Friday, July 18, 2014

FW: Publications, Tools, Learning, and Funding

From our colleagues at USDA-RD: a couple of resources related to resilient communities.

 

From: Agans, Suzette - RD, Washington, DC [mailto:Suzette.Agans@wdc.usda.gov]
Sent: Friday, July 18, 2014 8:58 AM
Subject: Publications, Tools, Learning, and Funding

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

Global corn ending stocks forecast to be the highest in 15 years

Global corn stocks are forecast to rise to the highest level in 15 years by the end of 2014/15 (September/August), leading to downward pressure on U.S. and global corn prices. Stocks fell to relatively low levels during 2003/04-2006/07, prior to the 2008 spike in world commodity prices, but are now forecast to reach 188.1 million tons in 2014/15, just 3 percent below the recent high of 194.4 million tons in 1999/2000. Since 2008/09, world corn production has exceeded total consumption in 5 out of 7 years. In addition to the United States and China—the two largest global producers and consumers of corn—production and stocks have been generally rising in Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine—countries that are also playing an expanding role as corn exporters. With a second consecutive above trend U.S. corn harvest forecast for 2014/15, the United States is expected to account for most of the 8-percent increase in global corn stocks forecast in 2014/15. With growing inventories, the U.S. season average farm price of corn is expected to decline to $4.00 per bushel, down 10 percent from $4.45 per bushel in 2013/14, and 42 percent from $6.89 per bushel in the U.S. drought year of 2012/13. Find a chart in the Feed Grain Chart Gallery and additional analysis in Feed Outlook: July 2014.

 

40 Maps That Explain Food in America

Here are 40 maps, charts, and graphs that show where our food comes from and how we eat it, with some drinking thrown in for good measure.

 

NACo Releases New Publication on Innovations in Workforce Development
The National Association of Counties (NACo) recently released a new issue brief that demonstrates the importance of a quality workforce as one of the most important factors for promoting county economic competitiveness.  A Workforce that Works: County Innovations in Workforce Development showcases county-level strategies in workforce development by highlighting four counties that are aligning workforce development with economic development efforts to sustain a competitive and healthy economy.  From investing in sector-based education and training programs that prepare workers to meet employer demands to prioritizing data-driven methods that improve knowledge of local demographic trends, county leaders and their partners are marrying economic development and workforce development efforts in innovative new ways.  This report was developed with support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Economic Resilience through a partnership with the NADO Research Foundation.  Click here to read the issue brief.    

 

 

TOOLS


Free, User-Friendly Tool to Help Economies Recover after Disasters

Leadership in Times of Crisis provides strategies and tactics for community leaders to focus on for economic recovery and preserving jobs, incorporating useful information for convening private and public stakeholders to identify key economic recovery strategies, tips on how to navigate federal resources for response and recovery, and implementation of recovery initiatives.  Developed by IEDC with nationwide input and funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration, the Toolkit is designed to benefit a wide range of public and private sector officials working with businesses and industries in the economic recovery process. Leadership in Times of Crisis: A Toolkit for Economic Recovery and Resiliency  
Download for free at www.restoreyoureconomy.org


EPA Releases Flood Recovery and Resilience Tool
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new tool to help communities prepare for, deal with, and recover from floods.  The Flood Resilience Checklist can help communities identify strategies to enhance flood resilience, such as conserving land in flood-prone areas; directing new development to safer areas; and using green infrastructure approaches, such as installing rain gardens, to manage storm water. 

The checklist is part of a new report, Planning for Flood Recovery and Long-Term Resilience in Vermont: Smart Growth Approaches for Disaster-Resilient Communities.  The report is a product of EPA’s year-long Smart Growth Implementation Assistance project in Vermont where EPA worked with the Mad River Valley Planning District, state agencies, and FEMA to help communities recover from Tropical Storm Irene.  Although the project focused on Vermont, the policy options and checklist in the report can help any community seeking to become more flood resilient. Click here to learn more about this project.  Download PDF versions of the checklist and report

EPA will host a webinar to share lessons learned from the Vermont project on August 13 from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET.  The webinar will feature speakers from FEMA, the state of Vermont, and the Mad River Valley Planning District.  No pre-registration is required; click here for more details and to join the webinar.  

 

 

LEARNING

 

Webinar: See above under Tools, on EPA Release Recovery and Resilience Tool for a Webinar on August 13.

 

Webpage: Grantseeker's Guide to Foundation Affinity Groups, from Blue Advocado

 

Webpage: Charity Raters Part I: Charting the Bad and the Bad, Blue Avocado Investigates • By Jan Masaoka • May 25, 2013•

Wouldn't it be great if there were an objective rating system so that donors could choose the best nonprofits to donate to just as investors use rating agencies to pick the best companies to invest in? Don't answer; it's a rhetorical question. Here's what you need to know about some of the best-known charity rating organizations:

In this Part I of a two-part article, we take a fast look at six charity raters -- Charity Navigator, Charity Watch, Better Business Bureau, …

 

 

FUNDING

 

The Diane Lupke Scholarship Fund – Due Friday, July 25, 2014 - If you work in a distressed community and are interested in pursuing professional development opportunities, we have an opportunity for you.
Through the Diane Lupke Scholarship Fund, IEDC is proud to award four scholarships to economic development professionals (two IEDC members and two nonmembers) working in distressed communities to attend an IEDC education course of the recipient's choice.  Please download the application and submit all materials by to be eligible for consideration.  » Download the application form (PDF)
Submit application materials and direct questions to Rebecca Thomas at rthomas@iedconline.org.

 

KaBOOM! Invites Applications for Community Playground Grants - DEADLINE: Open. Build It With KaBOOM! playground grants provide community organizations with most of the funds, tools, and resources needed to build a custom-made playground in one day....

 

IEEE Foundation Invites Applications for Science Education and Humanitarian Projects - DEADLINE: August 1, 2014

Grants will be awarded in support of new projects in the areas of STEM education, history of technology, and applying technology for humanitarian causes....

 

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Accepting Nominations for Lifetime Achievement Awards - DEADLINE: November 7, 2014 (Letters of Nomination)

The annual awards are designed to honor current NCTM members who have exhibited a lifetime of achievement in mathematics education at the national level....

 

NCTM Accepting Applications for Projects Using Music to Teach Pre-K-2 Mathematics  - DEADLINE: November 7, 2014

Grants of up to $3,000 will be awarded to individual classroom teachers or small groups of teachers collaborating in one grade or across grade levels....

 

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Announces 2015 Culture of Health Prize - DEADLINE: September 17, 2014 (Phase I applications)

Up to ten grants of $25,000 each will be awarded to honor outstanding community efforts and partnerships that are helping people live healthier lives....

 

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Newsletters and email from where I gather this information include:

 

v  Foundation Center RFP Service -  To subscribe or unsubscribe, or to change your e-mail address, visit: http://foundationcenter.org/newsletters/

v  To subscribe to the RAC Health Listserv - click here to go to the subscription form.

v  Electronic newsletter of the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, Rural Entrepreneurship NewsTo subscribe, http://team.energizingentrepreneurs.org/news2/public_html/lists/?p=subscribe  

v  Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City newsletter: http://www.kansascityfed.org/alert/

v  Blue Avocado Nonprofit Magazine - They have a newsletter on boards and nonprofit management, down-to-earth and useful.  http://www.blueavocado.org/

v  Rural LISC e-newsletter - http://www.lisc.org/rural

v  National Association for Development Organizations (NADO) – www.nado.org

v  ERS - A notification service is provided by USDA's Economic Research Service for Charts of Note and other research to keep you informed of the latest and most relevant research on the topics that interest you. You can subscribe at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Updates/

v  Department of Labor – Email Subscription Service - https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOL/subscriber/new?topic_id=USDOL_167

v  Orton Family Foundation – email sign-up - http://www.orton.org/sign_up

 

This is the bulk of them, a few others are random.

 

 





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