Students in West Virginia testing local water as part of their Simulated Workplace curriculum. | Photo courtesy West Virginia Department of Education. When the students of Lincoln County High, in Hamlin, West Virginia, roll out of bed for school, nearly half are also getting ready to head to work. The school, serving 850 from the towns of Pleasant View, Griffithsville, … [Read more...]
Rural communities take aim at tourism
With tourism growing, many rural areas are working to capitalize on humanity’s wanderlust. Travel and tourism generates $7.6 trillion globally and $1.6 trillion for the U.S. economy, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. Many small towns want a piece of the industry to bolster their economies. Visions include long-vacant buildings being repurposed into … [Read more...]
Building a resilient rural economy
It took over three decades, but the “Heart of the Rockies” today shines as an example of how to create a strong, lasting economy. Salida, Colo. morphed its struggling business climate into a popular outdoor destination and diversified its economy in the process. As the Chaffee County seat created a vibrant tourism base, it expanded other industry sectors as well, and the … [Read more...]
Obamacare repeal may hurt rural economies most
Rural Americans played a big part in sending Donald Trump to the White House, with 64 percent of those voters pulling the lever for the billionaire real estate developer. Yet the president’s and Republican leaders’ efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) would be “very harmful to rural America,” according to a rural healthcare expert. Dr. … [Read more...]
Rural business leaders getting ahead of change
In a small Kentucky county with a population of just under 5,000 people, a community is coming together to build something beautiful. Hickman County, Kentucky was deeded a piece of land for “one whole dollar,” according to county judge/executive Kenny Wilson. The three-acre property features an acre-and-half lake, and when the property was handed over to the county, Wilson … [Read more...]