Viewpoint

Without labor, nothing prospers. - Sophocles

Aliceann Wolhbruck, Executive Director, NADO Research Foundation

Almost daily, the media report on the state of the US economy, citing a recession or the enormous impact of September 11 upon the nation’s economy. And while the media can conjure up both negative and positive spins on the state of our economy, rural areas continue to face the challenge of generating economic opportunities for local communities.

Recent reports reveal that the economy is on a steady rebound. However, Mark Olson, member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System, recently told college seniors at Florida A&M University’s School of Business and Industry, that between the business cycle peak in March 2001 and January 2002, employers shed almost 1-1/2 million jobs, and the unemployment rate rose more than 1 percentage point, to 5.6 percent, its highest level since mid-1995. This is not promising news for recent college graduates entering the workforce. It is an even more grim reality for rural communities already struggling to find a decent way to make a living.

In this issue of the Digest, Department of Commerce (DOC) Secretary Donald Evan’s explains the DOC’s, and the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) commitment to funding performance-based programs that create jobs, promote economic growth, encourage sustainable development and provide a better way of life for all American citizens. This is particularly good news for development organizations that continue to implement and support results-oriented programs that achieve these goals for rural America.

Creating higher paying jobs and promoting financial growth are among the highest priorities in rural America, and economic development districts are establishing cooperative partnerships with all DOC and other federal agencies to promote job creation and retention in their regions. And, as many regional development organizations have already experienced for themselves, they can get results by initiating grassroots campaigns that champion issues of direct impact to their regions: as learned through a small survey by NADO of loan funds run by regional development organizations, 100 funds were directly responsible for creating or retaining 70,000 jobs. These loan funds were started by regional development organizations that saw an opportunity to help rural businesses through small loans, training, technical assistance and a peer network. They recognized that jobs do help their regions prosper.

April 2002 Index | Previous Page