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 that include:
- 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 the necessary services that support work.
- Lower per capita incomes limit tax revenue in rural areas resulting in fewer resources for social services.
This page provides a variety of resources that can tie job creation to small business and economic development in rural communities.
Related Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Tools
2011 Small Business Profiles for the States and Territories
Web site
Supplies data on small businesses in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and limited data on the U.S. territories. Topics covered include: the number of firms, demographics of business ownership, small business income, banking, business turnover, industry composition, and employment gains and losses by size of business.
A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies
Web site
A-Z list of government offices and services used to locate such services and offices by state or local area. Website is also available in many other languages.
ARRA Registering and Reporting Guide
Web site
Helps water/wastewater systems with loans/grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Utilities Service to properly register and report their activities. Includes information on registering for a DUNS number, Central Contractor Registration (CCR), registering and reporting at Federalreporting.gov, and using copy forward and linking.
Association for Small Business Development Centers
Web site
Comprehensive small business assistance network that helps new entrepreneurs become business owners, and assists existing businesses to remain competitive.
Brownfields and Land Revitalization: State & Tribal Response Programs Publications
Web site
Provides a variety of publications looking at the components of state and tribal brownfields and their response programs.
CAP Services Virtual Business Incubator
Web site
Provides technical advice and referrals.
Connecting Communities
Web site
Addresses the challenges rural communities face in adopting information technology tools and infrastructure. Curriculum is part of the National e-Commerce Extension Initiative Learning Center.
Cooperative Extension System Offices
Web site
Lists contact information for all USDA Cooperative Extension System Offices in the U.S., which provide practical and research-based information to agricultural producers, small business owners, youth, consumers, and others in rural areas and communities of all sizes.
Economic Impact Analysis Tool
Web site
Generates summary reports showing how grant spending can benefit a local, rural economy. Reports can reflect past, current and future grant spending.
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.
Federal Reserve System Online
Web site
Provides a variety of resources offered to Americans from the Federal Reserve System. Includes contact and websites for the regional Federal Reserve Banks.
FIELD Health Insurance Resources
Web site
A set of resources for microenterprise practitioners to help them access affordable health insurance.
Foreclosure Mitigation Toolkit for Communities
Web site
Provides resources to assist communities in addressing the current turmoil in the housing market and minimize the impact of foreclosures on neighborhoods. Web links and local resources are included.
GovLoans.gov
Web site
Single point of access for information about Federal loan programs from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Commerce, Education (FSA), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Grant Space: Where can I find funding for my business?
Web site
Information about funding and other resources for for-profit enterprises.
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.
Insight Center for Community Economic Development (CCED)
Web site
Offers resources and information to help support the development of individuals and communities through research, plus legal and consulting services.
Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Compass
Web site
Interactive web-based document and map highlighting USDA support for local and regional food projects and successful producer, business and community case studies.
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
Serves as a federal-state-local partnership providing training and technical assistance products and services for distribution and replication by the states' rural transit agencies and operators. Website offers access to information and expertise, including a list of state Rural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP) contacts.
NIFA Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDC)
Web site
A component of USDA. Links and collaborates research and educational outreach of public universities with communities, entrepreneurs, families, and farmers. Comprised of four centers including North Central, Southern, Northeast, and Western.
Recovery.gov
Web site
U.S. government’s official website providing access to data related to Recovery Act spending. Features information on the opportunities, including jobs, provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as well as information on where the ARRA funding is going and up-to-date data on the expenditure of funds. Allows for the reporting of potential fraud, waste, and abuse.
Renew Rural America: Strategies for Revitalizing Our Communities
Web site
Resources, news and information that rural residents can access and utilize in providing leadership to their communities' revitalization efforts.
RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
Web site
Provides resources and training to help leaders and citizens in rural communities and regions across the U.S. embrace entrepreneurship as a core rural economic development strategy.
Rural Development Virtual Library
Web site
Contains resources to enhance development and asset-building strategies for rural communities and their residents.
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 Enterprise Assistance Project (REAP)
Technical assistance
Offers support for small rural business development in the form of management training, a loan fund, networking, and technical assistance.
Rural Futures Lab
Web site
Provides access to the products of the Rural Futures Lab, which aims to ensure a successful future for rural America through papers, profiles, and case studies focusing on food systems, renewable energy, entrepreneurship, disability, and health systems.
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.
Rural Renewal Monitor
Web site
Collects news articles about innovative rural development efforts, challenges faced by rural communities, and rural policy developments.
Rural, Tribal and Small Town Sustainability
Web site
Part of HUD's Sustainable Communities Resource Center, this topic area describes strategies that communities are developing to improve their environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Offers publications and reports, tools and toolkits, plus sample programs and initiatives for rural, tribal and small town sustainability.
SBA Counseling and Training
Web site
Listing of free small business counseling, mentoring and training through a variety of programs and resource partners, located strategically around the country.
SBA Starting Up Assessment Tool
Web site
A self-assessment tool designed to help individuals determine if they are ready to start a small business.
SBA Veterans Business Development Officers
Web site
Veterans Business Development Officers in the SBA District Offices can help veterans prepare and plan for entrepreneurial projects.
Small Business Profiles for the States and Territories (Archival)
Web site
Archival data from 2005 on small businesses in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and limited data on the U.S. territories.
Small Towns, Big Ideas: Case Studies in Small Town Economic Community Development
Web site
Identifies and documents fifty small towns that were implementing successful or innovative approaches to community economic development. Includes a full report and a searchable database of case studies about planning and implementing economic development strategies in small towns with populations of fewer than 10,000 residents.
Starting and Managing a 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.
USDA Recovery Act Information
Web site
A website that will allow people to learn about, share, and discuss American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding in states and communities throughout the country.
USDA Rural Tour
Web site
Relays findings and comments from rural citizens on how to best rebuild and revitalize America as provided to federal officials while touring rural America.
VirtualCAP
Web site
Provides information and resources 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. Includes directory of local community action agencies by state or agency.
White House Rural Council
Web site
Focuses on job creation and economic development in rural areas. Works to create dialogue between the Administration and rural America.
Funding
Appalachian Angel Capital Fund
Funding to support to local communities to form angel investment funds in the Appalachian Region.
Business and Industry Guaranteed Loans
Loans to improve, develop, or finance business, industry, and employment and improve the economic and environmental climate in rural communities.
Community Connect Broadband Grant Program
Grants for communities without broadband service to provide residential service and connect facilities such as police and fire stations, health care, libraries and schools. Priority will be given to rural areas that have the greatest need.
Community Economic Development (CED) Projects
Grants to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) for projects designed to address the economic needs of low-income individuals and families through the creation of employment and business opportunities.
Community Resource Group (CRG) Loan Fund
Loans to help small, rural communities and tribal nations, in select states, for water and wastewater projects.
Delta Regional Authority Economic Development Assistance Program
Grants to help Delta communities create jobs and improve infrastructure through the States’ Economic Development Assistance Program.
Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP)
Grants to increase domestic consumption of agricultural commodities by expanding direct producer-to-consumer market 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
Encourages collaborative and participatory efforts among citizens in rural communities that will help to strengthen their towns and regions in a number of civic areas.
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 Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program
This program furnishes loans and loan guarantees to provide funds for the costs of construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment needed to provide service at the broadband lending speed in eligible rural areas.
Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG)
Provides grants for the development of small and emerging rural businesses, distance learning networks, and employment related adult education programs.
Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program (REDLG)
Loans and grants are to assist in economically developing rural areas.
Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP)
Funding to provide direct loans, technical assistance grants, and technical assistance-only grants to microdevelopment organizations to support the development and ongoing success of rural microentrepreneurs and microenterprises.
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.
Small, Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grant Program
Grants for Cooperative Development Centers, individual Cooperatives, or Groups of Cooperatives that serve socially-disadvantaged groups in rural areas.
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.
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
Agricultural Tourism & Rural Development
Author(s): Steven W. Burr
Sponsoring organization: Western Rural Development Center
Identifies how agricultural entrepreneurs are diversifying their enterprises, and adding value and income by producing for specialty or niche markets, and providing services or experiences for a visiting public.
Journal citation: Rural Connections
Date: 09 / 2011
Analysis of Awardees of the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP)
Author(s): Jon M. Bailey
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Highlights the 2010-2011 RMAP awardees. Loans and grants are for rural small businesses in rural communities, with the goals to create jobs in and strengthen those communities.
Date: 10 / 2011
Baby Boom Migration and Its Impact on Rural America (Executive Summary)
Author(s): John Cromartie, Peter Nelson
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
An analysis of the migration shift of baby boomers that indicates a propensity to migrate to nonmetro counties as people reach their fifties and sixties and projects a shift in migration among boomers toward more isolated settings, especially those with high natural and urban amenities and lower housing costs.
Date: 08 / 2009
Baby Boom Migration Tilts Toward Rural America
Author(s): John Cromartie, Peter Nelson
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Describes the trend of baby boomer migration patterns to rural and small-town populations.
Date: 09 / 2009
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 Internet Service Helping Create a Rural Digital Economy
Author(s): Peter Stenberg, Mitch Morehart, John Cromartie
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Discusses the benefits of broadband high speed Internet service in rural communities in relation to employment and economic growth.
Journal citation: Amber Waves Volume 7 Issue 3
Date: 09 / 2009
Broadband Internet's Value for Rural America
Author(s): Peter Stenberg, Mitch Morehart, Stephen Vogel, John Cromartie, Vince Breneman, Dennis Brown
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Analyzes rural broadband use by consumers, the community-at-large, and businesses; (2) rural broadband availability; and (3) broadband's social and economic effects on rural areas.
Date: 08 / 2009
Burden of Poverty in Rural America
Author(s): Beth Landon
Sponsoring organization: American Public Human Services Association
Discusses how poverty impacts health. Identifies key rural economic development areas and how they may strengthen the health and wellness of rural communities.
Date: 10 / 2009
Community Health Centers and the Economy: Assessing Centers’ Role in Immediate Job Creation Efforts
Author(s): Sara Rosenbaum, Peter Shin
Sponsoring organization: George Washington University Department of Health Policy
Examines the potential economic benefit, including job creation opportunities, resulting from investments in community health centers.
Date: 09 / 2011
County-To-County Migration of Taxpayers and their Incomes, 1995-2006
Author(s): Arthur P. Hall, Scott Moody, Wendy P. Warcholik
Sponsoring organization: University of Kansas
Provides data on taxpayer moves between counties and found three broad trends: outmigration from very rural areas, migration to areas with pleasant weather and natural amenities and outmigration from very large urban centers to smaller urban centers.
Date: 03 / 2009
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
Distance Learning and the Changing Face of Business Development Services
Author(s): Luz Gomez, Joyce Klein
Sponsoring organization: Aspen Institute
Looks at early practice in the area of distance-based business development services for rural and urban programs. Provides lessons for those looking to embark or expand efforts in this area.
Date: 09 / 2011
Dynamics of Sustainability: A Primer for Rural Health Organizations
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
Provides information and case studies on sustainability for rural organizations that are starting new programs.
Date: 02 / 2012
Economic Impact of Healthcare Reform on Small Business
Sponsoring organization: Small Business Majority
Analyzes the type of healthcare reform that is emerging from the current debate and how it will save small businesses costs, protect wages and jobs and allow small business owners to continue to invest in and strengthen the economy.
Date: 06 / 2009
Economic Recovery: Lessons Learned From Previous Recessions
Author(s): Timothy S. Parker, Lorin D. Kusmin, Alexander W. Marré
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Discusses how the rates of employment loss and unemployment in the recent recession are about the same in metro and nonmetro areas, but based on previous recessions, nonmetro employment may recover more slowly.
Journal citation: Amber Waves
Date: 02 / 2010
Educating Adults to Improve Rural Economic Development
Author(s): Amber Ramsey, Ruoye Yang
Discusses the need for adult education in rural areas. Presents the interactive model of program planning applied in education of rural America.
Date: 2010
Enduring Challenge of Concentrated Poverty in America: Case Studies from Communities Across the U.S.
Author(s): http://www.frbsf.org/cpreport/docs/cp_fullreport.pdf
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve System
Reports on the issue of concentrated poverty. Profiles 16 high-poverty communities from across the country, including immigrant gateway, Native American, urban, and rural communities. Identifies the policies needed to bring poor people in poor communities into the mainstream.
Date: 2008
Entrepreneurship Development in Rural America: Insights into Triple Bottom Line and Wealth Creation Impacts of Entrepreneurship Strategies
Author(s): Deborah Markley, Nancy Stark
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
Addresses rural entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy for achieving positive outcomes in the community's economy, environment and civic livelihood.
Date: 02 / 2009
Environmental, Economic, and Social Changes in Rural America Visible in Survey Data and Satellite Images
Author(s): Joel Hartter, Chris R. Colocousis
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Explores regional differences in social, economic, and environmental settings in the rural communities of the Northern Forest, Central Appalachia, and Pacific Northwest.
Date: 2011
Estimating Potential Changes to USDA RD's Eligible Area Designations
Sponsoring organization: Housing Assistance Council
Discusses the potential impacts to the current
USDA‐RD eligible area designations that could result from statutory changes linked to
population figures from the 2010 Decennial Census.
Date: 09 / 2011
Exploring the Role of Regional Transportation Projects as Rural Economy Drivers
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Development Organizations
Describes case studies in Alabama, Oregon, and Vermont that demonstrate successful partnerships between regional development organizations (RDOs) and local governments in transportation-led economic development projects.
Date: 2011
Farm Activities Associated With Rural Development Initiatives
Author(s): Faqir Singh Bagi, Richard Reeder
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Describes farm and farmer characteristics that may influence farm operator involvement in development activities, specifically by focusing on five farm activities: organic farming,
value-added agriculture, direct marketing, agritourism, and energy/electricity production.
Date: 05 / 2012
Federal Tax Policies and Low-Income Rural Households
Author(s): Ron Durst, Tracey Farrigan
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Report finds that expansions to both the refundable and nonrefundable portions of the Earned Income and Child Tax credits provide a major source of income support for low-income rural workers and their families, especially in the South where the rural poor are concentrated.
Date: 05 / 2011
Geographic Targeting Issues in the Delivery of Rural Development Assistance
Author(s): Richard Reeder, Fagir Bagi
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Report uses analysis of the geographic distribution of Federal funding to discuss potential tradeoffs for distressed rural areas when shifting from one form of rural development assistance to another, particularly when shifting to greater use of government-guaranteed loans.
Journal citation: Amber Waves
Date: 04 / 2010
Grey Gold: Do Older In-Migrants Benefit Rural Communities?
Author(s): Nina Glasgow, David L. Brown
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Examines both the micro and macro aspects of rural retirement migration: the development and impact of rural retirement destinations; and the social and economic dynamics of older in-migration.
Date: 2008
Growing Your Region’s Economy with Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Development Organizations
Highlights the innovative approaches being taken by five regional development organizations (RDO) in Colorado, Oregon, Texas, and Wisconsin to spur job growth in rural areas through new business startups or existing business expansions.
Date: 12 / 2011
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
Impacts of Regional Approaches to Rural Development: Initial Evidence on the Delta Regional Authority
Author(s): John Pender, Richard Reeder
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Compares nonmetro counties covered by the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), which began funding rural development projects in 2002, with similar counties.
Date: 06 / 2011
Importance of a Healthy Rural Economy
Author(s): Kathleen Miller
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Discusses the shift in the primary occupation of farm operators to off farm jobs.
Date: 02 / 2009
Importance of Community Health Centers: Engines of Economic Activity and Job Creation
Author(s): Ellen-Marie Whelan
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
Looks at community health centers and their potential to deliver jobs and economic growth.
Date: 08 / 2010
Is Rural America Facing a Home Price Bust?
Author(s): Chad R. Wilkerson
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Reviews trends in newly released home price data for non-metro areas of the United States.
Journal citation: Main Street Economist Volume 3 Issue 6
Date: 2008
Jobs and Economic Security for Rural America
Sponsoring organization: White House
Highlights programs and policies the current administration has implemented in rural America to support economic growth and job creation. Discusses the White House Rural Council which was developed to accelerate the ongoing work of promoting economic growth in rural America and which focuses on spurring agricultural innovation, expanding infrastructure, increasing access to capital in rural areas for small
businesses, and creating economic opportunities through conservation and outdoor recreation.
Date: 08 / 2011
Learning from Concentrated Poverty in America: A Synthesis of Themes from the Case Studies
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve System
A chapter from The Enduring Challenge of Concentrated Poverty in America that profiles 16 high-poverty communities from across the country, including immigrant gateway, Native American, urban, and rural communities. Highlights how place matters with multiple examples.
Date: 2008
Local Agricultural Community Exchange: Outcomes and Lessons Learned from a Public-Private Initiative to Revitalize a Downtown Community
Author(s): Michele Cranwell Schmidt
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Describes a downtown revitalization project in the rural community of Barre, Vermont. The project transformed an empty storefront into a market and café, an artisan gallery, and a commercially licensed, shared-use kitchen. Presents lessons learned, strategies, and project challenges.
Date: 2012
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 information technology services delivery in the US.
Date: 07 / 2007
Measures and Methods: Four Tenets for Rural Economic Development in the New Economy
Author(s): Anita Brown-Graham, William Lambe
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Presents four methods and measures for promoting effective economic development. Strategies include innovation, capital investments, environmental development, and generating networks of personal contacts. Describes examples from North Dakota, North Carolina, Nebraska, Virginia, and Arkansas.
Date: 11 / 2008
Monitoring Credit Conditions in Rural America
Author(s): Brian C. Briggeman
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Explains how credit conditions during this current recession have evolved for rural business owners.
Journal citation: Main Street Economist Volume 4 Issue 3
Date: 2009
Moving the Microenterprise Field Forward: Priorities, Strategies and Roles
Author(s): Elaine L. Edgcomb, Joyce A. Klein
Sponsoring organization: Aspen Institute
A report on a meeting of practitioners, intermediaries and funders to discuss a common vision and action plan for the microenterprise field. Includes several references to rural.
Date: 02 / 2009
National Defense Boost in Rural America
Author(s): Chad R. Wilkerson, Megan D. Williams
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Discusses the rise in national defense spending and how it has boosted many rural economies, where the military is the most important and fastest-growing part of the local economy.
Journal citation: Main Street Economist Volume 3 Issue 4
Date: 2008
Nonmetro America: Conditions and Trends
Author(s): Kathleen K. Miller
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Summarizes key demographic and economic indicators in the United States, with an emphasis on nonmetropolitan areas in each state.
Date: 05 / 2008
Nonmetropolitan Outmigration Counties: Some Are Poor, Many Are Prosperous
Author(s): David McGranahan, John Cromartie, Timothy Wojan
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Reports on population loss through net outmigration in nonmetropolitan counties and the characteristics of those counties.
Date: 10 / 2010
Opening a Farmers Market on Federal Property: A Guide for Market Operators and Building Managers
Author(s): Karen Beach, Frank Giblin
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Addresses issues involved in starting a farmers market on federal property, including: security, insurance needs, parking, and the use of utilities and amenities.
Date: 09 / 2009
Past Silos and Smokestacks: Transforming the Rural Economy in the Midwest
Author(s): Mark Drabenstott
Sponsoring organization: Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Discusses a development strategy that includes regional cooperation, innovation, and a leveraging of all strengths for the rural Midwest to transform its economy.
Date: 2010
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
Poverty in Rural America
Sponsoring organization: Housing Assistance Council
Discusses the characteristics and challenges of the poor in rural America. Includes statistics on demographics, impact on housing, and emerging trends of racial and ethnic diversification.
Date: 09 / 2011
Primer: Field of Interest Funds & Economic Development
Author(s): Don Macke
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
Provides a powerful strategy for marrying community philanthropy with entrepreneur-focused
economic development.
Date: 10 / 2010
Prospects for a Rural Recovery
Author(s): Jason Henderson
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Analyzes and compares rural to urban economies and identifies risks to rural economic recovery, such as: out-migration, industrial consolidation, and limited access to capital.
Date: 12 / 2009
Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
Author(s): Nadejda Mishkovsky, Matthew Dalbey, Stephanie Bertaina, Anna Read, Tad McGalliard
Sponsoring organization: International City/County Management Association
Report focuses on smart growth strategies that can help guide growth in rural areas while protecting natural and working lands and preserving the rural character of existing communities.
Date: 2010
RCA's Economic Study: Economic Impact of Wireless Broadband in Rural America
Author(s): Raul L. Katz, Javier Avila, Giacomo Meille
Sponsoring organization: Rural Cellular Association
Access the executive summary and full report of a study that estimates the economic impact that implementation of rural wireless broadband would have on rural America.
Date: 2011
Realizing Health Reform's Potential: Small Businesses and the Affordable Care Act of 2010
Author(s): Sara R. Collins, Karen Davis, Jennifer L. Nicholson, Kristof Stremikis
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
This issue brief examines the provisions set forth in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that help small businesses pay for and maintain health insurance for their workers. Describes the affects these provisions will have over the next ten years and includes data about insured and uninsured employees.
Date: 09 / 2010
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 Approaches to Sustainable Development: Linking Economic, Transportation, and Environmental Infrastructure in Rural and Small Metropolitan America
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Development Organizations
Explores regional sustainable development initiatives in rural and small metropolitan America.
Date: 09 / 2011
Regionalism, Assets, and Entrepreneurship: The Future of Rural Economies
Author(s): Brian Dabson
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Discusses how rural people and places have an important role in applying resources that will lead to economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and social equity for all Americans.
Date: 04 / 2009
Renewable Power Opportunities for Rural Communities
Author(s): Samuel V. Brown, David G. Nderitu, Paul V. Preckel, Douglas J. Gotham, Benjamin W. Allen
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Summary and guide to assist rural utilities investing in a renewable electricity generation project and for policymakers considering how to encourage such investments.
Date: 04 / 2011
Revitalizing Rural Economies Through Entrepreneurship Development Systems
Sponsoring organization: Aspen Institute
Summarizes the findings from a three-year, W. K. Kellogg-funded demonstration involving partnerships at six sites that created Entrepreneurial Development Systems (EDSs) aimed at stimulating entrepreneurship and encouraging economic revitalization in their community.
Date: 12 / 2008
Rural America At A Glance, 2009
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Annual update of the USDA-ERS series that concentrates on social and economic conditions in rural America with references to the effects of the major recession on rural populations.
Date: 09 / 2009
Rural America in Deep Economic Downturn
Author(s): Mark Drabenstott, Sean Moore
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Provides an analysis depicting the rural economy to be losing jobs at a faster rate than the rest of the nation, with a particularly sharp rural slide over the past two months (through January 2009).
Date: 03 / 2009
Rural America's Fiscal Challenge
Author(s): Alison Felix, Jason Henderson
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Discusses the fiscal challenges that state and local governments are facing and the potential threat to the economic recovery in rural America.
Journal citation: Main Street Economist Issue 3 Pages: 1-7
Date: 2010
Rural Americans Strained by Transportation Costs: More Transportation Choice and Compact Development in Towns Could Reduce Cost Burden
Sponsoring organization: Center for Agricultural and Rural Development
Discusses how the unique transportation needs of small town and rural Americans are impacting the continued prosperity of these communities.
Date: 03 / 2010
Rural Connections: Climate Change Adaptations in the Rural West
Sponsoring organization: Western Rural Development Center
Journal issue includes articles that address climate change in the West and the adverse consequences that may and do occur because of the region’s severe water shortages. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of droughts, reduce mountain snowpack, and induce the need for food security adaptation plans.
Date: 06 / 2011
Rural Environmental Justice: Healthy Environments, Shared Decision-Making, and Sustainable Communities
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Assembly
Describes the results of phone interviews with representatives from government agencies, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions,
and rural communities throughout the country on the topic of environmental justice in rural communities. Identifies related policy goals and opportunities.
Date: 2011
Rural Health and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Rural Health Provisions Booklet or Full Summary)
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Summarizes the funding available for rural communities through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Full Summary includes a table of contents.
Date: 2009
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
Rural Multiracial and Multicultural Committee’s Rural Economic Development Policy Brief
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Articulates the importance of and make recommendations for leveraging health resources to strengthen rural economies—especially in communities with our nation’s most disenfranchised populations: People marginalized by geography, race, culture, and language.
Date: 05 / 2009
Rural Wealth Creation: Concepts, Strategies, and Measures
Author(s): John Pender, Alexander Marré, Richard Reeder
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Access separate chapters, a report summary, or the entire report on a framework for rural wealth creation, which focuses on multiple asset types and the economic, institutional, and policy context used for developing a rural wealth strategies.
Date: 03 / 2012
Rural West: Daring to Innovate Job Creation
Sponsoring organization: Western Rural Development Center
Journal issue focuses on research and programs addressing the region’s various approaches to job creation in the rural West.
Journal citation: Rural Connections
Date: 09 / 2011
Small Business Impact of Telecommunications Policy Restriction in Rural States
Author(s): Lori Dickes, Dave Lamie
Sponsoring organization: Western Rural Development Center
Discusses the digital divide still found across geographies, regions, racial groups, age groups and income classifications.
Journal citation: Rural Connections
Date: 09 / 2011
Small Towns Big Ideas: Case Studies in Small Town Community Economic Development (Report only)
Author(s): Will Lambe
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center
Identifies and documents fifty small towns that were implementing successful or innovative approaches to community economic development.
Date: 12 / 2008
Spur Job Creation and Revitalize Rural America
Sponsoring organization: Office of Management and Budget
Fact sheet that summarizes the main rural‐specific proposals of President Obama's FY 2011 budget proposal to Congress. Also includes proposals that could have important implications for rural communities.
Date: 02 / 2010
Strengthening the Rural Economy
Sponsoring organization: White House
Report surveys the current state of rural America and describes the Obama Administration’s policies for strengthening the rural economy. Many of these policies are already being implemented through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Identifies additional work that remains to ensure the prosperity and vitality of rural America.
Date: 04 / 2010
Stretching Ties: Social Capital in the Rebranding of Coos County, New Hampshire
Author(s): Michele Dillon
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Reports on how rural New Hampshire's, Coos County used rebranding as an economic development strategy to create strong personal and institutional relationships within their community.
Date: 10 / 2011
Supporting Sustainable Rural Communities
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Identifies how the federal government can help rural areas to be economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable.
Date: 2011
Sustainable Infrastructure for Small System Public Services: A Planning and Resource Guide
Author(s): Jay Mashburn, Olga Morales
Sponsoring organization: Rural Community Assistance Corporation
Guides very small (fewer than 1,000 connections) to medium communities (up to 5,000 connections) in integrating and initiating green elements into their facilities and projects. Includes informational material, worksheets, examples, case studies and resources on water
conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy for small utilities.
Date: 11 / 2009
Transportation Project Prioritization and Performance-based Planning Efforts in Rural and Small Metropolitan Regions
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Development Organizations
Overview of the state of the practice in non-metro regional transportation planning, including the contract amounts, rural planning organizations (RPO) tasks, and committee structures.
Date: 09 / 2011
Turning Challenges into Opportunities: SRDC 2009 Annual Report
Sponsoring organization: Southern Rural Development Center
Provides an overview of several successful SRDC activities helping rural communities face economic uncertainties.
Date: 01 / 2010
USDA Rural Development 2011 Progress Report
Sponsoring organization: USDA Rural Development
Reports on investments made by USDA Rural Development intended to have a lasting, sustainable impact on rural American by supporting job creation, housing programs, broadband implementation, public utilities and economic activity. Features programs implemented in Kentucky, Michigan, and Oregon and includes total funds granted to each of the 50 states from 2004 - 2011.
Date: 12 / 2011
USDA Rural Utilities Service Borrower’s Guide: A How-to for Water and Wastewater Loans from USDA Rural Development
Sponsoring organization: Rural Community Assistance Partnership
Designed for small, rural communities and borrowers of Rural Utilities Service (RUS) funds to learn how to adequately administer their projects and understand other responsibilities of being a borrower.
Date: 2011
White House Rural Council: Feedback from Rural America
Sponsoring organization: White House
Overview of the challenges and the opportunities rural Americans have voiced during the White House Rural Council's visits to rural communities.
Date: 2011
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
Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program: Fact Sheet
Sponsoring organization: Small Business Administration
Overview of the SBA, Office of Government Contracting, Women-Owned Small Business Program aimed at expanding federal contracting opportunities for women-owned small businesses (WOSBs).
Date: 10 / 2010
Journals
A Drop of Knowledge
An electronic newsletter, delivered via email, that provides tools focusing on issues facing water and wastewater systems, and small, rural communities.
Center for Rural Affairs Newsletter
Monthly publication that surveys national events affecting rural America.
Community Connections
Published quarterly, Community Connections reports on research, programs, and emerging issues affecting low and moderate-income and small business communities. As a regional headquarters of the central bank, the Kansas City Fed seeks to link the communities of the seven-state region to the work of the Federal Reserve, including Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and portions of western Missouri and northern New Mexico.
Main Street Economist
Each issue focuses on one economic topic facing rural America. Discusses major economic issues and opportunities for agriculture and rural America.
Online Journal of Rural Research and Policy
Publishes peer-reviewed academic and community-based research, commentary, and policy articles focused on the Great Plains.
Rural Connections
Published two times each year, Rural Connections focuses each issue on a particular topic of interest to residents in the Western U.S. Contributors include researchers, faculty, and professionals from throughout the nation. Focuses on topics such as health communities, water, food security, sustainability, and renewable energy.
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.
Corporation for Enterprise Development (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
Works to generate jobs, retain existing jobs, and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically-distressed rural and urban areas of the United States. Part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Offers funding in areas such as capital improvements and disaster relief.
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
National organization
Commitment is to foster both ends of the opportunity continuum: education and entrepreneurship.
Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC)
National organization
Helps to integrate returning soldiers into rural farming communities as a means to a new farming career, physical and emotional recovery, and access to healthful foods for themselves, their families and their communities.
Federal Reserve System's Community Affairs Program
Federal government
Engages in outreach, educational and technical assistance activities to help financial institutions, community-based organizations, government entities and the public understand and address financial services issues affecting low and moderate income persons and communities.
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.
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), it 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.
Partners for Rural America (PRA)
National organization
Serves as the national association of State Rural Development Councils (SRDC’s.) Operates in 37 states. Works to expand economic and social opportunities in rural communities, promote equal treatment by government agencies and the private sector, and provide a collective voice for rural America. Includes a listing of all state rural development councils.
RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
National organization
Works to stimulate and support private and public entrepreneurship development in rural communities.
Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Provides technical assistance services and training related to rural solid waste programs, housing, economic development, comprehensive community assessment and planning, and environmental regulations.
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.
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 Administration (SBA)
Federal government
Provides financial, technical and management assistance to help Americans start, run, and grow their businesses.
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.
Small Business Innovation Research Information (SBIR)
Federal government
Ensures that the nation's small, high-tech, innovative businesses are a significant part of the federal government's research and development efforts. Eleven federal departments participate in the SBIR program; five departments participate in the STTR program awarding $2 billion in funding to small high-tech businesses.
Small Business Majority
National organization
Serves as an advocacy organization focused on solving the single biggest problem facing America’s small businesses: the cost of providing healthcare to employees.
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
One of four regional rural development centers in the nation. Works to strengthen the region's 29 land-grant institutions in addressing rural development issues. Serves a 14 state area in the Southern region which includes TX, LA, AR, OK, AL, MS, GA, FL, KY, SC, NC, VA, and TN.
USDA Economic Research Service (USDA ERS)
Federal government
Provides economic analyses to support a competitive agricultural system, 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.
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