In 2006, Kansas State held listening sessions across the state aimed at identifying challenges facing rural communities. During these sessions, the need to support rural grocery stores rose to the top. Supporting rural grocery stores is important because they: Provide jobs and contribute to the local tax base.Act as community hubs for residents to gather and … [Read more...]
Episode 36: The Future of Rural Work
Matt Dunne is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI). The Center is bringing together a network of innovation hubs across rural America through a team of experts. The organization focuses on digital economic development, rural opportunity zones, entrepreneurial investment, and broadband expansion. Dunne has an extensive background in … [Read more...]
Resilience in rural America: Three towns changing the narrative
A flawed, oversimplified narrative about rural America has taken hold. You’ve probably heard a version of it already: Rural America is poor. It’s white. It depends on factory jobs, agriculture and mining. It’s deteriorating. It needs to be saved. This depiction casts a long shadow over rural places that don’t fit the narrative, and it effectively prevents productive … [Read more...]
Episode 35: Resilient Strategies for Rural Economies
Is the common view of rural America outdated? Are the strategies needed to build today’s rural economies actually being implemented? Hanna Love, with the Brookings Institution and Mike Powe, with the National Main Street Center, recently collaborated on a five-part research series on rural revitalization. They argue that our attention should not be focused on an inaccurate … [Read more...]
A common-sense approach to reinvigorating small-town America
As a small town revitalization expert, Deb Brown is filling vacant storefronts in small towns across America. Her recipe for success is simple: Involve locals, break the rules, talk about ideas, and no matter what, do not form another committee. “Kill the committees! What do you need a committee for? Kill them all. Just go do the work,” Brown told Ben Rowley on the Rural … [Read more...]