Rural Round-Up Newsletter
June 2002
We look to be heading into a "season of rural." There's been
a renewed emphasis at federal levels on rural development with initiatives
at both the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services.
To keep up with these and other initiatives at federal, regional, state,
and local levels, we are premiering this bi-monthly Rural Partners Round-Up
to help keep you informed as to rural development opportunities and ideas
and to gather your feedback on projects that MRP is managing and/or supporting
in one way or another. Check out our website at www.minnesotaruralpartners.org
for more detailed information and a calendar of events and meetings.
Let's help one another stay in the loop. In today's world more than ever,
rural communities must collaborate to create and maintain critical mass:
to achieve a shared vision, to build valuable market strength, and to
express that critical mass in a steady voice heard above the fray.
Here's some of what we've been working on --- all related to building
a new framework for rural community economy -- public and private entrepreneurship
and an enterprising spirit to move us forward into the 21st Century.
Jane Leonard, Acting Executive Director
jleonard@minnesotaruralpartners.org
GOOD STUDYING TO MARCIE McLAUGHLIN
Marcie McLaughlin, our MRP Executive Director, has begun her year of study at Harvard. She received a Bush Fellowship for the one-year master's program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and will be in Boston, Massachusetts studying hard. Jane Leonard is the acting executive director while Marcie is away.
VIRTUAL ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORK
Rural Partners received a U.S. Dept of Commerce grant last October to create a Virtual Entrepreneurial Network. We've built one important building block -- www.bizpathways.org and are looking for folks to help us test it. Give it a try and let us know how it works (or doesn't) via the online feedback form on the site. We are also trying to organize several entrepreneurial community clusters to provide on-the-ground leadership and support for rural entrepreneurship. Contact Christy James at cjames@minnesotaruralpartners.org if you can help us organize this pilot effort in your community.
EFOLIOMN
The Minnesota State Colleges and University system in partnership with several state and federal agencies has built the www.efoliomn.com tool that is now available free of charge to Minnesota citizens. It's a multi-media electronic portfolio, meant to help you keep track of student and career experiences and artifacts. This online tool promises to be a boon to lifelong learning and workforce development, but it's up to individuals to make use of it to take charge of their past accomplishments and future goals. Give it a try at www.efoliomn.com.
RURAL POLICY FORUM
MRP will be conducting two-four Rural Policy Forums this fall: one at the national Rural Telecongress meeting in Des Moines October 6-9 (www.ruraltelecon.org) and one at the national Rural Matters conference in Nebraska October 16-18 (http://www.rupri.org/ruralmatters). MRP is also working with the Northwest Area Foundation on several virtual convenings of the Rural Policy Forum: one will focus on the role of higher education in rural economic development in Minnesota and the other will gather youth in Bemidji, MN and Fairfield, IA to gather their perspectives on reducing poverty.To learn more about the Rural Policy Forum process, check out our website at www.ruralpolicyforum.org.
RURAL SUMMIT 2003 - MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Planning is already underway for the 2003 Rural Summit, to be held in Mankato August 3-5, 2003. The theme we are working on this year is "Public and Private Entrepreneurship". The first full committee planning meeting is set for September 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Northwest Area Foundation offices in St. Paul. Email Tina Panitzke at tpanitzke@minnesotaruralpartners.org if you are interested in attending that meeting and/or participating on the planning committee. We will be holding planning meetings throughout the state so if you miss this one, but want to be on the committee emailing list, let Tina know.
FEDERAL ROUND-UP
Check out the new Farm Bill, Title VI for all the scoop on rural development programs. Check out Subtitle G, p 251 of the bill, creating the Northern Great Plains Regional Authority (Minnesota is one of five states participating). http://www.usda.gov/farmbill/conference_report/title6.pdf
And the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services just last month released it's new Rural Initiative report: "One Department Serving Rural America: HHS Rural Task Force Report to the Secretary." Secretary Tommy Thompson kicked off this work at the 2001 Rural Summit here in Minnesota.
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Email: info@minnesotaruralpartners.org • Phone: (651) 645-9403 • Fax: (651) 646-3818