AMES, Iowa — Rural America includes every place that is not urban – from micropolitan areas with up to 50,000 residents, to the smallest, unincorporated towns and open country. Iowa State University is hosting a symposium in August to explore the challenges facing these places and ways to build capacity and create support for rural development efforts.
Iowa State University Rural Development Symposium: Research, Practice and Success will be held Aug. 15, from 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames. Registration is open online and the cost is $75 per person.
“During the symposium you’ll learn what works in rural development and, perhaps more importantly, you’ll learn why it works,” said Gary Taylor, director of ISU Extension and Outreach’s Community and Economic Development Program. He’s also the associate director of Iowa State’s Institute for Design Research and Outreach.
The symposium offers the opportunity to talk with and learn from businesses, entrepreneurs, funders and government officials, Taylor noted.
“You’ll get to engage with the researchers who study the issues, as well as the people who put the research into practice,” Taylor said.
The symposium will cover current research, practices and success for economic development and quality of life in rural America. Conference speakers include representatives from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Iowa State University, other Midwestern universities and nonprofit organizations.
Presentations and panel discussions will cover community well-being, labor markets, business succession and retention, business location and expansion, and rural capital and innovation.
For more information and to register, go to https://register.extension.iastate.edu/rural.
— Gary Taylor, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
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