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Category Archives: Rural Wealth
USDA Home Repair and Home Ownership
Many of our rural communities tell us about the need for home repair and home ownership. Here is a video on USDA home loan programs. Interested in learning more? See http://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/all-programs/single-family-housing-programs.
Cultivating Community Wealth: Wealth and Disaster
This post is part of an eight-week series on Cultivating Community Wealth. As we wrap up this series on Cultivating Community Wealth, we take a look at what happens when communities face disaster. We often think of natural disasters, such as drought, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfire. But disasters can also be purely economic—the loss of a major employer. Some economic losses may be due to a loss of competitive advantage in the region, but losses can also result from global economics and other situations outside the region’s… Read More →
Cultivating Community Wealth: Success Stories
This post is part of an eight-week series on Cultivating Community Wealth. I was first introduced to the story of Tupelo, Mississippi, not long after I moved to Texas. The Texas Rural Innovators had invited Vaughn Grisham to tell the story, and I promise you Vaughn is a good story teller. (His brother is famous author John Grisham.) His book, co-written with Rob Gurwitt, is available for free download or hardcopy purchase from The Aspen Institute. Earlier this month, I was able to visit Tupelo while I was… Read More →
Cultivating Community Wealth: Wealth and Local Government
This post is part of an eight-week series on Cultivating Community Wealth. Thinking back to the first post in this series, political capital was one of the forms of community wealth, as were built and financial capital. It stands to reason that local government has a significant impact on community wealth. Local officials are the gatekeepers to many community processes. Research has shown that when elected officials support a community development project (although they may not be directly involved), it has an improved chance of successfully building various… Read More →
Cultivating Community Wealth: Strategies for Building Rural Wealth, Part 2
This post is part of an eight-week series on Cultivating Community Wealth. Strategies summarized in this post include business retention & expansion, tourism, retiree attraction, workforce education, shop/eat local campaigns, and fundraising campaigns. Strategies discussed in last week’s post include industrial recruitment and financial incentives, clusters, value-chain development, community business matching, entrepreneurship including youth entrepreneurship, and regionalism. Recall that particular strategies may be suited to the assets, goals, and values of some communities but not others. Discussion of a strategy does not imply endorsement, and leaders are encouraged… Read More →
Cultivating Community Wealth: Strategies for Building Rural Wealth, Part 1
This post is part of an eight-week series on Cultivating Community Wealth. Why a community “does what it does” is really a statement about the values the community or organization possesses. –Steve Deller in Rural Wealth Creation (p. 161) Wow. Read that one more time. A deceptively simple, intensely powerful sentence. Actions matter. Intentions matter. A community that allows its poor to be further marginalized is making a statement. A community that supports entrepreneurs, volunteers, or youth is also making a statement. Why your community chooses certain wealth… Read More →
Cultivating Community Wealth: Wealth in Our Changing Texas Economy
This post is part of an eight-week series on Cultivating Community Wealth. “…[I]n the absence of change, the Texas labor force as a whole will be less well educated, work in lower status occupations, and have lower incomes in 2050 than in 2010.” –Murdock, et al. (2014), p. 65 Following last week’s theme of Wealth and Inequality, this week we take a look at the Texas Economy and changes anticipated in the next 35 years. Former state demographer Steve Murdock and co-authors note in their 2014 book that… Read More →
Cultivating Community Wealth: Wealth and Inequality
This post is part of an eight-week series on Cultivating Community Wealth. “Understanding the distribution of wealth across and within communities is also critical if community-level interventions are to be most effective in building on existing assets.” —Pender, Marre, and Reeder, 2012, p.6 The previous Defining Wealth post discussed the importance of improving the prosperity of those on the economic margins (described fully in the WealthWorks curriculum). Pender, Marre, and Reeder (2012) note that improving a community’s aggregate wealth may not improve the economic situation of everyone in… Read More →
Cultivating Community Wealth: Defining Wealth and Wealth-building
Wealth. We usually read about wealth in an individual context. Experts and articles abound, telling us various ways to create and preserve our wealth—our personal assets, particularly financial ones. Recently, we’ve been hearing more about rural wealth and community wealth-building as well. This discussion recognizes the importance of monetary wealth and other financial assets but considers a wider definition of wealth encompassing the well-being of residents. The literature also recognizes that wealth can be a societal as well as an individual asset. This 8-part blog series summarizes some… Read More →