Economic Development

Translating Federal Opportunities into Local Resources: Ada Jobs Foundation
This short case study has insights and tips on how rural communities with limited staffing and resources can understand, prepare for, and compete for finite federal funds.

A Thrive Rural Reflection: Assets at the Local and Systems levels
Many resources center asset-framing as primarily a household-level and local issue. But what is the systems-level responsibility for acting on assets?

This Is What Capacity Looks Like: Building Development Muscle in Rural and Native Nation Communities
Nov. 30th, 2021, 3PM
It is often said that rural and tribal communities and organizations need more capacity to fully engage or solve problems in their regions. But what, exactly, equals “capacity”?

Shared Prosperity: Building Power Towards an Equitable Rural Economy
Oct. 13th, 2021, 11AM
Building power and capacity within groups on the economic and social margins is a crucial component for strong, healthy and economically diverse rural communities.

Investing in Infrastructure: Rural Strategies for Building and Maintaining Healthy Local Economies
Aug. 16th, 2021, 3PM
Download the Event Presentation: ROADS INFRASTRUCTURE EVENT PRESENTATION Speaker Resources American Society of Civil Engineers Resources 2021 Report Card for America’s...

Rural Outdoor Recreation Economies: Challenges and Opportunities
Outdoor recreation is driving new opportunities for local communities in many rural places. See ways to do economic development differently with rural recreation economies.

Ground Truth from Rural Practitioners
Every day, organizations are working hard to improve the economy and livelihoods of residents in rural and tribal communities in...

Measure Up: A Call to Action
Today, we have a generational opportunity to strengthen prosperity and equity in communities and Native nations across the rural United...

Annotated List of Resources for Measuring Rural Development Progress
This Annotated List of Resources for Measuring Rural Development Progress is part of Measure Up: A Call to Action. It was developed and...

Measure Up: A Call to Action — Executive Summary
This is the Executive Summary for Measure Up: A Call to Action. It highlights six principles for measuring rural development progress to...

What (and Who) Counts? Defining Rural Development Success
There are no easy solutions for the many challenges that rural Americans face, but it’s clear that rural communities themselves...

Supporting EDA Reauthorization
For over a year, Aspen CSG has been leading work with Reimagining Rural Assistance Network (RRAN). RRAN is a focused,...