TRIF Welcomes New Sponsors

ACCION Texas

Farm Credit Bank of Texas

Northwest Texas SBDC Regional Network

Texas Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development – TexCEED

Upcoming Forum Events:

May 5 - Cinco de Mayo!
10:00 am – Bastrop

Do you ever wonder how to get everyone in your county moving in the same direction?! Or how to get broadband to your community? Or how other states do it? If the answer to any one of the above is yes, then you need to hear:

County Judge Travis Floyd and the Knox County (Texas) Visioning Team, an innovative partnership of county government, 4 cities, 4 chambers of commerce, 4 EDC's, 3 school districts, the hospital, Texas Agri-Life Extension, private businesses and other good people. They will share their recipe for success. Hint: It’s equal parts leadership, entrepreneurship, diversification and youth engagement with heritage tourism, work force development and good old hard work.

Sonja Murray of Winston-Salem, NC,will tell how One Economy Corporation brings broadband service to rural communities, and how the federal stimulus funds will benefit their work with places in North Carolina, Indiana and Texas.

David Terrell, Director of Indiana’s Office of Community and Rural Affairs . OCRA -- yes, OCRA! – was inspired in part by our own ORCA and has become one of the most dynamic rural offices in the nation. Their programming includes major initiatives for broadband (together with One Economy) and training based on Nebraska’s Home Town Competitiveness model.

This Forum is at LCRA's Riverside Conference Center in Bastrop. It will convene promptly at 10 am and adjourn around 2:30 pm. Lunch is provided. Click here for directions to the Riverside Conference Center.

What is TRIF?

TRIF is a series of forums, held approximately 6-8 times per year. Each forum features noted speakers with outstanding expertise in rural development and practitioners with firsthand knowledge of successful programs and practices.

TRIF brings firsthand knowledge of the most innovative and successful rural development projects in the nation to YOU – the business, civic, social, educational and cultural leaders of Texas’ small cities, towns and rural regions. And we bring it from the people who are making it happen in their home towns from coast to coast.

TRIF speakers will present a mix of theory and practice, but it is all about action and improvement at home, on the ground – not pie-in-the-sky! We are supported by a cast of all-star sponsors who insist on keeping it real!

As an added benefit, through TRIF you become part of a network of like-minded innovators from across rural (and urban) Texas. TRIF is your opportunity to get together with real people who make things happen!