From our USDA-RD colleagues.
PUBLICATIONS
A Mismatch Between Need and Affluence, Chronicle of Philanthropy| READ STORY
It's a common combination across the country: Residents of areas with high standards of living, low poverty, and low crime give less to charity than those in less well-off areas. That's one finding from new data, compiled by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, combining giving behavior with quality-of-life measurements for 2,670 counties across the United States. It's based on data from The Chronicle's How America Gives study, which shows the share of income Americans in different parts of the country have donated.
Nonmetro job growth accelerates in 2015, but is unevenly distributed
The number of rural (nonmetro) jobs rose by 239,000 (1.2 percent) between the second quarters of 2014 and 2015, more than double the rate of growth over the prior year. Rural job growth still lags behind the rate of growth in metro areas, which saw the number of jobs rise by 1.8 percent over this period. Moreover, while the number of jobs in urban areas now exceeds the peak levels recorded prior to the Great Recession in 2007, rural employment is still well below its pre-recession peak. Rural job growth was unevenly distributed; some 1311 rural counties saw no change or an increase in jobs (ranging up to 69 percent growth), but 665 experienced job declines, with the largest decline being 19 percent. Rural counties in several oil and gas-producing states, such as Texas, Kansas, and North Dakota, which had generally experienced job growth between 2013 and 2014, experienced declines in 2014-15. The vast majority (88 percent) of rural counties in the block of Southern States stretching from Arkansas to Georgia experienced job growth, whereas, in 2013-14, 71 percent of these rural counties had employment losses. This map updates one found in the ERS report, Rural America At a Glance, 2014 Edition.
TOOLS
U.S. Census Bureau Releases County-to-County Commuting Flows
EPA Releases New Self-Assessment Tool for Rural Communities and Small Towns
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Sustainable Communities has recently released the Smart Growth Self-Assessment for Rural Communities, a compilation of strategies, organized by 11 common “goal areas,” that towns and small cities can use to evaluate their existing policies to create healthy, environmentally resilient, and economically robust places. This self-assessment helps communities identify gaps in their policies, plans, codes, and zoning regulations by asking a series of “Yes” or “No” questions. This self-assessment tool is broad and interdisciplinary. Each section focuses on a specific set of issues and will likely require input from multiple parts of the local government, as well as from community residents and other stakeholders. Click here for more information and to download the tool.
LEARNING
FHWA to Hold Webinar on State of Logistics Report
On September 16 from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration will hold the webinar “2015 Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals State of Logistics Report” as part of its monthly Talking Freight professional development series. The State of Logistics Report is one of the most important reports in the goods movement and freight logistics industry, providing an overview of current goods movement and freight logistics trends, and freight volumes and economic health of the various freight transportation mode industries. Understanding the “lay of the land” in the goods movement and freight logistics industry can help both public and private sector transportation organizations better understand current and possible future freight transportation planning needs. It can also provide insights into the business aspects of freight transportation, information typically not available to or examined by many public sector freight transportation professionals. When examined in concert with transportation infrastructure needs, it can help government sector transportation officials gain better understanding of the impact infrastructure investment, or lack thereof, can have on supply chain operations and ultimately business sustainability. Click here to register for the webinar.
Advancing Economic Success – Community Foundations Building Family, Community and Regional Prosperity provided an opportunity for community foundation leaders to more deeply explore and share how they are addressing critical community issues and working to advance regional development in ways that build wealth for all. At the event, participants learned about the organizing framework of Community Development Philanthropy and heard stories from community foundations that are helping families get ahead and those that are helping local and regional economies get ahead.
Click here to view presentations and videos from the workshop, and be sure to follow @AspenCSG and @e2ruralcenter for more stories and ideas related to community development philanthropy!
FUNDING
Kids in Need Foundation Invites Applications for 2015 Teacher Grants Programs - DEADLINE: September 30, 2015
Grants of up to $500 will be awarded to educators in support of projects that strengthen creativity, critical thinking skills, and/or core knowledge by engaging students in the learning process....
APF Invites Applications for Grant to Decrease Discrimination in Education - DEADLINE: October 1, 2015
A single grant of $20,000 will be awarded in support of research, education, or an intervention with the potential to reduce disparities in education and achievement as a result of discrimination....
Safe Places to Play Grant - Deadline: Oct 2, 2015
Funder: US Soccer Foundation
Research: Art Works Funding Opportunity - Deadline for submitting an application is October 20.
As the federal agency of record on arts research, the NEA is offering the Research: Art Works grant funding opportunity. The NEA is interested in research which will measure or clarify one or more factors, characteristics, and conditions of the U.S. arts ecosystem; will investigate the direct and indirect benefits of arts participation; or will address topics on the value and/or impact of the arts. We encourage applications from diverse research fields, such as sociology, economics, psychology, medicine and health, education, and urban and regional planning) and research partnerships between arts practitioners and researchers.
Learn about the grant process at an upcoming NEA grant guidelines webinar on September 9 at 3:00 PM ET, or view the webinar soon thereafter on the NEA's archive page. Organizations may apply for a Research grant in addition to other NEA grant opportunities in the same year.
Jobs Plus Pilot Initiative - Application Deadline: September 28, 2015
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Public and Indian Housing. The purpose of the Jobs Plus Pilot program is to develop locally-based, job-driven approaches to increase earnings and advance employment outcomes through work readiness, employer linkages, job placement, educational advancement, technology skills, and financial literacy for residents of public housing. The place-based Jobs Plus Pilot program addresses poverty among public housing residents by incentivizing and enabling employment through earned income disregards for working families, and a set of services designed to support work including employer linkages, job placement and counseling, educational advancement, and financial counseling. Ideally, these incentives will saturate the target developments, building a culture of work and making working families the norm. The Jobs Plus Pilot program consists of the following three core components:
- Employment-Related Services
- Financial Incentives – Jobs Plus Earned Income Disregard (JPEID)
- Community Supports for Work
In addition to these components further defined below, applicants are encouraged to develop key partnerships to connect participants with any other needed services to remove barriers to work. An Individualized Training and Services Plan (ITSP) should be developed for each participant to establish goals and service strategies, and to track progress. View the Jobs Plus Initiative NOFA.
View the webcast. More information is available on the Public and Indian Office website.
APF Seeks Applications to Support Mental Health Projects for the Underserved - DEADLINE: December 31, 2015
The Pearson Early Career program will provide a single grant of $12,000 to encourage an early career psychologist to devote his or her career to underserved populations....
Emergency Medicine Residents' Association Seek Applications for Local Action Grants - DEADLINE: February 15, 2016
A single grant of $1,000 will be awarded to a project that promotes the involvement of emergency medicine residents in community service and other activities supporting the specialty of emergency medicine....
RGK Foundation Accepting LOIs for Education, Community Programs - DEADLINE: Rolling (Letters of Inquiry)
Grants will be awarded in the areas of K-12 education, community, and health and medicine....
Sports and Community Development - Deadline: Open
Funder: Adidas Group
Community Facility Loans - Deadline: Ongoing
Funder: Rural Community Assistance Corporation
Developing Healthy Places - Deadline: Ongoing
Funder: The Kresge Foundation
Suzette M. Agans
Community Economic Development
Rural Development | U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., S.W. | Washington, D.C. 20250-3254
Phone: 202.401.1922 | Fax 202.401.7311
www.rd.usda.gov
"Committed to the future of rural communities"
"Estamos dedicados al futuro de las comunidades rurales"
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