Author: AG Staff   Published: 5/4/2023     Aspen Group

We recently hosted a Rural Opportunity and Development Session (ROADS) that showcased speakers from two collaborations that are working regionally to grow opportunities and that have recently drawn down millions in federal grants.

“This is a timely conversation for us because small communities of 200 or 500 people are getting together to make sure that they’re not left further behind. Especially in a moment like this, how do small communities make sure that they’re in these conversations [about federal funding], that they know how to connect and collectively join ongoing conversations? This is really important for all of us in the Imperial Valley.”

– Roque Barros, Executive Director, Imperial Valley Wellness Foundation (Moderator)

We’ve compiled a blog with resources and big-picture insights shared during the event. Check out the top-level themes and related quotes from our speakers:

Coalition building as a path to regional resources

• “The Mountain | Plains Native CDFI Coalition formed as a peer-to-peer support network in February 2020. We started looking at how to grow the industry across the region and leverage each other’s resources to grow collective capacity and leverage larger dollars, one of the challenges for rural work. Individually we don’t have the numbers to leverage the larger scale dollars, but by coming together collectively, we are able to show the scale of impact that can leverage and unlock resources to start meeting the need in our communities…We have to start coming together and working collectively if we’re going to impact systemic change.” – Jael Kampfe, President, Indigenous Impact Co.

Collaboration on federal applications can change systems

• “The real work is to get federal entities to meet us halfway and design programs and application systems that work for us, for our boots on the ground. Very small communities have limited capacity. I actually think it’s a real testament to EDA that through the first nine months of the grant process, they’ve continued to show up. So, in addition to modeling coalition building as a method of getting money into these communities, our coalition continues to work on the other side to make these programs more accessible.” – Eric Swack, CEO, Mountain | Plains Community Development Corporation

Inclusive coalitions build capacity for individual members 

• “One of our core principles is inclusion. Inclusion doesn’t really work if you just say we’re this coalition that formed nearly two years ago, and we were inclusive then, but now we’re not adding any new members. Our MOU identifies current members who would be voting members, leaving a couple of voting slots blank with the intention of purposely leaving space for new members not just to participate but to have decision-making authority. So as we expand and work with new communities and lift up new voices, there’s space custom ready for them at the table.” – Brandon Dennison, CEO, Coalfield Development

Blog: Seize the Moment with Regional Collaboration

Learnings from and for the Field

Aspen CSG’s Action Learning Manager, Devin Deaton, recently had the opportunity to attend the True South Central Appalachia convening. MDC hosted it as part of their State of the South effort.

Focused on growing equity and relationship building, this two-day in-person convening took place in Berea, Kentucky. It drew in folks from the entire region, including Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Western North Carolina. Read on for some of Devin’s takeaways with related resources.

Advancing Local Ownership and Control of Asset

Aspen CSG’s Action Learning Manager, Devin Deaton, recently had the opportunity to attend the True South Central Appalachia convening. MDC hosted it as part of their State of the South effort.

Focused on growing equity and relationship building, this two-day in-person convening took place in Berea, Kentucky. It drew in folks from the entire region, including Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Western North Carolina. Read on for some of Devin’s takeaways with related resources.

The Black Appalachian experience front and center

The convening began by centering the region’s history and the experience of Black Appalachians through poetry, storytelling, and data. Following the end of the civil war and slavery, racial violence and Jim Crow laws pushed many Black to flee the South. The 20th century’s Great Migration transformed communities and shaped family history – but the truth is that there are and always have been Black people, families, and communities in the region. And that many families are returning to the area. Groups like Black by God and the STAY Project, and No Hate in my Holler, are raising the visibility of Black Appalachian communities, helping to grow and retain residents.

Building on this critical theme, MDC invited former Kentucky poet laureate Frank X Walker to share his newest poems that center the actual, historical voices of enslaved and newly-freed Black people, blending their voices with an understanding that the systemic violence that perpetuated slavery and the Civil War lives on in our society in anti-Blackness and white supremacy. Take a moment and watch this short video where Walker talks about his life, poetry, and the coining of the term ‘Affrilachian‘. Another stand-out artist who joined the event was the poet and playwright Malcolm Davis, whose new show calls attention to both the Black and Indigenous experience in colonial-era Kentucky.
 

Grappling with extraction and retention in Appalachia

Extractive industries of coal and timber have historically dominated the economy of central Appalachia for better or, more often, worse. These industries’ boom and bust cycles, and now the rapid decline of coal, have ravaged the landscape without building sustainable development for families and communities. This has led to a region more vulnerable to natural disasters – a focus of MDC’s work in North Carolina, the subject of a recent Aspen CSG report Through Natural Disaster to Prosperity: Call to Action, and a deeply personal issue felt by the region’s residents following last year’s ‘1000-year flood’.

There was much discussion among panelists and attendees on the need to reinvigorate communities to make them “people-ready” through downtown revitalization, creative placemaking, and centering just transition. Peter Hille, president of the Mountain Association, shared that the region is at a tipping point. After years of hard work of many different systems and local stakeholders, positive changes are visible in Appalachia. But more work remains to be done – and more investments must be made in the region by philanthropy and the private sector.  

Donna Daniels of the Brushy Fork Institute shared their work to strengthen the economies of small communities by supporting the people who live there, including young people and people of color. This focus on supporting people-ready communities reminded me of two past Open Field discussions hosted by Aspen CSG, one on youth leadership and the other on creating welcoming communities.

Thanks for joining me in learning more about these important topics. If you’re living or working in the South, I encourage you to join one of MDC’s other regional convenings to learn more about their work to build a stronger and more equitable region.  

Devin Deaton
Aspen CSG’s Action Learning Manager\

 

Advancing Local Ownership and Control of Assets

Mapping a New Terrain: Call to Action identifies five principles related to outdoor recreation development to improve health and economic outcomes for rural communities and Native nations — as well as actionable steps to achieve these principles.

The report was informed by conversations with rural economic and community development practitioners from a diverse range of rural communities and Native nations through our Thrive Rural Action Learning Exchange (TRALE).

The first principle in Mapping a New Terrain: Call to Action is to advance local, equitable, sustainable ownership and

As rural communities move forward with economic development strategies based around developing outdoor recreation opportunities, front and center is the question of ownership and control of recreation assets like land, outfitters, restaurants, and hotels.

An equitable development strategy prioritizes businesses, institutions, organizations, and resources critical to the outdoor recreation economy that are owned locally and/or directed and advised by the full range of community members who have a stake in their durability and success.

Read More — Advancing Local Ownership & Control of Assets

Recommendations to advance local ownership & control of assets:

Tools and Resources for the Field

Updated weekly: See our federal resource page for opportunities for rural people and places.

• Improving housing quality: Access to quality housing improves health outcomes and activates local economies. Read ChangeLab Solutions’ blog for strategies and funding sources that can help curb housing challenges and improve housing quality.
• 2Gen innovations for student parents: Ascend at the Aspen Institute has a new resource outlining five promising strategies that leading colleges have used to support the success of their parenting students. From better data collection to co-creating family-friendly spaces on campus, the Playbook underscores how institution leaders can tap the expertise of their student parents to develop sustainable solutions that work for their schools.
• Colonias receive new definition from the FHFA: The new “colonia census tract” definition generates laser-focused concentration on colonias, no matter who or what surrounds them. Even better, the new definition incorporates census tracts that have colonias into the “rural area” definition. This helps federal agencies accurately get resources to where they need to be. Read Partners for Rural Transformation’s history of advocacy re: colonias and their reaction to the official news.
• Placemaking resources: USDA and the University of Kentucky will host a conference on May 23 on expanding access to placemaking resources for people in rural America. Local leaders from across the nation are invited to connect with key placemaking experts and funding organizations.
• Broadband technical assistance: On May 18, the National Broadband Resource Hub partners will be hosting a webinar geared toward communities eager to leverage USDA’s announcement of $20 million in funding available for broadband technical assistance. The session will cover details of this new funding opportunity, common technical assistance paths, and how to make the most of technical assistance in a dynamic broadband environment.
• Rural-focused summit: Registration is now open to join rural leaders and advocates from across the country at this year’s RuralRISE Summit, which is taking place June 20-22 in Waterville and Skowhegan, Maine. The three-day program will cover a variety of issues relevant to increasing rural prosperity, and feature a session led by members of the Aspen CSG team.
• Podcast – Rural Entrepreneurial Venture: Don Macke with e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems talks with John Monson with Compeer Financial and Pam Bishop with the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, focusing on their exciting partnership to expand Rural Entrepreneurial Venture in their region. The conversation explores the vision behind this collaboration and its potential to expand Entrepreneurial Communities initiatives in the upper Midwest.
• Improving health care for Delta region: USDA is making up to $3 million in grants available through the Delta Health Care Services Grant Program. The program is a collaborative effort among health care professionals, institutions of higher education, research centers, and other entities. To qualify for a grant, applicants must be a consortium of regional institutions of higher education, academic health and research institutes, and/or economic development entities located within the Delta Region. Applications must be submitted by July 3.