The Update addresses rural and small town community economic development, with summaries and pointers to items on the Internet, in major media, and in organizational newsletters and journals. A regular issue will be released later in September. The goals of the program include helping communities build their development capacity, crafting a shared development vision, and encouraging diverse groups of people to work together in new ways.
Rural communities have reservoirs of great strength, tenacity, and civic commitment.
The initiative centers on the clusters, of which five will be selected per year over the next three years. Community Clusters are composed of six to ten teams forming a multi-county collaboration. The entire collaboration will receive a pool of funds from which each team can receive mini-grants to pursue a project of its own design. Support Organizations typically provide training, technical assistance, leadership development or civic participation and include groups that work in economic opportunity and access to capital. Policy Organizations will use technology to serve rural communities and to promote a two-way exchange of information.