NACo partnership wins grant
to develop center for rural policy

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently awarded a $25,000 Fund for Rural America planning grant to NACo, the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) and the Southern Center for Rural Development to develop a Center for Rural Community Policy.

The detailed proposal for a Center for Rural Community Policy will be during over the next four months and submitted to USDA in February for review and approval.

If funded, the center would provide access to information, analysis, technical assistance and case studies for rural county officials and community leaders that will help them develop sustainable community policies and programs. Successful proposals are expected to be funded for up to $4 million dollars over three years.

Jerry McNeil, NACo deputy director of community services; Ralph Tabor, associate legislative director; and Bill Shuffstall, NACo Extension fellow will be working with staff from the Southern Center for Rural Development and RUPRI to plan the center.

RUPRI is an interdisciplinary research consortium sponsored by the University of Missouri, Iowa State University and the University of Nebraska. Nationally recognized scientists and policy practitioners work together on RUPRI projects to research the impact of national policy on rural counties and communities.

This research is crucial to county officials and other local leaders as they initiate projects and determine local policy.

The Southern Center for Rural Development is a partnership of 29 southern land grant universities. It initiates and oversees multi-state rural community development research and extension programs across the southern states.

The planning grant combines two separate but similar proposals, one submitted by RUPRI and NACo, the other submitted by the Southern Center for Rural Development.

The NACo/RUPRI proposal focused on developing a center to ensure that rural community decision makers have access to the economic and fiscal impact models and interactive decision making support that will enhance their ability to develop sustainable community solutions. The Southern Center for Rural Development (SCRD ) proposed a center that would research the effects of devolution on poor rural southern communities and develop strategies to increase the positive outcomes of devolution for rural people and communities.

NACo's Rural Renaissance Task Force played a key role in developing the final proposal.

Rural Renaissance Task Force members believe local government can take advantage of the opportunities and deal with the challenges presented by devolution. However, they recognized that rural county officials and community leaders need access to information and technical support that isn't currently available in rural areas.

As proposed, the Center for Rural Policy would provide rural county officials with ready access to national, state and local policy analysis and technical support, explained NACo Immediate Past President Michael Hightower, who established the Rural Renaissance Task Force.

The task force will continue to play an important role in the partnership between RUPRI and SCRD.

Members will review drafts of the proposal and provide input to ensure the center's products will be useful to them as the proposal is created.

For more information, contact Shuffstall at: 202/942-4225; or e-mail: wshuffst@naco.org.