Transformational Conversation: How Do We Build “a Future that Works?”...

In the face of the decline of the Appalachian coal industry, what can eastern Kentucky do to build resilient economies? Nearly 60 people began to explore that question yesterday at the Eastern Kentucky Leadership Conference in Prestonsburg. The session, called "Transfomational Ideas for the East Kentucky Economy," began with a discussion of a permanent fund for the coal severance tax and expanded from there to include ideas ranging from increased broadband access and community philanthropy to asset-based tourism and local foods. (We even heard about one federal official's idea for "moonshine tourism!")  While the ideas were varied, themes emerged around political will and community ownership. The coal severance tax is often used for short-term projects. While putting lights on the ball field and building veterans' memorials are valuable projects, it is important to get elected officials and economic development leaders to think beyond the short-term and start investing funds in strategic projects that will help diversify the economy for future generations. It's also difficult getting beyond politics; one participant said she's resisted her neighbors' calls for her to run for office because as a community volunteer, she doesn't have to deal with partisanship and can get more done.  Community ownership encompasses more than just projects and businesses. It must also include ownership of the discussion, ideas, visioning and planning. In the 1990s, a strategic planning and visioning body was set up to examine the challenges and opportunities for Eastern Kentucky. Called the Kentucky Appalachian Commission, it involved a wide swath of...

FastTrac Entrepreneurship Classes Enrolling in Eastern KY

MACED is offering the FastTrac NewVenture entrepreneurship class in Prestonsburg and Hazard beginning May 14. This program "is designed to introduce the key elements of successful entrepreneurship. Written by entrepreneurs for aspiring entrepreneurs, FastTrac® NewVenture™ offers essential business information to help develop entrepreneurial skills and build a strong business foundation. FastTrac® offers non-traditional, experiential learning with hands-on coaching sessions. Opportunities to network and learn from peers as well as seasoned entrepreneurs and professionals who work with start-up businesses are a key part of the experience."    The FastTrac® Program Includes: • The Kauffman FastTrac® NewVenture™ entrepreneur manual. • Life-long access to the Kauffman FastTrac® on-line toolkit and resource center. This service provides business planning templates, action steps, activities, videos and additional business information resources to help in your FastTrac® NewVenture™ program and in the years that follow. • The FastTrac® program consisting of 10 evening sessions led by a FastTrac® certified facilitator and supported by business coaches, local business speakers and the local business community. • Access to a growing local community of entrepreneurs and organizations who will answer questions and generally support you in developing your business.   Upcoming Programs and Registration Information   Big Sandy Area DATES: May 14 through June 21 2012 Mondays and Thursdays (There will not be classes on May 28 or 31.) TIME: Time: 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. LOCATION: Auxier Center/Hand in Hand Ministries COST: Cost: $100. Scholarships available. All Chamber members will receive a $50 scholarship.   Hazard/Perry County DATES: May 14...

Op-Ed: Education leadership key to Appalachia’s success in global market...

From the Lexington Herald-Leader. an op-ed by Jeff Hawkins and Ron Daley   The dramatic reshuffling of the world economies in 2008 presents opportunities for K-12, postsecondary educational providers and job creation entities to advance Eastern Kentucky.   Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat noted that because of the influence of digital interconnectivity, the world "flattened" about the year 2000. The lightning-swift advances in technology and communications forced every individual, organization and business into the global economy, requiring employees and job seekers to upgrade their skills.   Reverberating economic upheavals and lost financial resources have encouraged efficiencies in for-profit and non-profit operations, reducing some jobs while creating new global workers.   Appalachian Kentucky, despite having some of the highest poverty and lowest educational rates in the state and the nation, can creatively use its resources to leapfrog other regions in job creation and quality-of-life enhancement by preparing its citizens for new jobs and vocations. Years of regional collaboration using good old-fashioned mountain ingenuity are producing opportunities.   A bold and innovative project creating the first rural "educonomy" empowerment zone in the nation is under way in the Kentucky River and Big Sandy region. The newly created Appalachian Teaching and Leadership Network uses blended financial resources and civic capital to raise education levels and tie them to economic growth.   The network will engage the bright minds in Appalachian Kentucky to creatively and effectively use available resources, while seeking to acquire new resources, to raise education levels throughout the region....

National Rural Education Technology Summit Virtual Conference...

On April 30, the US Department of Education is offering a day-long (noon-6pm) online summit to address the opportunities of new technologies for rural students and educators: The U.S. Department of Education is sponsoring this virtual conference designed to provide examples of how technology is being used to overcome the challenges of distance to increase learning for students and educators. Come and see demonstrations of technology that can be used in the classroom and ideas for professional development. Log-in with a group of your students or individually to join classroom activities that can be done at your school, find out more about broadband Internet availability, and participate in professional development sessions. Registration is free. Learn more about the agenda and presenters...

Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America Released

Data nerds, rejoice! The USDA's Economic Research Service has released its interactive map of Rural and Small-Town America. Click on any county and find out demographic info (women are the head of 10.5% households in Wyoming County, WV), employment (19.15% of Smyth County, VA is employed in manufacturing), agriculture (there were 198 farms in Johnson County, KY in 2007), and a variety of "county characteristics" (Sevier County, TN was a retirement destination between 1990-2000). This kind of information is valuable to more than info-junkies; it can help us better understand our communities, their assets and their challenges. Knowing that Athens County, OH has a high population of the creative class, folks from neighboring Meigs County could explore how they can attract some of those folks. Residents of Laurel County, KY might learn that they are in an area classified as having "high natural amenities," and want to capitalize on the opportunities there. Of course data can never tell the whole story about a place, but it can certainly help inform our ideas and...

Moving Forward In The Mountains – Growing Appalachia 2012...

From our partners at Kentuckians for the Commonwealth: Approximately 80 people ranging from the novice gardener to commercial farmers to people simply looking to make their homes more energy efficient attended Growing Appalachia on Saturday, April 14th . The conference brought people from all over Kentucky and several folks from West Virginia to not only attend the wide range of workshops offered this year, but also to start a conversation about what is possible in the mountains. “My favorite part of all of this is seeing how it is all connected. We come with interests in growing, in energy. We all have different pieces. It was a good day. Great food!” said Sr. Kathy Curtis, Floyd Co. KFTC member and Grow Appalachia Program Director. Great food is right. Much of the lunch served was local and/or organic. Participants were all excited to be eating the food we were there to talk about growing! “I think we had a good cross state discussion between West Virginia and Kentucky about what it takes to get farmers markets off the ground. Turns out we are all facing the same challenges, so it was good to hear about different approach.” -Beverly May, Floyd County member Many participants were excited about the amount of information they received and eager to put it to good use. “I was enthused about coming because I knew that I am making a concentrated effort at gardening. I filled half a notebook with information. If we had had more time,...

Two Stories on Bottom-Up Community Development

As rural areas try to find innovative ways to reinvent or revitalize their communities, we've got two great stories about how this is happening from the bottom up. One is from Kansas, courtesy of Harvest Public Media, and the other is from closer to home, in Floyd County, KY. Both are wonderful examples of how communities can take control of their own futures.  The "Big Rural Brainstorm" in Kansas "brought together about 200 people earlier this year in Newton. The two-day event generated a lot of discussion on how to help small towns stay vibrant and relevant in an increasingly urban world. Most of the attendees came from small towns scattered across Kansas, but some who live in larger cities came because they, too, are committed to renewing rural America."  Similarly, in Floyd County, community members came together in Prestonsburg at the end of March to determine how they could use the growing movement of local, sustainable agriculture to build their economy. Jeanette McDermott, one of the organizers of the visioning center, put it this way: "To move people out of poverty and improve the economic condition of Floyd County, we need to build on local relationships. A stronger economy for all of us turns on whether we can forge personal relationships into something bigger to support livelihoods during our working years and beyond." One of the key themes behind both of these events is that top-down development isn't the best way to go. Said one participant in the...

Webinar Opportunity on Rural Wealth Creation

The Southern Rural Development Center is offering a webinar called "Rural Wealth Creation: Concepts, Strategies and Measures" on May 1 at 1pm. From the website:    There is increasing recognition that a short-term focus on creating jobs or increasing income is insufficient to generate sustainable rural development or achieve a lasting reduction in rural poverty. A focus on creating and maintaining wealth offers the potential to achieve more lasting rural prosperity. Researchers have long studied some aspects of wealth, and in recent years there has been increased attention to broader conceptions of wealth, including human, natural, social and other forms of capital. However, little research has sought to understand how these different types of wealth can be conceptualized and measured, or how they interact to determine the dynamics of rural economic development. This webinar will present the findings of a recent research report on this topic by researchers at the USDA Economic Research Service. Based upon a review of relevant literature and data sources, the authors discuss what wealth is in a broad sense, why wealth creation is important for rural development, how it can be created in rural communities, and how its accumulation and effects can be measured. About the Speakers:    Dr. John Pender, Senior Economist, Resource and Rural Economics Division, USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), leads ERS research on rural wealth creation in the United States. He is an author of numerous publications related to international and domestic rural development, including recent ERS Reports on rural...