development priorities. Although the rehabilitation of affordable housing has traditionally been the largest single use of the grants, the program is also an increasingly important catalyst for economic development activities that expand job and business opportunities for lower income families and neighborhoods.
Digital Divide The term describes patterns of unequal access to information technology, primarily used with computers and the Internet. The gap exists between individuals who have access to use information technology and those who do not. Often the term is used to describe the discrepancy between those who have the skills, knowledge and abilities to use the technologies and those who do not. The digital divide is often used to refer to whole communities, such as urban or rural, but it is also used to identify residents within a community.
Economic Development Administration (EDA) The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration provides grants for infrastructure development, local capacity building, and business development to help communities alleviate conditions of substantial and persistent unemployment and underemployment in economically distressed areas and regions.
Empowerment Zones Federally designated areas of high unemployment and poverty.
Enterprise Zone A zoning designation that provides firms incentives to create jobs with various combinations of regulatory relief and tax abatements, credits, deductions, and exemptions.
HUD U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Individual Development Account (IDA) An Individual Development Account (IDA) is a special type of savings program run by nonprofit organizations where you place money in a bank, and the amount of money that you put in your IDA savings account is matched by the nonprofit organization. The accounts can only be used for buying a home, paying for education or job training expenses, or starting a small business or saving for retirement. Financial literacy training classes are required and income guidelines must be met.
Microenterprise Generally defined as businesses with five or fewer employees, including the owner, that require less than $25,000 in start-up funds.
Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs Act (PRIME) PRIME offers federal grants to qualified organizations to provide training and technical assistance to disadvantaged microentrepreneurs. These organizations include microenterprise development programs that are accountable to a local community, working in conjunction with an Indian tribe, with proper certification that no other qualified organization exists within their jurisdiction.
RC/EZ/EC Renewal Communities/Empowerment Zone/ Enterprise Community Program.
Renewal Communities Renewal Communities create a partnership between Federal, State, and local governments; local businesses; and community organizations to encourage economic growth in both urban and rural areas of distress through public-private collaborations. The program works by granting a number of tax incentives to areas receiving RC designations, exempting businesses in the communities from some taxation and regulations that apply elsewhere.
Rural Economic Area Partnership Zones (REAP) An initiative for rural revitalization and community development established to address critical issues related to constraints in economic activity and growth, low density settlement patterns, stagnant or declining employment, and isolation that has led to disconnection from markets, suppliers, and centers of information and finance.
State Rural Development Councils (SRDC) A collaborative partnership comprised of representatives of the federal, state, local, and tribal governments, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector created by the USDA and the state Governor to promote rural development within the state.
|
