January 2010 – Austin
at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center!
It’s not the greatest season for Wildflowers, but it’s always a good time to support rural entrepreneurs. Brian Dabson is president/CEO of the Rural Policy Research Institute – “RUPRI” – and board chair of the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship. (see Brian's presentation - PPT)
If anybody knows more about developing and supporting rural entrepreneurs than Brian Dabson, it might be Burt Chojnowski, of Brain Belt Consulting in Fairfield, Iowa. As president of the Entrepreneurs Association in a community less than 10,000, Burt was a key player in attracting $275 million of investment in over sixty startup companies. (see Burt's presentation - PDF)
And showing the way for Texans, Paul Henderson and Eric Turner will tell how Plainview became Texas’ first Certified Entrepreneur-Friendly City. Paul is Director of Workforce at South Plains College and Eric is city manager and director of the Plainview Convention and Visitors Bureau. (see Paul and Eric's presentation - PPT)
November 10 – Bastrop
Economic development has many faces. On November 10 in Bastrop, we get a comprehensive overview of programs that build assets and capabilities of families that have suffered financial setbacks. It’s a chance to learn how to bring additional tens of thousands of dollars to your community, build job skills, and generally strengthen weak links in community development.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation has developed the nation’s best help-self-help template, showing how communities can help families “Earn It – Keep It – Grow It.” Miriam Shark pioneered the Foundation’s outreach to rural communities.
Southern Bancorp and its non-profit affiliates direct the nation’s most comprehensive asset-building programs in rural Arkansas. They include programs for affordable housing, healthcare, transportation, financial literacy and asset-building, skills development, education and more. Joe Black will show how a bank and a family foundation are reinvigorating an entire region of the Mississippi Delta. Woody Widrow is Texas’ expert on family asset-building programs. Woody will talk about the work of RAISE Texas, including its recent initiatives in rural Texas.
October 27-28 - Plainview
West Texas Success Tour: On our first foray beyond Central Texas, we will spend two days learning from rural entrepreneurs who are reshaping the traditional agricultural economy into successes that include food, hospitality, heritage, and, of course, imagination and hard work.
The Forum includes visits to Tulia, Idalou, Nazareth and New Deal to see West Texas Success on the ground. It also includes presentations on the how’s and why’s of success, featuring speakers from the McKinney Farmers Market, TDRA, THC, TDA, SBDC and AgriLife Extension and many, many more.
May 5 - Cinco de Mayo!– 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.
March 4, 2009 - State Capitol
Rural Innovators’ Day at the Legislature
TRIF meets in the Capitol to hear from legislative insiders about legislation of interest to all rural leaders and communities. This is your chance to get it straight from the people making the decisions, up close and personal.
Confirmed speakers to-date: Rep. Joe Heflin of Crosbyton speaking on water and energy issues; Rep. Susan King of Abilene speaking on rural healthcare; Rep. Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham on economic development; Rep. John Otto of Dayton on property taxes and related issues of funding for schools and local governments; ORCA executive director Charlie Stone on the Rural Development Fund; and Blaine Brunson, Budget Director for Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, on the state’s fiscal condition and its implications for programs and taxes.
February 16, 2009 - Austin
Achieving and Sustaining Economic Success: The Tupelo Miracle
TRIF joins TEDC for a remarkable program. If you move in economic development circles, you’ve heard about Tupelo, MS. Vaughn Grisham, Director of the McLean Institute for Community Development at Ole Miss, will tell the story of Tupelo’s rise from the poorest county in America to decades of sustained, baseline-beating success. This unforgettable presentation will insturct and entertain in equal measure … then Shane Homan, Senior VP of Economic Development and Planning at the Tupelo Community Development Foundation, explains how they do it today through a most unique institution. This is one you really don’t want to miss! Really.
December 2, 2008 – Fredericksburg
Clues to Rural Community Survival: A Workshop
The Heartland Center for Leadership Development, Lincoln, Nebraska, is an internationally recognized innovator of creative strategies for community revitalization … working with 2500 leaders in 300 communities each year, the Heartland Center brings incredible depth of experience to leaders in Rural Texas. Heartland co-founder and co-director Vicki Luther of Kerrville has over 25 years experience in designing programs to increase citizen participation in government and to improve their skills as decision-makers. This is a one-day, hands-on, how-to-do-it workshop on community revitalization … a truly unique opportunity.
November 18, 2008 – Bastrop
The Legislature is Coming – Should We Hide or Celebrate? Learn what to expect from the 81st Legislature from a most distinguished panel of rural legislators: Rep. Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham; Rep. Warren Chisum of Pampa; Rep. Jim McReynolds of Lufkin; and Jim Keffer of Eastland. Statehouse veteran and Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey will share his thoughts about the changing role of rural advocacy in state government. Then Chuck Fluharty, Rural Policy Research Institute and America’s most vigorous rural advocate, will talk about changing rural policy nationally and internationally; and Jerry Nagel of Northern Great Plains, Inc. gives the benefit of his experience on starting productive conversations about you community’s future.
October 15, 2008 – Bastrop
Higher Energy Costs – Will Rural Texas Sink or Soar? The answer(s) comes from our all-star experts: Dr. Ray Perryman, champion forecaster and the only Texas economist you ever heard of; Pat Wood, former Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Texas PUC – nobody knows more about electric power; and the Hon. Charlie Stenholm, former Congressman and Ranking Member of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture … then officials from a rural community college, electric coop, COG and city administrator tell what’s really happening! This one could be a dust-up.
May 22, 2008
Making State Rural Policy
State Representative Robby Cook and ORCA Chair Wallace Klussman top off the final Spring Forum. We begin with Stan Gruszynski , Co-Director of Wisconsin’s Future of Farming and Rural Life project; Bobby Gierisch will explain how rural policy is made in states like North Carolina, Maryland, Illinois and Minnesota. Bobby is TRIF Coordinator and Director of State Policy Programs for the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI).
Wallace Klussman has served on the governing board of the Office of Rural Community Affairs since 2001 and was recently made Chair of the board. Robby Cook has served ten years in the Texas House and is currently Chair of the Legislative Rural Caucus. Klussman and Cook will discuss obstacles and opportunities for rural policy in Texas
April 15, 2008
Developing Entrepreneurs
There are many sources of help for individual entrepreneurs, but research suggests additional value in community support systems. Mary Ellen McClanahan directs the Georgia Governor's Entrepreneur & Small Business Office. She will discuss their Entrepreneur Friendly initiative, a state program that encourages and rewards such systems. Deb Markley is co-director of the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship in Chapel Hill, NC. Deb will discuss other ways states and communities are learning to support entrepreneurs.
This Forum will include a one-hour mini-workshop to learn how your community or association can better support our rural entrepreneurs.
March 13, 2008
Culture as Community Revitalization
Concerned leaders in tiny Colquitt, GA asked, “What can we do to help ourselves?” They decided they could tell stories. Karen Kimbrell will tell us why … and how a story-telling non-profit called Swamp Gravy became their engine of social and economic renewal. It’s an amazing story, and there’s a laugh or two along the way – I guarantee it! (PPT Presentation)
MaryAlice Torres-MacDonald is an associate professor of Architecture at Texas Tech University. She has worked throughout Texas for the past 20 years helping communities to develop strong economic solutions that support their historical and cultural character. MaryAlice will share some tips you need to know to develop your own strategy. (PPT Presentation)
February 6, 2008
What Rural Texas Needs in 2008
Our discussion features State Senator Glen Hegar;Texas Cooperative Extension director Ed Smith; Remelle Farrar, Texas Prairie Rivers Association; Greg Wortham, Mayor of Sweetwater; Bryan Daniel, former director of USDA Rural Development; Glynis Strause, Coastal Bend College; facilitated by State Representative Jim McReynolds.
Our closer is Colleen Landkamer, Commissioner, Blue Earth County, Minnesota. Colleen served as President of the National Association Counties in 2007. She is a dynamic figure on the national rural policy stage, and she will share her thoughts on “What Rural America Needs in 2008.
November 27, 2007
Ernesto Sirolli, Founder of the Sirolli Institute, Sacramento, CA , maybe the most captivating speaker you will hear this year, with a story as important as it is engaging. Ernesto’s experiences in Italy, Africa and Australia shaped the process of Enterprise Facilitation, a method to stimulate business creation successfully practiced in over 200 communities on three continents (four continents, counting Texas). Ernesto is joined by Laura Hardin, Enterprise Facilitator for Lamb and Hockley counties.
Don Hastings, City Manager, Midlothian. Ever wonder what “Smart Growth” means in rural and suburban areas? Or if “New Urbanism” has anything to offer small-town Texas? Don Hastings has helped to place a 131-acre New Urban development within walking distance of Midlothian’s 1890’s era downtown. Monte Anderson, Chair of the North Texas Chapter of the Congress of New Urbanism, coached him. Good idea? Bad idea? Let’s talk about it!
October 23, 2007
Angela Duran, Southern Good Faith Fund (SGGF), Pine Bluff, AR . SGGF is a non-profit member of the Southern Bancorps family in rural Arkansas. President Angela Duran will explain their ambitious client-centered workforce programs as well as their programs to help distressed families build assets for the future.
Joe Sertich, Northeast Minnesota Higher Education District, Chisolm, MN. As Chair of the national Rural Community College Alliance, Joe promotes colleges that see regional development as a central mission. At home he is regional president of a unique group of community colleges that has served as initiator and catalyst for the redevelopment of Minnesota’s Iron Range.
September 7, 2007
Billy Ray Hall, founding director of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center. Among state rural policy and program centers, the “ Rural Center” is the gold standard -- nobody conceives, designs and implements state programs better. Billy Ray Hall is the reason and he will share the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime of commitment to rural people and places.
Mark Drabenstott, Center for Regional Competitiveness, Kansas City, MO. Can rural regions survive in today’s global economy? How can they be competitive? What policies will promote regional competitiveness? During seven years as president of the Center for the Study of Rural America at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Mark became a leading authority on these questions. In 2006 he became the founding director of the RUPRI Center For Regional Competitiveness to devote full time to finding answers.
June 19, 2007 - Bastrop
Bill Graham, Mayor , Scottsburg, IN. Mayor Graham leads a community of 6,000 people in rural Indiana that suffered a traumatic “de-industrialization” as jobs left for overseas destinations. A strong proponent of community-led collaborations, Mayor Graham helped his community recover from one of the state’s highest unemployment rates to one of the lowest. His leadership has also made him a key player in the Rural Indiana Strategy for Excellence and a (former) president of the National Rural Development Partnership. (no electronic version of presentation is available)
Remelle Farrar, Director, Texas Prairie Rivers Association, Canadian, TX. Developers in small, isolated communities in Great Plains are beset with two common problems: how to keep the kids at home (or bring them back) and how to revitalize local businesses. Through initiatives ranging from agro-tourism (60,000 visitors a year come to see the prairie) to high-tech jobs for its college-educated youth, Canadian has re-opened its main street storefronts. Remelle Farrar has been at the center of the transformation and tells her community’s remarkable story. (no electronic version of presentation is available)
May 8, 2007 - Bastrop
Maxine Moul, Pres. Emeritus, Nebraska Community Foundation, Lincoln, NE. Maxine is a former Lt. Governor of Nebraska. While in that office she founded the Nebraska Community Foundation, a statewide organization that promotes the development of local community foundations under the theory that “funding begins at home.” NCF facilitated the creation of over 150 community foundations that have amassed over $100 million for rural Nebraska. This amazingly successful initiative is being widely copied. It was one of the six winners of the recent Kellogg Foundation grants for rural entrepreneur systems.
Vicki Luther, Heartland Center for Leadership Development, Lincoln, NE & Kerrville, TX. The Heartland Center is a partner with the Nebraska Community Foundation in the Home Town Competitiveness program that won the Kellogg grant for entrepreneurship systems. Each year the Center works with approx. 2500 people from 300 communities, and is recognized internationally as an innovator of creative strategies for community revitalization. Heartland Center activities focus on leadership training, citizen participation, community planning, facilitation, evaluation, and curriculum development. Presentation (PDF 2 MB)
March 20, 2007 - Bastrop
Chuck Fluharty, Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI), Columbia, MO . Chuck is a tireless advocate for rural policy at all levels and in all sectors of activity. He undoubtedly knows more about more rural subjects, and in greater depth, than anyone else in America. Chuck is a visionary who sees all the pieces -- and rolls up his shirtsleeves every morning to work at putting them together.
Phil Anderson, Indiana Rural Development Council, Indianapolis, IN . Phil represents a small team of practitioners that led Indiana to the vision of a revitalized rural economy, and then connected state leaders with working groups of over 100 stakeholders to create plans for Indiana’s rural regions. A mobilization and planning effort of this nature, at a statewide level, is without precedent. It is on-going and Phil will tell us how they did it and how they are doing.
February 15, 2007 - Austin
Leslie Scott, North Carolina Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship, Raleigh, NC . The Institute was created in 2003 with an emphasis on building community networks to support individual businesses … and because they do it well, the Institute was selected as one of six nationwide to receive a major Kellogg Foundation grant for “helping regional leaders establish comprehensive community networks that support the growth and development of entrepreneurs and their job-creating ventures.”
Jim Haguewood, The ONE Group Consulting, Port Angeles, WA . As director of his county economic development council, Jim led an industry cluster strategy called Clallam (County) netWorks … and demonstrated that collaborative, asset-based development can turn-around a local economy. Jim is a guy who has done it “on the ground” and measured the results. He knows why it worked, and he thinks others can do it, too.
December 11, 2006 - Bastrop
Mark Drabenstott, Center for Regional Competitiveness, Kansas City, MO . As president of the Center for the Study of Rural America at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Mark directed one of the outstanding national research efforts on rural America and became a leading authority on asset-based regional development. In September he became founding director of the RUPRI Center For Regional Competitiveness, where he focuses on what rural regions must do to be successful in the global economy.
Phillip Baldwin, Southern Bancorp, Arkadelphia, AR . Southern Bancorp is a half-billion dollar bank holding company. As a development bank, it operates several non-profit organizations “committed to transforming rural economies by creating new trends of investments in people, jobs, businesses and property.” Southern commits millions of dollars a year in a strategic program of community and regional revitalization in some of the poorest counties in America.
Sonya Murray, One Economy Corporation, Winston-Salem, NC. One Economy is a non-profit corporation dedicated to bringing the benefits of digital broadband to underserved populations. Sonja will discuss their successful initiative in Greene County, NC.
October 19, 2006 - Austin
Vaughn Grisham , McLean Institute - Ole Miss University, Oxford, MS . Dr. Grisham studies ordinary organizations that achieve extraordinary results, in order to derive lessons for the rest of us. He has chronicled the miraculous economic development successes of Tupelo, MS, over half a century. Vaughn is a great story-teller with a great story that has lessons for all rural regions.
Becky Anderson, HandMade In America, Ashville, NC. “HandMade” is an extraordinary and extremely interesting example of community and regional development based on the “invisible industry” of arts and crafts in western North Carolina. U.S. News and World Report called Becky Anderson one of America’s top 20 visionaries in 1999 … but this visionary has both feet --and many successes -- on the ground.
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