Article on New Hampshire’s “quiet” innovation highlights NERCRD research

In this opinion piece written for the New Hampshire Business Review, Dr. Charlie French (University of New Hampshire Extension) cites NERCRD research on “latent” or hidden innovation, and provides several examples of “quiet innovation” from rural New Hampshire communities that are leading to gains in employment, income, and quality of life. Dr. French leads UNH Extension’s Community and Economic Development team.

NERCRD researchers develop new tool for visualizing vulnerabilities in supply chains

February 11, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically exposed the economic vulnerability of U.S. businesses, primarily because they are so interconnected: when one region experiences a labor shortage or supply interruption, adverse effects reverberate throughout the global economy. Researchers at NERCRD and the Korea Rural Economic Institute have developed a model to help visualize the interconnectedness of businesses and industries over geographic space, which potentially can show supply-chain vulnerabilities to future shocks, such as pandemics or climate-change impacts.

New project to explore models for connecting healthcare organizations with local agricultural producers

December 7, 2020

NERCRD is participating in a one-year project aimed at identifying a sustainable model for connecting regional healthcare organizations with local communities and agricultural producers. The project is funded jointly by the Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and College of Medicine.

NERCRD accomplishments and future plans reviewed at annual meeting in October

December 1, 2020

Members of the Northeast Center’s Board of Directors (BOD) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) met virtually at the end of October to review the Center’s progress towards its goals and to provide input to its 2021 plan of work.

NACDEP issues request for conference presentation proposals for 2021

December 1, 2020

Proposals are now being accepted for the National Association for Community Development Extension Professionals 2021 Conference, which is taking place in Coeur d’Alene, ID, May 16-19, 2021. Consideration is given to a wide range of community development topics including economic development, diversity and inclusion, human capacity building, community resilience and sustainability, infrastructure, natural environment, building capacity within government and organizations, tourism, and response to COVID-19.

Return on investment, public value estimates, and using the “but for” attribution principle

November 23, 2020

An article recently published in Journal of Extension demonstrates how a team from University of Minnesota Extension quantified the economic benefits of one of their leadership programs using the “but for” attribution principle. This principle is described in detail in “The Impact Indicators Tip Booklet: Practical and Credible Methods for Using the ‘But For’ Rule to Document Extension Community Development Impacts,” published by NERCRD and available online. Hat tip to George Morse for bringing this article to our attention.

Rural health findings from the National Center for Health Statistics

November 19, 2020

The NCHS has recently issued two scientific reports that include rurality in their analyses. A data brief on chronic pain shows that “percentage of adults with chronic pain and high impact chronic pain increased as place of residence became more rural.” Another report explores the urban-rural differences in visits to doctors by adults with hypertension.

Insights from Coming Together for Racial Understanding trainings are published in Journal of Extension

November 19, 2020

The Coming Together for Racial Understanding (CTRU) initiative, formed as a rapid response team by the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy in 2016, has since trained 90 Extension professionals from 26 states. Several organizers and participants have documented the outcomes in a Journal of Extension article, published in October 2020. They describe a “great need for increased education and capacity building to address racism and prioritize racial equity both within our institutions and in the communities we serve” and a critical need “for administrators to show visible support.”

NERCRD is hiring an Assistant Research Professor

October 12, 2020

The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development is seeking applications for a non-tenure track Assistant Research Professor position.

New research briefs explore facets of rural innovation

August 27, 2020

We have added two new research briefs to our “Innovation Issues” series. One brief describes research on how businesses use of different sources of knowledge and creativity drive their innovation activities. Another focuses on the relationship between innovation and knowledge management—how businesses acquire new knowledge and integrate technologies to help them apply it.

NERCRD partners on resource hub for local food-system response to COVID-19

August 26, 2020

NERCRD is partnering with University of Kentucky and Colorado State University in a one-year Cooperative Agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Marketing Service, to research the impacts, adaptations and innovations of COVID-19 on U.S. Local and Regional Food Systems.