Southern Rural Development Center
 

Box 9656
410 Bost Extension Bldg.
Mississippi State, MS 39762
Phone: (662) 325-3207
Fax: (662) 325-8915
http://srdc.msstate.edu

 

 

 

Around the SouthJanuary 2007, Vol. 3 No. 1

In this Issue . . .


SRDC Publications

  • SRDC's 2006 Annual Report Now Available
    2006 was another banner year for the Center. With important financial support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and with the active engagement of community development colleagues across a host of land-grant schools in the South, we took the time to garner the insights of people across the region on the current and emerging challenges impacting the rural South. Fourteen state rural development roundtables were held, and our new strategic plan for the next three to five years will be announced in the coming months. Our investment in the research efforts of our land-grant colleagues has remained strong. Our Extension efforts have moved into new arenas, including an expanded effort in rural entrepreneurship. Furthermore, we have remained steadfast in our efforts to provide our land-grant faculty and leaders with information and tools that can be used to strengthen community development work in their own states. A case in point is the recent release of the Southern Region Information Toolkit, a Web-based resource that offers our colleagues an impressive array of data on all counties in the South. While we take pride in our past activities – efforts that would not have been possible without the full support of our land-grant university Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service leaders, our CSREES partners and a host of funding agencies and foundations – we are anxious to implement our new strategic blueprint. We look forward to sharing our new priorities and working in tandem with our land-grant colleagues and other rural development partners to make great things happen in the South in these new priority areas. View the report at http://srdc.msstate.edu/publications/annual06.pdf.


National Items of Interest

  • 2007 NACDEP Conference -- Double Early Bird Registration Deadline is January 15
    The National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) 2007 conference registration is now available. This third annual conference is slated for April 16-19, 2007, in Philadelphia, PA. This year's theme is the "Declaration of Interdependence: The Fabric of Community." Workshop tracks are: Economic Development (Community Focus; Assistance for individual businesses and/or entrepreneurs; Specific Sectors, e.g. agricultural, tourism, natural resources); Community Decision Making; Education and Workforce Development; Local Government and Community Services; Land Use and Natural Resources; Leadership Development (Community Focus; Individual Focus); Evaluation and Research Methods and Tools; Organizational Development; Sustainable Development; and Community Initiatives. "Double Early Bird" discount ends January 15, 2007. Two pre-conference sessions are being offered: We the People: Building Inclusive Communities and Foundations of Practice: Building Your Community Development Knowledge and Skills. Three post-conference tours are being offered: Farm/Nonfarm Conflicts, Urban Farms/Local Foods and Mural Arts. Register online or download the registration form at http://www.nacdep.net.

  • Carsey Institute Releases "Biofueling Rural Development" Report
    Biofuels play a crucial role in America's quest for oil-independence. In recent years, the biofuel industry has seen significant technology and efficiency advances, as well as expansions in the materials that can be used to create biofuels. Grains and oilseeds -- the main feedstocks for biofuels today -- are limited in their ability to meet our fuel needs, but a shift to biomass feedstocks offers much higher and nationwide production possibilities. For rural communities in particular, biomass refineries may offer promise of new investment, job growth and revitalization. Biofuels will be high on Congress' 2007 agenda, with the rewriting of the Farm Bill. To learn more about the promise and challenges that biofuels present for rural America, read the new Carsey Institute report, "Biofueling Rural Development" at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/Biofuels_final.pdf.

  • Education Week's Quality Counts 2007 Features State Highlights Reports
    Quality Counts 2007 examines the state of state educational policymaking using a unique combination of original state data and in-depth journalism, to which has been added commentaries by leading experts in the field. This 11th edition also begins to track state efforts to create a more seamless education system by looking at performance across the various sectors, and at state attempts to define students’ “readiness” to succeed from one stage to the next. The State Highlights Reports assemble important findings in an accessible format that allows readers to examine a particular state’s performance on this year’s indicators. For most indicators, national results are also provided as a benchmark against which state performance can be gauged. The state reports are available to download at http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/01/04/17shr.h26.html, and the entire report can be viewed at http://www.edweek.org/media/ew/qc/2007/17shr.us.h26.pdf.

  • Rural Sociological Society Calls for Abstracts
    The 2007 annual meeting of the Rural Sociological Society provides an opportunity to advance knowledge about rural social change and make that knowledge more accessible and useful to practitioners. The meeting, Social Change and Restructuring in Rural Societies: Opportunities and Vulnerabilities, will be held in Santa Clara, CA, August 2-5, 2007. RSS will highlight selected, juried papers at the conference. Interested individuals or teams may submit an abstract to the 2007 Rural Sociology Refereed Papers Committee for review by February 1, 2007. Those who submit abstracts must submit completed papers via the RSS Conference Web site by April 15, 2007. RSS is also calling for abstracts for posters, nonjuried papers, workshops, roundtables, and panels. All abstracts should be submitted via the RSS Web site by February 1, 2007. For more information visit the RSS Web site at http://ruralsociology.org/.

  • Women's Agricultural Network Course Helps Ag Entrepreneurs Plan for Success
    The Women's Agricultural Network will offer an on-line session of Growing Places, a non-credit course that helps people explore the possibilities and realities of owning or expanding an agricultural business. The session will begin the week of January 22 and conclude in mid-March. Growing Places participants develop goals for themselves and their businesses, become more familiar with financing options, identify and evaluate available resources, examine marketing strategies, and learn about agencies and organizations that provide support and assistance to farmers. Growing Places is open to anyone. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. A broadband connection is recommended. Tuition is $125, but there is a $25 discount for people who register before January 10. For more information and to obtain registration materials, visit WAgN's website at http://www.uvm.edu/wagn.


Funding Opportunities

  • SRDC's Grant Connections: Rural Development Funding Opportunities
    Volume 9, Number 2, December 2006
    http://srdc.msstate.edu/funding/dec06.htm

    The SRDC staff compiles Grant Connections primarily for the faculty of land-grant colleges and universities in the South to provide funding information in support of activities in agricultural economics, education, human sciences, rural sociology, youth development, and other related disciplines.


SRDC Sponsored Conferences & Trainings

  • E-Commerce Strategies for Small Businesses and Communities
    A Rollout of New Extension Educational Curricula developed as part of the SRDC and CSREES/USDA "Rural E-Commerce Extension Initiative: A National Demonstration Project"
    June 4-6, 2007
    Lied Lodge and Conference Center
    Nebraska City, Nebraska
    http://srdc.msstate.edu/ecommerce


Other Conferences & Trainings


People in the News
  • Dr. Mike Woods has been named department head for the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University effective January 22, 2007.


In Memoriam

  • Two individuals that have been active partners with the SRDC passed away in December 2006. Dr. Jim Nelson, an agricultural economist at the University of Idaho, died suddenly in early December. Jim played an active role on the eXtension Entrepreneurship Team (coordinated by the SRDC) and contributed to several community/economic develop training activities sponsored by the Center in recent years.

    Dr. Tom Lyson, a rural sociologist on the faculty at Cornell University, died in late December. In his previous position at Clemson University, Tom made significant contributions to research on rural labor markets and low-tech employment in the rural South. Even though Tom moved from Clemson to Cornell several years ago, he never abandoned his interest in the rural South. One of his recent contributions focused on the positive role of rural schools in contributing to the vitality of rural communities. The article appeared in a special rural education report published by the SRDC in partnership with the Economic Research Service in 2005.

    Both of these individuals have left an important mark on the work of the SRDC and land-grant faculty in the South. Their energy, enthusiasm, intellect, and commitment to the work of the SRDC will be greatly missed.


Job Opportunities


Submit Announcements

Job announcements and other items of interest may be sent to Emily Shaw, emilye@srdc.msstate.edu, for possible inclusion in future issues.


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