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Commentary: Somewhere in Rural America There Is a Solution [1]

['Donald W. Macke', 'The Daily Yonder', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar']

Date: 2025-02-07

Somewhere in rural America there are answers and solutions to the challenges and opportunities facing other communities. Unfortunately, we do a horrible job exchanging this knowledge between innovators and solution creators with those in search for answers to their development questions.

Over the past 50 years I have worked throughout North America and in nearly every rural region from the Pacific Northwest to the islands of the Caribbean. Over these years I have experienced enough for me to believe the greatest asset for rural prosperity can be found in rural America.

My work has largely focused on more remote, smaller, and distressed rural communities and regions like Central Appalachia, timber country, fishing communities, and my home region here in the Great Plains where farming and ranching are king. Even for the most challenged communities there are inspired solutions that can inform how other rural communities resolve issues of food and health care access, childcare, housing, and education, and possibly most importantly strategies for growing higher value, and more prosperous and resilient economies.

One only needs to spend some time with these creative and innovative communities and their community builders, and you will discover what I have come to learn: rural America’s best answers are found in rural America.

Nebraska has been my home for over 60-years when my family moved from Colorado to Mullen, Nebraska, (496) as a kid. As my home state, I have worked in many Cornhusker State communities and with some amazing innovators, here is just a sample of solution creators:

Ord: In 1999, a small group of leaders in Ord, Nebraska, (2,102) began something special. Over the next 25 years, this small and agriculturally dependent community ravaged by the 1980s Agricultural Crisis, came back rooted in empowering leadership, a commitment to invest, and entrepreneur focused development. During the following quarter of a century, Ord and its Valley County Region diversified from a two to an eight-sector economy and prosperity.

Stuart: Even a smaller community, Stuart (482), motivated to save its hometown public schools, solved the affordable housing challenge attracting new residents becoming a national model for rural housing.

Stuart first organized itself through the city, public school, and development corporation to pursue housing. It then explored resources it could tap or mobilize to support housing development. This tiny community did infill housing, existing home rehabilitation, and new housing construction for families and retirees.

Hastings: Hastings (25,144) located in southcentral Nebraska, struggling over the years, has figured out how to revitalize its downtown with an innovative public-private partnership redeveloping every floor in its historic downtown district.

Red Cloud: Another small community Red Cloud (974) located on the Kansas border is revitalizing itself through heritage tourism being the hometown of Willa Cather (1873-1947), an internationally recognized author.

Sidney: For over 50 years Sidney (6,409) was home for Cabela’s – The World’s Foremost Outfitter. At its peak Cabela’s employed over 2,000 well-paid workers in this area of western Nebraska. Then in 2017 Cabela’s was bought by Bass Pro Shops of Missouri and Sidney’s population and economy crashed. But within a short decade, Sidney E3 (Energizing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems) has driven a remarkable recovery with 112 new and expanded entrepreneurial businesses.

In conclusion, let’s consider the following simple proposal. Each year our federal government and the states spend billions funding rural focused community economic development programs.

If the current architecture of the USDA were to remain in place, USDA’s Rural Development invests roughly $5 billion annually for community focused development. With other federal and state spending included, total government spending has been historically reaching the neighborhood of $20 billion annually.

What if just 0.1% of this annual funding stream or $20 million was dedicated to supporting learning exchange strategies among rural states and territories, and their communities. A very modest amount that could be leveraged with another $20 million from corporate America, and another $20 million from major foundations creating a $60 million fund.

Employing the Western Australian model, a government-funded networking and exchange programs designed to encourage learning and exchange between communities, these funds could capture innovation and solution learning, create regional and national resource libraries, support video-based exchange programs, and provide grants allowing rural community delegations to actually visit solutions communities. I am convinced such an initiative, like one we once had with a well-funded and supported National Rural Development Partnership, such an investment into discovering, learning from and sharing through curated networking would be transformative.

Don Macke calls America’s Great Plains home basing out of Lincoln, Nebraska. For the past 50 years Don has worked in community economic development throughout North America. He is transitioning to more research and writing as he retires from being a regional economist and project work.

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[1] Url: https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-somewhere-in-rural-america-there-is-a-solution/2025/02/07/

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