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JOBS & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Rural people have unique assets and expertise. Investing in their strengths creates inclusive, sustainable growth that generates jobs and strengthens communities.
Industries like agriculture, forestry, and manufacturing have long been pillars of employment. However, there is both a need and a desire to adapt to changing economic landscapes, technological advancements, and shifts in consumer demands. Access to quality education, broadband connectivity, and infrastructure improvements remain crucial for nurturing a vibrant workforce and building continued momentum toward equitable prosperity in rural America.
Jobs & Workforce Development Research & Resources
Toward Racial Equity & Rural Prosperity
ChangeLab Solutions
Explore a suite of resources created by ChangeLab Solutions designed to help community organizations, policymakers, and other changemakers advance racial equity and rural prosperity.
Rural Development Hubs Report
Rural Development Hubs are a specific set of intermediaries that are doing development differently in rural America. They are main players advancing an asset-based, wealth-building, approach to rural community and economic development.
The Equity of Economic Opportunity in Rural America
The Center on Rural Innovation (CORI)
Research on rural America’s economic opportunity from CORI highlights growing disparities due to the knowledge economy’s focus on urban areas. It emphasizes the need for equitable policy and investment in rural regions to address systemic inequities and enable rural participation in the knowledge economy.
Collaborative Strategies for Rural Health & Economic Prosperity
Insights and recommendations to do rural development and rural health differently—moving collectively toward equitable rural development with projects grounded in place and a people-centered vision of community impact.
Reimagining Rural policy: Organizing Federal Assistance to Maximize Rural Prosperity
Brookings Institution
The federal programs available today to promote rural economic and community development serve as a reminder of active federal involvement in the 20th century, but they are outdated, fragmented, and incoherent. How can federal policy more effectively support development in rural America?
Measure Up: A Call to Action
Today, we have a generational opportunity to strengthen prosperity and equity in communities and Native nations across the rural United…
Maternal health in rural America
National Rural Health Association
This NRHA white paper notes the lack of access to rural obstetric care as a known and growing concern. It supports a multifactorial approach to workforce, local access, regional care models, and social drivers of health to provide obstetric services in rural areas.
Regional Clusters and Rural Development
Brookings Institution
Implementation of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge offers an enormous opportunity to advance how regional approaches can benefit — or disadvantage — rural places.
Native Nation Building: It Helps Rural America Thrive
Native nations and rural communities, working side-by-side and together, can strengthen the potential for thriving rural regions.
Mapping a New Terrain: Call to Action
As new rural outdoor recreation economies take root, we can meet this moment by improving how we do outdoor recreation development to better support rural families, businesses, and workers, create more sustainable and equitable economic systems, and improve local health and wellbeing.
JOBS & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN ACTION
A Conversation with NEF about Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Preservation, and Workforce Housing
Rural LISC
In a webinar organized by Rural LISC, experts from the National Equity Fund provide an update on tax credit pricing and what makes a rural tax credit project attractive to investors.
Federal Farm Bill: Big Impacts in Rural Communities
Rural Development Initiatives (RDI)
Despite its name, the Farm Bill impacts far more than just farmers and ranchers. It’s a complex package of federal legislation signed into law every five years that has sweeping effects. Rural Development Initiatives explains what’s in the Farm Bill and what it could mean for rural communities if the Farm Bill is not extended.
Transforming Persistent Poverty in America – How Community Development Financial Institutions Drive Economic Opportunity
Partners for Rural Transformation (PRT)
Eight out of 10 US counties in persistent poverty are nonmetro, and the majority of people living in persistent poverty counties are people of color. PRT examines structural exclusion that affects the nation’s most distressed communities and proposes recommendations to create conditions that advance social and economic opportunity.
Building Assets: Strengthening Community in Low-Wealth Rural Areas
NeighborWorks America
Learning Communities offer a meaningful opportunity for practitioners to come together to better understand practices, contexts, and trends related to their work. This report details lessons and recommendations from a six-month Learning Community focused on strengthening community in low-wealth rural areas.
Webinar: Successful Strategies for Small Business Support in Rural Communities
The International Economic Development Council (IEDC)
Mar. 13th, 2023, 2PM
Rural entrepreneurs face significant roadblocks to needed resources, preventing more businesses from forming in rural areas. In an IEDC webinar, experts share strategies and tools that would support rural small businesses.
Rural America’s Tech Employment Landscape
Center on Rural Innovation (CORI)
This research highlights key aspects of rural tech employment and why they are crucial for policymakers and rural leaders alike to leverage for enhancing tech education and job opportunities.
Transforming Coal Country in Shamokin, Pennsylvania
Brookings Institution
In a podcast episode, Brookings Senior Fellow Tony Pipa visits a former coal town on its way to becoming an outdoor recreation destination after decades of decline. He learns how mine remediation projects are helping spur community renewal from the local leaders who are helping inspire change.
What Is Possible When High-Speed Broadband Comes To Town
Center on Rural Innovation (CORI)
The impact of high-speed broadband in rural America can be transformative, enabling job attraction, innovation hubs, youth tech education, entrepreneurial growth, and improved health outcomes. Learn what’s possible when high-speed internet comes to town from five innovative communities across the US.
Developing a Resilient Downtown in Globe, Arizona
Brookings Institution
In a podcast episode, Brookings Senior Fellow Tony Pipa speaks with residents who have moved back to the boom-and-bust copper mining town of Globe, Arizona, to revitalize its historic district.
Growing Equitable Outdoor Recreation Economies
Discussion with rural leaders on the opportunity equitable outdoor recreation economies pose to rural areas.
Connecting to Family, Community, and Heritage in Eagle Butte, South Dakota
Brookings Institution
In a podcast episode, Brookings Senior Fellow Tony Pipa visits Eagle Butte, South Dakota, to hear how local business owners, tribal administrators, and leaders from the Four Bands Community Fund are working to build credit and center local voices in development.
Communicating to Connect: West Virginia Community Development Hub
This short case study has insights and tips on how rural development practitioners can move beyond neutrality and still communicate effectively with community members from across the political spectrum.