Creating a New Dimension
of Performance

For 15 years, NADO has recognized members for creative approaches to community and economic development through the Innovation Awards Program. Beginning in 1986 with support from the Appalachian Regional Commission, the program has recognized 770 specific projects and programs serving small metropolitan and rural regions. This year 63 NADO members are recognized for 77 projects that help people and places.

“Innovation,” writes Peter F. Drucker, “is change that creates a new dimension of performance.” Following Drucker’s definition, NADO’s awards highlight creative solutions to obstacles faced in creating sustainable and livable communities. This year’s recipients are recognized for successes in aging and human services, business and entrepreneurial development, environmental initiatives, emergency mitigation and response, local government assistance, strategic planning, tourism, technology, transportation, workforce development and youth.

Award winners will share their insights with colleagues during the Innovation Award Roundtables at NADO’s 34th Annual Training Conference in San Antonio on August 28, 2001. Recipients also use the award recognition to educate federal, state and local policymakers and the public about the work of regional organizations and others who are creating jobs and building community capacity.

Information about specific projects is available at www.nado.org, which is frequently used by NADO members and staff for articles, testimony and responses to technical assistance inquiries. In the coming year, the NADO Research Foundation will be electronically organizing the information to make it even easier to use in research and information sharing.

This issue of the Digest is presented in a new format but retains the content and focus our readers have come to depend on for information and links to practitioners across the country. Special thanks to NADO Research Manager Kelly Novak for coordinating the Innovation Awards program and for her contributions to this edition of the Digest.l

Rural Education and Economy Currently, there are 22,000 rural schools in America, representing 28 percent of the total number of schools. These schools serve six million rural students, who represent 16 percent of the student population in the US. Seventy percent of rural schools have 400 or more students. (Perspective [Central Savannah River Area RDC], Vol. 28, No. 3, Winter 1998) About half of the nation’s schools and approximately 40 percent of the public school students are in rural areas and small towns. Rural schools are smaller; less likely to have minority students, less likely to provide bilingual, English as a Second Language, magnet and job placement programs, but are more likely to offer remedial and Chapter One programs. (Status of Public Education in Rural Areas and Small Towns - A Comparative Analysis, National Education Association, September 1998) Existing businesses create the majority of all new jobs. According to Ohio State University’s research, 78 percent of Ohio’s new jobs come from expansions of existing businesses. In rural areas, it is 86 percent.

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