Rural Community Prosperity
e2's Development Framework
Last month we talked about the importance of placemaking in rural community development. But place is just one essential element in community building. This month we share our framework for rural community prosperity that explores three additional essential design elements for development. This framework supports our thesis that by choosing prosperity for all as your end goal and embracing our framework's essential elements, your community has a greater opportunity for meaningful and even transformative change.
Quality of Life Placemaking
Good entrepreneurial ecosystem development plans include quality of life placemaking strategies aimed at entrepreneurs, their families, workers and customers. We dive into specifics in Community Quality of Life Placemaking.

For more on rural placemaking around the country, check out the field news stories in the section below.
Field News
New IEDC Training Courses. The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) is developing a new set of training courses for professionals working in entrepreneurship-led economic development with support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and in partnership with UMKC SourceLink. To help IEDC better understand the status and needs around entrepreneurial support in your community, take a  quick survey here , and stay connected to IEDC on this initiative by joining its  mailing list . Email Hannah Burke with questions.  

New Rural Initiative. The Aspen Community Strategies Group introduced Thrive Rural: Connecting Rural Development, Health and Opportunity, an effort that will work to ensure rural people & places–in all their diversity–are heard and in the action. For info.

Northern Kentucky University’s Rural Responses to the Opioid Epidemic Program. The Institute for Health Innovation at Northern Kentucky University received a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to support planning and implementation for opioid addiction programming involving multiple branches of government and healthcare. For info.

Support for living ‘in the middle of everywhere’. Benjamin Winchester of the University of Minnesota spoke to North Dakota residents last month on the importance of rewriting the rural narrative to build on positive attraction rather than negative assumptions. Read more.

Louisiana governor creates rural revitalization council. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards created an advisory council to study the needs of rural communities on a broad spectrum of issues, including economic development, education, health care, and housing. Read more.

Startup support helps fill potholes too. Donald Hawkins of KC Collective spoke in response to the proposed Kansas City, MO municipal budget that would cut funding for KCSourceLink and other startup support programs, citing that the personal investments that entrepreneurs make contribute to tax revenue to support other city priorities. Article link.

Education Dept. to Cut Off Federal Funding for Some Rural Schools. Changes to reporting for students in poverty stands to impact hundreds of rural school districts receiving funding through the Rural and Low-Income School Program at the Department of Education. Affected school districts anticipate significant negative impacts to their ability to provide needed services. Read more.

Disaster Assistance in Response to the Coronavirus. Federal and state entities are gearing up to assist small businesses that are dealing with the economic impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering designated states and territories low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), details. NetWork Kansas is sharing resources specific to Kansas businesses in their blog.

CANCELLED Economic Gardening training and certification class scheduled for May 4-6 in Colorado. video conference training is being explored. Email Chris Gibbons for info.
Events
Rural Rise Summit 2020
Sunday, June 28 - Monday, June 29 in Emporia, Kansas. Join rural entrepreneurship ecosystem builders from around the country at the Rural Rise Summit.
2020 ESHIP Summit
Monday, June 29 - Thursday, July 2 in Kansas City. Hosted by the Kauffman Foundation, the ESHIP Summit is a convening that brings together entrepreneurial ecosystem builders — leaders connecting communities to accelerate entrepreneurship.