Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Brief Summary of Minutes from Annual Meeting with Information from Non-Attendees

Notes (by attendee)

Craig Carpenter, Texas A&M University and Michigan State University

• Ongoing working in the Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC) to research military veteran entrepreneurs. Beginning second round of focus groups in Michigan and Illinois and developing Extension materials. Kristopher Demining began as postdoctoral association at Michigan State University. (Project fundings by USDA NIFA.)
• New USDA NIFA project to examine long-run economic opportunity 1920-2020, with particular attention to racial disparities and related discriminatory policies. This is a fully integrated (research, Extension, teaching) project which conducts FSRDC research, and then will develop Extension and teaching modular materials for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Substantial data work this year and a first round of focus groups.
• New research project funded by the Russell Sage Foundation to examine long-run effects of urban redlining, particularly effects on housing (relevant to this project), and which policies helped or did not help in diminishing those long-run effects.
• New project to examine the “Impact of Climate Change on Agricultural Processing Facility Movement and Food Dollar.” In particular, Dr. Carpenter am helping with the (changing) location choice decisions of agricultural processing facilities.
• Most of my publications this year relate to an ending USDA NIFA grant that leveraged the FSRDC system to advance locational choice research and developed an Extension mapping tool that was adopted by Michigan State University Extension, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, and University of Wyoming Extension.
• Carpenter has devoted substantial time to working on affordable, attainable, and equitable housing Extension curriculums. This includes delineating the history of redlining. These educational materials won a national award from the National Association of Community Development Professionals.

Dawn Thilmany, Colorado State University

• Colorado faces a unique set of challenges, including an economy based on many legacy, resource-intensive sectors such as agriculture and energy, that is now transitioning to more knowledge-based industries.  This transition, together with COVID disruptions and a migration of households who see remote work as an option will very likely change the population, workforce and economic development needs of Colorado communities.
• Although Colorado faces a unique issues and opportunities, having examples from within the state and from other regions of the US with similar challenges can be very helpful to our work.  Through tools, publications, webinars and fact sheets that other members of the regional research group share, we have been able to increase the resources we have offered rural leaders to help them understand their current standing and options to consider. 
• We have initiated a number of activities that align with our stakeholders' priorities, and we know these are well targeted because they were driven by community-based questions and conversations.  With our partners in the Regional Economic Development Institute (https://redi.colostate.edu/), we continue to produce bi-monthly REDI reports on a variety of topics from workforce trends and policy, to public services (education, housing), to economic considerations around specific projects (a new state park).  In addition, we host occasional webinars to discuss current issues, including a fall webinar on the changing farm labor policy landscape. 
• To address the broader set of needs among our communities, we have started to develop some new data metrics that all counties can access to learn about both how their area compares to the state, but also, how those data change across time (perhaps helping them to evaluate progress on targeted economic or community goals).  And, to contribute to the broader field and literature, we frame and publish research on challenges we know are present in Colorado, but may also be affecting other regions of the country including localized food systems, agritourism and labor markets.
• Our work on this topic is being augmented currently by an Economic Development Administration grant, which is allowing us to more and targeted work with three regions of the state.  More information at: https://edapartners.colostate.edu/about-the-team/  This is a nice integrating of USDA and EDA investments in rural development.

Andrew Van Leuven, Oklahoma State University

• Working on a statewide “data hub” for rural Oklahoma economies, which will be paired with available workshops on data literacy
  • Piloted the data literacy workshop as an Extension in-service training, and there’s some strong demand for repeating it for non-extension folks.
• Also working on a small business needs survey for rural Oklahoma businesses (piloting that with Pontotoc County, Ada Chamber, and Pontotoc Technology Center).

Anders Van Sandt, University of Wyoming

• Health-focus group interviews for a health improvement strategy
• Developing AFRI grant on health access
• Physical, financial, and social access to care: to identify imperfect substitute (?) in rural communities
• Climate resilience: water hazard, drought, flood, wildfire
• Working with western rural development center-health extension

Tom Harris, University of Nevada – Reno

• Center of Economic Development, extra funding for CARES
• Nevada economic analysis
• Clark county: Education linking programs economic industry, development of occupations
• Public issue: surface water; regional model for regional impact, tourism, multiplier

Sankar Mukhopadhyay, University of Nevada

• Labor and Health, policy-related
• Obesity and mental health
• Mental health outcomes (people with obesity): rural vs. urban

John Halstead, University of New Hampshire

• SBIR: an alternative method of streamlining the distribution process of local products
• cutting down processing, marketing, and administrative costs
• Animal science grant through NIFA
• PFAS, forever chemicals
  • Household survey work
  • Local & state department of environment service
  • USGS: hotspots airport base manufacturing plants
  • Effects of contamination on residential property

Jamie Greig, University of Tennessee

• Energy justice and internet burden: Impact of Covid-19 on energy and internet burden
• Appalachian diabetes
  • Impact of distance education on diabetes
• Submitted proposal
• Digital literacy, farming community, and rural libraries
• Broadband access

Margarita Teran-Garcia, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

• Health Extension
• Hispanic health
• Obesity prevention, to determine genes, environment, socio-economic, and health factors
• Multistate grants with Hispanic institutions (CA, Hudson, Puerto Rico, Iowa State)
  • Survey, Health education, Digital/hybrid method to evaluate the impact of nutrition education
• Collaborating with others on chronicle disease prevention

Sarah Low, University of Missouri

• Collaborated with Dawn
• Health project
  • Working with ERS and Andrew
  • Disproportionate rural mortality
  • High (natural) mortality rate of white women, working-age women dying
• Broadband
  • Working with social science and engineering

Stephen Goetz, Penn State University and NERCRD

• Liz, Heather, and Stephen’s paper about the life expectancy difference b/w male and female
• Housing supply and demand
  • With Heather Stephens
• Paper With Steve Deller
  • Will be presented at ERSA
  • Differences in COVID-related death across urban areas
• With Dawn
  • Threshold model for wineries, breweries, and distilleries
  • Wine economics conference
• Tourism

Heather Stephens, West Virginia University

• Board chair of NERCRD
• Impact of COVID on Tourism and housing in the northeast (With Stephen)
• Entrepreneurship (writing a proposal with NERCRD associate director)
• Some projects With Steve Deller
• Organized AAEA sessions last year
• Collaborations with the Brookings Institute, and other regional economic development institutions like Appalachian Regional Commission, Delta Regional Authority
• BEA advisory council, regional data, new county (or sub-county)

Steven Deller, University of Wisconsin

• The focus of the applied research undertaken at the University of Wisconsin helped to better understand the underlying factors affecting rural economic growth and development.
  • This includes issues related to income inequality and women entrepreneurs, religion as a specific form of social capital, and student loan debt, among others.
• A consistent conclusion is that rural America is extremely heterogenous and policies that may be effective in one part of rural America may not be effective in other parts.
• The Extension focused work on rural broadband resulted in significant media converge and has directly impacts how the Governor of Wisconsin is investing CARES Act funding for broadband.
• The work benefited from partnership with other NE2249, particularly at the University of Idaho and the University of Missouri.

Notes (by Non-attendees)

Michael Betz, Ohio State University

• In 2018, The Ohio State University embarked on a new initiative to combat the opioid and substance misuse epidemic that is plaguing the state. Initially, our group worked with 9 counties to implement the PROSPER delivery system, an evidence-based model that has proven successful for nearly two decades in eight states across the country, originating from Iowa State University.
• Since then, our work has evolved and expanded to 12 counties and 15 schools. We have engaged Community Teams in all 12 counties and hundreds of community members that work together to support prevention initiatives. The Ohio Youth Resilience Collaborative offers infrastructure and technical assistance for a menu of prevention programs. One distinguishing feature of OYRC is that the effort is supported in the community so that it can be sustained year after year.

Diane Charlton, Montana State University

• Several working projects:
• “Effects of Global Trade Policies on Rural Labor Markets” with Amanda Countryman and Dale Manning
  • We measure effects of variation in crop, livestock, and non-farm tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade on U.S. imports and foreign imports of U.S. goods on U.S. county-level employment and wages. We measure county-level exposure to trade using base-year county employment shares by industry and annual tariff data by 6-digit harmonized system codes, weighted by export shares with each trading partner in a base year.
• “The Role of Farm Labor Contractors in Tight Labor Markets: Evidence from 287(g) Policies” with Genti Kostandini and Tianyuan Luo
  • We measure impacts of 287(g) policies on fruit production, contract labor expenditures, and employment and wages by citizenship status and employer type (farm labor contractor or direct hire).
• “H-2A Guest Worker Demand Response to Local Changes in Incidence of COVID-19” with Skyler Simnitt and Marcelo Castillo
  • We measure the effects of monthly variation in COVID-19 exposure within U.S. counties on annual changes in monthly H-2A employment and H-2A requests.
• “Economic Feasibility of Adopting Robotic Apple Harvesters” with Stephen Devadoss, Karina Gallardo, and Jeff Luckstead
  • We estimate feasible costs and efficiencies of robotic apple harvesters that would be necessary for robots to replace H-2A workers for the harvest of commercial apples

Elizabeth Davis and Laura Kalambokidis, University of Minnesota

•  A key goal under Objective 1 is to identify infrastructure needs (broadly defined) to help address chronic and pandemic-driven labor shortages. In order to understand the link between child care availability and local labor markets, researchers developed and analyzed measures of child care accessibility across the dimensions of supply, cost and quality based on the spatial distribution (e.g., travel time) between families and child care providers. We developed maps and data visualizations to show the variation in child care access for families in different parts of Minnesota prior to the pandemic and since 2020. In addition, we analyzed how public funding for child care and early education impacts the supply and quality of child care over time and across rural areas in order to identify strategies that work to increase supply of child care. Also under objective 1, regarding research on tax revenue forecasting, we calculated the forecast errors for Minnesota's general fund revenue forecast for the current biennium (two-year budget period). We produce two revenue forecasts per calendar year, in February and November. The difference between the level of revenue forecast and the amount actually collected at the end of a biennium--the forecast error--is a gauge of forecast accuracy. The mean absolute error (MAE) is the average of the errors' absolute values (that is, treating negative and positive errors the same). State and local policymakers have benefited from research findings to inform their policy decisions with regards to managing the budgetary risk of tax revenue volatility.
• Expansion of the supply of high-quality child care will help families access the care they need and may expand the availability of labor in rural areas. Our project helps to identify those areas with the greatest mismatch between families needing child care and availability of supply. The economic vitality of Minnesota's communities depends on investments made by state government. The state operating and capital budgets provide funds for public infrastructure, education, health care, workforce development, business development, and more. By improving the accuracy of state revenue forecasts, our project provides consistency and certainty to local governments’ and nonprofit organizations’ budgets.

Siew Lim, North Dakota State University

• The study evaluates the economic benefits of NASA’s remote sensing technology to the agricultural sector in the Red River Valley of the North basin (RRB). Previously, forecast errors had led to inadequate flood preparations that resulted in tremendous losses and overspending of taxpayer’s dollars in flood response. NASA’s satellite microwave remote sensing technology offers improved snow water equivalent measurement information needed for spring flood forecasting in this region. This study evaluates the economic benefits of the technology use to the farm sector in the RRB. We found that farm support for the technology use for river flood forecast is overwhelming, and higher farm’s support yields higher willingness to pay for the product use. However, landowners who lease to farm operators have noticeably zero perceived economic valuation of the product even though river flooding on their land could depress future land value.
• We study landowner’s preferences for conservation reserve program (CRP) contract design. We find that landowners prefer shorter to longer contract lengths, higher rental payment to landowners increased likelihood of participation, landowners were more likely to accept a contract that provided a more flexible land use alternative.

Mark Skidmore, Michigan State University

• Over the past 1.5 years, I have conducted work in health/well-being, disaster resilience, and public finance. In addition to the work listed above, I have ongoing work examining the impacts of extreme heat and wildfires on health.
• I also have work in the public finance and economic development arena.
• I was also recently awarded a USDA grant (Measuring and Mapping Rural Inflation), which has direct relevance to the NE2249 Multi-state group.

Brian Whitacre, Oklahoma State University

• Brian Whitacre continues to work on broadband issues, and is a member of Oklahoma’s Broadband Expansion Council. His rural library hotspot loan program continues to see success, with 26 libraries participating.
• He is working with other researchers and extension educators to help promote the newly enacted Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides a $30-$75 monthly subsidy for home broadband service to eligible households.
• He also works with Alison Davis at Kentucky on the Center for the Economic Analysis of Rural Health. They just finished their 1st 3 years of funding and hope to win another 3-year award. 

One extension project he is excited about is his collaboration with the state Department of Libraries and OSU’s Medical School to put telehealth “boxes” – soundproof rooms with telehealth equipment – in 5 rural libraries across the state.    

Impact and indicators

Grant Awards (project member collaborations)

Thilmany, Dawn, A. Bauman and B. Jablonski. 2021-2022. “Development and Expansion of a State-Specific Economic Impact Calculator for Nutrition Incentive Projects.” Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition Incentives. Collaborating with Phil Watson and U of Idaho. $82,000.

Thilmany, Dawn, 2021-2023. “Assessing Sustainable Development Goals: Six Cross-Nationally Comparable Agri-Food Pilot Studies.” Cooperative Agreement with USDA Economic Research Service and Cornell University. Craig Carpenter and Phil Watson on the committee received subawards from this project. $425,000.

Grant Awards (other)

Anders, John, and Craig Wesley Carpenter. 2022-2023. “Can Education Fight Inherited Inequity? Using Administrative Data to Measure the Direct, Intergenerational, and Interactive Impacts of Redlining and Education.” Russell Sage Foundation. $170,881.

Betz, M. R. & Snyder, A. 2018-2022. “Shale energy development: A boom or bust for rural families and their communities?” United States Department of Agriculture. $499,435.

Betz, M. R., Martin, K., Wapner, A., & Julian, D. 2020-2022. “Preventing opioid misuse and abuse in rural Ohio through enhanced family and community education and training.” Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency. $1,080,219.

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, John Anders, Marcus Bernard, Trey Malone, and Charles M. Tolbert. 2022-2025. “Documenting Discrimination and Researching Policy: Racial Inequality and Economic Opportunity in Rural America 1920-2020.” USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. $650,000.

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, Charles Tolbert, and Rick Peterson. 2018-2023. “Leveraging Big Data to Investigate and Support ‘Vetrepreneurs.’” USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. $500,000.

Davis, Alison, and Brian Whitacre. 2021-2022. “Center for Economic Analysis of Rural Health (CEARH).” Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Rural Health Policy. $225,000.

Kim, Ayoung, et al. 2020-2024. “Resilient Biomass-Combined Heat and Power Systems for Rural Communities.” Co-PI USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. $1,000,000.

Kim, Ayoung, et al. 2021-2024. “The Racial Wealth Gap, Persistent Poverty and Heirs’ Property: Analysis, Connections, and Solutions.” Co-PI USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. $499,997.

Lotspeich-Yadao, Michael, Craig Wesley Carpenter, and Charles Tolbert. 2021-2023. “Data-Driven Extension Programming for Rural Veteran Workforce Reintegration.” USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. $125,933, awarded and returned due to postdoctoral fellow (Lotspeich-Yadao) faculty placement.

Loveridge, Scott, Mark Skidmore, et al. 2022-2026. “Measuring and Mapping Rural Inflation.” USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. $800,000.

Low, Sarah et al. The Growing Rural Health Disadvantage: Causes and Consequences for Rural Labor Markets. 2021-2023. USDA Economic Research Service, non-assistance cooperative agreement. $145,000.

Low, Sarah et al. State and Regional Farm Financial Analysis. 2021-2024. USDA Office of the Chief Economist, Agricultural and Food Policy Research Centers. $1,425,000.

McCarl, Bruce, Chengcheng Fei, Craig Wesley Carpenter, and Ronald Sands. 2022-2023. “Impact of Climate Change on Agricultural Processing Facility Movement and Food Dollar.” USDA Economic Research Service. $75,000.

Ohara, Angle, Ekin, Rutherford, and Whitacre. 2021-2022. “Revitalizing Rural - Rural - Equipping Rural Communities with Technology Literacy for Seizing Productivity.”  National Science Foundation.  $150,000.

Skidmore, Mark. 2021-2022. “Valuing Land in Detroit Using the Option Value Approach.” Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. $15,000.

Thilmany, Dawn, T. Marks, D. Mooney and R. Hill. 2022-2023. “Cross-State Heterogeneity of Farm-Scale Hemp Production Costs.” Subcontract with University of Kentucky and Cooperative Agreement with the USDA Ag Marketing Service.  $360,000.

Thilmany, Dawn, S. Weiler, S. Shrake, A. Sintas, R. Hill. 2020-2022. “Planning and Technical Support to Diversify Economic Opportunities in Colorado: A Technical Assistance Project.” Economic Development Administration. $575,000.

Van Sandt, Anders 2022. “Unlocking Community Health Access Together (UCHAT).” University of Wyoming. $20,000.

Van Sandt, Anders. 2022. “Developing an online mapping tool to house and display Wyoming data on economics, demographics, land, industries, amenities, health risks and outcomes, and other information relevant to Wyoming stakeholders.” University of Wyoming. $10,000.

Whitacre, Brian. 2022-2023 “Library Telehealth Boxes in Persistent Poverty Rural Oklahoma Counties.” Oklahoma State Department of Health. $150,000.

Whitacre, Brian. 2022-2023. “Impacts of Broadband Speed on Rural Business Dynamics.”  USDA – Economic Research Service.  $20,000. Funding Christina Biedny (Ph.D. student).

Extension Programs (project member collaborations)

Community-Opportunity Matching Program (Michigan, Texas, and Wyoming) https://communities.tamu.edu/economic-opportunity-maps/

https://www.canr.msu.edu/economic_development/economic-opportunity-maps/

https://www.uwyo.edu/uwe/economic-opportunity-maps/

Homegrown: Entrepreneurship in your Community (Missouri & Wisconsin) https://extension.missouri.edu/programs/exceed-community-economic-and-entrepreneurial-development/entrepreneurial-ecosystems

Extension Programs (other)

Cultivating Community Preparedness – Conducting survey and interview work to identify barriers and opportunities that may assist or hinder a community’s ability to prepare for or address water related natural hazards (floods, drought, wildfire, etc.).

The History of Redlining for Extension DEI and Housing Programs: https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/

Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center www.ruralandfarmfinance.com

The UCHAT Project – Joint project with Wyoming Department of Health. Interviewed underrepresented groups regarding engagement in public health decision making. Subsequently led a series of online roundtable deliberations to develop common ground around potential health improvement strategies for the Wyoming Department of Health’s State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP).

Rural Engagement Initiative at Colorado State University. Dawn Thilmany co-leads the work focused on Thriving Economy / Food and Agriculture. In addition to continuing to make progress rebuilding community relationships and communicating the increased capacity to work in Economic development alongside our Vibrant Community partners (FLTI, Engaged Centers), we are centering rural initiative work in three areas:

1. Targeted Technical Assistance for food/ag enterprises, sectors and community initiatives
2. Co-Creating Entrepreneurial Programs with Community colleges and producer associations
3. Data platforms and decision tools to guide market strategies and new investments

In addition, CSU and Dawn Thilmany have other projects at the intersection of food and economic development:

• Work with U of Kentucky and USDA Ag Marketing Service. Grant and Extension programs focused on Local and Regional Food System Response to COVID-19. Cooperative Agreement with the USDA Ag Marketing Service.  $650,000.  2021-23. With B. Jablonski and L. Brislen.
• Agritourism Extension in the United States. Agritourism collaborative and summary of working Submitted to the Applied Economics Teaching Resources Special Issue on Extension. (with C. Schmidt, C. Barbieri, L. Dickes, L. Chase, S. Tomas, D. Singh-Knights, P. Leff, H. George, R. Callahan, E. Rilla-Laherty, D. Lamie and S. Cornelisse)

Rural Library Hotspot Lending Program. Website: https://extension.okstate.edu/programs/rural-library-hotspot-lending-program/index.html Up to 7^th round (3-5 libraries each round); mostly funded through AARP.  26 libraries in total.

Solid Waste Management. Website: https://extension.okstate.edu/programs/solid-waste-management/ Funded annually through USDA RUS grant. 

Two webinars were conducted with federal and state policymakers as well as a presentation to Minnesota state agency staff to describe the findings and policy implications. Results of the revenue forecast error analysis have been published as the "Revenue Uncertainty Report" on the Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) website. Our work on Minnesota's revenue volatility has been published as the "Budget Reserve Recommendation Report" on MMB's website. The November 2020 and February 2021 "Budget and Economic Forecasts" are published on MMB’s website and were presented to the governor, legislative leadership, and the press via in-person meetings, teleconferences, and news conferences.

Journal Articles (project member collaborations)

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, Tyler Augst, Harmony Fierke-Gmazel, Bradley Nuemann, and Richard Wooten. 2022. “Pursuing Antiracist Public Policy Education: An Example Connecting the Racist History of Housing Policy to Contemporary Inequity.” Journal of Extension, forthcoming.

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, Anders Van Sandt, Rebekka Dudensing, Scott Loveridge, and Linda Niehm. 2022. “The Economic Opportunity Mapping (EOM) Tool.” Journal of Extension, forthcoming.

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, Michael Lotspeich-Yadao, and Charles M. Tolbert. 2022. “When to Use Commuting Zones? An Empirical Description of Spatial Spillover Effects in U.S. Counties versus Commuting Zones.” PLoS ONE, 17(7): e0270303. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270303

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, Anders Van Sandt, and Scott Loveridge. 2022. “Measurement Error in U.S. Regional Economic Data.” Journal of Regional Science, 62(1): 57-80. https://doi.org/10.1111/jors.12551

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, Rebekka Dudensing, and Anders Van Sandt. 2022. “Estimating Determinants of Establishment Locations of Transportation and Warehousing Industries Using U.S. Administrative Data.” REGION, 9(1): 1–27. https://doi.org/10.18335/region.v9i1.366

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, Anders Van Sandt, Rebekka Dudensing, and Scott Loveridge. 2022. “Profit Pools and Determinants of Potential County-Level Manufacturing Growth.” International Regional Science Review, 45(2), 188-224. https://doi.org/10.1177/01600176211028761

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, Anders Van Sandt, and Scott Loveridge. 2021. “Empirical Methods in Business Location Research.” Regional Studies, Regional Science, 8(1): 344-361. https://doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2021.1976261

Conroy, T. & S.A. Low. In Press. “Opportunity, Necessity and No One in the Middle: A Closer Look at Small, Rural and Female-led Entrepreneurship in the U.S.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 44(1), 162–196. doi: 10.1002/aepp.13193

Conroy. T. & S.A. Low. 2022. “Entrepreneurship, Broadband, and Gender: Evidence from Establishment Births in Rural America.” International Regional Science Review, 45(1), 3-35.doi: 10.1177/01600176211018749

Deller, Steven, Brian Whitacre, and Tessa Conroy. 2022. “Rural Broadband Speeds and Business Startup Rates.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 104(3): 999-1025.

Low, S.A., Bass, M., Thilmany, D., & M. Castillo. 2021. “Local Foods Go Downstream: Exploring the Spatial Factors Driving U.S. Food Manufacturing.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 43(3) 896-915. doi: 10.1002/aepp.13046

Low, S.A., Rahe M. & A. Van Leuven. Accepted. “Has COVID-19 made rural areas more attractive places to live? Survey evidence from northwest Missouri.” Regional Science, Policy and Practice. doi:10.1111/rsp3.12543

Thilmany, D., Canales, E., Low, S.A., and K.A. Boys. 2021. “Local Food Supply Chain Dynamics and Resilience During COVID-19.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 43(1)  86-104. doi: 10.1002/aepp.13121

Van Leuven, A., Hill, E. & Low, S.A. Accepted. “Which Side of Town? How Proximity to Critical Survival Factors Affects Rural Business Longevity. Growth & Change.

Van Sandt, Anders, Craig Wesley Carpenter, Scott Loveridge, and Rebekka Dudensing. 2021. “Estimating Determinants of Health Care Establishment Locations with Restricted Federal Administrative Data.” Health Economics, 30(6): 1328-1346. http://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4242

Van Sandt, Anders, and Craig Wesley Carpenter. 2022. “So Close, Yet So Far: The Benefits and Limits of Rural-Urban Industry Linkages.” Sustainability, 14(5): 2875. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052875

Van Sandt, Anders, Craig Wesley Carpenter, and Charles M. Tolbert. 2022. “Decomposing Local Bank Impacts with Demand Thresholds.” Annals of Regional Science, forthcoming. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-022-01148-4

Journal Articles (other)

Abboud, A., & Betz, M. R. (2021). “The local economic impacts of the oil and gas industry: Boom, bust and resilience to shocks.” Energy Economics, 99, 105285.

Betz, M. R., & Jones, L. E. (2022). “Do opioid prescriptions lead to fatal car crashes?.” American Journal of Health Economics, 8(3), 000-000.

Biedny, Christina, Brian Whitacre and Roberto Gallardo. 2022. “Do ‘Dig-Once’ and Permitting Policies Improve Fiber Availability?” Telecommunications Policy, 46(5): 102294. 

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, and Scott Loveridge. 2021. “Can Latinx Entrepreneurship Help Rural America?” Choices, 36(4): 1-6. https://www.choicesmagazine.org/choices-magazine/submitted-articles/can-latinx-entrepreneurship-help-rural-america

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, and J. Matthew Fannin. 2021. “Back to the Future: Re-Incorporation of ‘Metropolitan Character’ in Core-Based Statistical Area Delineations.” Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, 51(2): 67-81. https://jrap.scholasticahq.com/article/27688-back-to-the-future-re-incorporation-of-metropolitan-character-in-u-s-core-based-statistical-area-delineations

Carvalho, Mckenzie, Amy Hagerman, and Brian Whitacre. 2022. “Telework and COVID-19 Resiliency in the Southeastern United States.” Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, 52(1): 19-34.

Castillo, Marcelo and Diane Charlton. 2022. “Housing Booms and H-2A Agricultural Guest Worker Employment.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics.

Charlton, Diane, Alexander James, and Brock Smith. 2021. “Seasonal Agricultural Activity and Crime.”  American Journal of Agricultural Economics.

Charlton, Diane. .2021. “Seasonal Farm Labor and COVID-19 Spread.” Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy.

Cho, Whoi, Brian Whitacre, and Claudia Rhoades. 2022. “The Effect of Tornadoes on Housing Prices in Moore, Oklahoma.”  Review of Regional Studies, 52(1): 57-73. Link

Conroy, Tessa, Steven C. Deller, and Phil Watson. 2021. “Income Inequality and the Rise of Women Entrepreneurs.” Small Business Economics. 56(1):189-207.

Cuthbertson, Courtney, Alison Brennan, John Shutske, John Leatherman, Andrea Bjornestad, Lori Zierl, Katelyn Macy, Mark Skidmore, Pam Schallhorn, Jami Dellifield, and Esther Lin. 2022. “An Effective Mental Health Literacy Program for Farm Financial Service Providers.” Journal of Agromedicine, forthcoming. DOI: 10.1080/1059924X.2022.2058666

Davis, Elizabeth E., Hasan K. Tosun, and Mallory Warner Richter. 2021. "After COVID-19, Will Child Care Survive in Rural Areas?" Choices. Quarter 3.

Deller, Steven C. 2021. “Are We in the 4th Wave of Economic Development? Southern Regional Science Fellows Address.”  Review of Regional Studies. 51(2):233-245.

Deller, Steven C., and Tessa Conroy. 2021. “Spatial Patterns in the Relationship Between Religion and Economic Growth.” Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy. 51 (2): 1-37

Deller, Steven C., and Jackson Parr. 2021. “Does Student Loan Debt Hinder Community Well-Being?" International Journal of Community Well-Being. 4(2): 263–285.

Deller, Steven C., Craig Maher, and Judith Stallmann. 2021. “Do Tax and Expenditure Limitations Exacerbate Rising Income Inequality?” Economics and Politics. 33(3):611-643.

Isley, C. and S.A. Low. In-Press. “Impact of broadband availability and adoption on rural employment during COVID-19.” Telecommunications Policy. 10.1016/j.telpol.2022.102310

Kim, Ayoung, J. Lim, and A. Colletta, 2022. “How Regional Economic Structure Matters in the Era of COVID-19: Resilience Capacity of U.S. states.” The Annals of Regional Science, forthcoming. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-022-01134-w

Kim, Ayoung, B.S. Waldorf, and N.T. Duncan, 2021. “U.S. Immigration Policy and Brain Waste.” The Annals of Regional Science, 66(2): 209-236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-020-01017-y

Knowles, Scott, and Mark Skidmore. 2021. “Cloud Seeding and Crops Yields:  Evaluation of the North Dakota Cloud Modification Project.” Weather, Climate, and Society, 885-898, DOI: 10.1175/WCAS-D-21-0010.1

Lim, SH, Y Ge, JM Jacobs and X Jia. 2022. Measuring the Economic Benefits of Advanced Technology Use for River Flood Forecasting. Journal of Flood Risk Management, e12781. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12781.

Lim, SH and C Wachenheim. 2022. Predicted enrollment in alternative attribute Conservation Reserve Program contracts. Land Use Policy, 117 (2022), 106090.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106090.

Palardy, N., M. Costanigro, J. Cannon, D. Thilmany, J. Berning, J. Bayham and J. Callaway. 2022. “Beer Sales in Grocery and Convenience Stores: A Glass Half-Full for Craft Brewers?” Regional Studies. Forthcoming.

Park, SooJin and Steven C. Deller. 2021. “Effect of Farm Structure on Rural Community Well-Being.” Journal of Rural Studies. 87:300-313.

Rhoades, Claudia, Brian Whitacre, and Alison Davis. 2022. “Higher Electronic Health Record (EHR) Functionality is Associated with Lower Operating Costs in Urban – But Not Rural – Hospitals.” Applied Clinical Informatics, 13(3): 665-676.

Skidmore, Mark. 2021. “Special Issue: Urban Economics.” Journal of Urban Affairs, 43:5, 617, DOI: 10.1080/07352166.2021.1923275

Sun, Quan, John Mann, and Mark Skidmore. 2021. “The Impacts of Flooding and Business Activity and Employment: A Spatial Perspective on Small Business.” Water and Economic Policy, forthcoming. 10.1142/S2382624X21400038

Thilmany, D., A. Bauman, J. Hadrich, B.B.R. Jablonski and M. Sullins. 2022. “Unique Financing Strategies Among Beginning Farmers and Ranchers: Differences among Multi-Generational and Beginning Operations.” Agricultural Finance Review. Forthcoming, DOI: 10.1108/AFR-05-2021-0070.

Van Leuven, A. J. 2022. Leveraging Main Street as a Real Estate Amenity: Downtown Revitalization and Residential Property Values. Journal of Planning Education and Research.

Van Leuven, A. J. 2022. A Method for Defining Downtown Business District Boundaries in Pre-Automobile Towns and Cities. Cityscape, 24(1), 369-382.

Watson, Philip, and Steven C. Deller. 2021. “Tourism and Economic Resilience.” Tourism Economics. Forthcoming.

Whitacre, Brian, Lara Brooks, Mark Woodring, and Traber Smithson. 2022. “Gauging Local Interest in Telemedicine:  Are Online Surveys Enough?”  Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 33: 1198-1214.

Whitacre, Brian, and Christina Biedny. 2022. “A Preview of the Broadband Fabric:  Opportunities and Issues for Researchers and Policymakers.” Telecommunications Policy, 46(3): 102281.

Yun, S.D. and Ayoung Kim. 2022. “Economic Impact of Natural Disasters: A Myth or Mismeasurement?” Applied Economics Letters, 29(10): 861-866. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2021.1896667

Book chapters

Ayoung Kim and B.S. Waldorf. 2021. “Retirement, Relocation, and Residential Choices.” In Labor Market, Migration, and Mobility.” edited by W. Cochrane, M.P. Cameron, and O. Alimi, New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives, Vol. 45: 181-196, Springer, Singapore.

Deller, Steven C., Tessa Conroy, and Matt Kures. 2021. “Immigration within a US Context: A Drain or Driver of Economic Development?” The Economic Geography of Cross-Border Migration. Peter Nijkamp Mark Partridge and Bruce Newbold (eds). Springer.

Kim, E., Ayoung Kim, and I. Moon. 2022. “Government Intervention in Real Estate Market: Is Tax Reform Effective in Seoul Housing Market?” In Theory and History in Regional Perspective, edited by M. Kawano, K. Kourtit, P. Nijkamp, and Y Higano, New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives, Vol. 56: 221-243, Springer, Singapore, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6695-7_12

Skidmore, Mark, et al. 2022. Handbook on the Economics of Natural Disasters. Mark Skidmore (ed.), North Hampton, MA, United States: Elgar, forthcoming.

Extension Articles (project member collaborations)

Conroy, T. and S.A. Low. 2021. “Research Report: Broadband Drives Growth in Women-led Rural Entrepreneurship.” Daily Yonder blog. Available at: https://dailyyonder.com/research-report-broadband-drives-growth-in-women-led-rural-entrepreneurship/2021/12/08/

Conroy, T., Kures, M, Deller, S. Low, S. Glazer, J., Huyke, G., and C. Stark. 2021. “Broadband and the Wisconsin Economy,” The Wisconsin Economy, Study Series 7. Available at: https://economicdevelopment.extension.wisc.edu/files/2021/01/2021-01-07-Broadband-Report.pdf

Low, S.A., Isley, C., Spell, A., Kures, M., Conroy, T. 2021. “Broadband Technologies: A Primer on Access and Solutions.” University of Missouri Extension Guide, dm601. Available at: https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/dm601

Low, S.A. Thilmany, D, Canales E. and K.A. Boys. 2021. “Local and Regional Food System Resilience During COVID-19.” University of Missouri Extension Guide dm301. January. Available at: https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/dm301

McClure, H., Van Leuven, A, and S.A. Low. 2021. “Transfer Payments to Individuals.” Missouri Economy Indicator, 2(12), available at: https://extension.missouri.edu/media/wysiwyg/Extensiondata/Pro/ExCEED/Docs/MissouriEconomy_TransferPayments_v2i12_19Jul21.pdf

Van Sandt, Anders, and Craig Wesley Carpenter. 2022. “Rural-Urban Linkages.” Scholarly Community Encyclopedia, available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/21475

Extension Articles (other)

Augst, Tyler, Harmony Gmazel, Mary Reilly, Brad Neumann, Craig Carpenter, and Jinnifer Ortquist. 2021. “Attainable, Affordable, Inclusive Housing Curriculum.” Michigan State University Extension. East Lansing, MI.

Bastian, C., Anders Van Sandt, and R. Coupal. 2022. “2020-2021 Wyoming Comprehensive Snowmobile Recreation Report.” University of Wyoming, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. Prepared for the State of Wyoming, Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources.

Boessen, C., S.A. Low, and B. Brown. 2022. The Future of the Conservation Reserve Program. Riff from RaFF, 1(3). April. Available at: https://ruralandfarmfinance.com/publications/

Boessen, C and S.A. Low. 2022. Agriculture’s Contribution to the Rural Economy. Riff from RaFF. 1(1), February. Available at: https://ruralandfarmfinance.com/publications/

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, and Michael Lotspeich-Yadao. 2022. “Shop local, and support vetrepreneurs contributing to their local communities!” Southern Ag Today.

Carpenter, Craig Wesley, and Tyler Augst. 2021. “Best Practices in Suburban Housing Affordability: Understanding, Motivating, and Policy Options.” Washington Center for Metropolitan Extension and Research. Available at: https://metroextension.wsu.edu/

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: The History and Legacy of Racist Housing Policies.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: Battle Creek.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/battle-creek

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: Bay City.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/bay-city

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: Detroit.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/detroit

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: Flint.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/flint

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: Grand Rapids.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/grand-rapids

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: Jackson.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/jackson

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: Kalamazoo.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/kalamazoo

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: Lansing.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/lansing

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: Muskegon.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/muskegon

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: Pontiac.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/pontiac

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: Saginaw.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/saginaw

Carpenter, Craig Wesley. 2021. “Redlining in Michigan: Resources.” Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/resources

Invited webinar presenter: “After COVID-19, Will Child Care Survive in Rural Areas?" Webinar sponsored by C-FARE: Rural Communities One Year Post COVID-19, July 12, 2021. https://www.cfare.org/new-blog/rural-communities-one-year-post-covid-19 Invited panel presenter.

“Promoting Sustainability of Child Care Programs during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Considerations for States in Allocating Financial Resources.” Sponsored by the Office of Child Care and OPRE (U.S. DHHS). January 6, 2021.

Kalambokidis, Laura, editor(s). St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota State Office of Management and Budget, Economic Analysis, February 2021. Available at: https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/000/az/forecast/2021/budget-and-economic-forecast/february-2021-forecast.pdf

Kalambokidis, Laura, editor(s). Budget and Economic Forecast (Minnesota). St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota State Office of Management and Budget, Economic Analysis, November 2021. Available at: https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/000/az/forecast/2021/budget-and-economic-forecast/november-2021-forecast.pdf

Kalambokidis, Laura, editor(s). Budget Reserve Report. St. Paul, Minnesota:  Minnesota State Office of Management and Budget, Economic Analysis, September 2021. Available at: https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/000/az/forecast/budget-reserve/report-2021.pdf

Kalambokidis, Laura, editor(s). Revenue and Economic Update. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota State Office of Management and Budget, Economic Analysis, January 2021. Available at: https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/000/az/forecast/2021/revenue-and-economic-update/january.pdf

Kalambokidis, Laura, editor(s). Revenue and Economic Update. St. Paul, Minnesota:  Minnesota State Office of Management and Budget, Economic Analysis, April 2021. Available at: https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/000/az/forecast/2021/monthly-revenue-review/march.pdf

Kalambokidis, Laura, editor(s). Revenue and Economic Update. St. Paul, Minnesota:  Minnesota State Office of Management and Budget, Economic Analysis, July 12, 2021. Available at: https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/000/az/forecast/2021/revenue-and-economic-update/july.pdf

Kalambokidis, Laura, editor(s). Revenue and Economic Update. St. Paul, Minnesota:  Minnesota State Office of Management and Budget, Economic Analysis, October 11, 2021. Available at: https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/000/az/forecast/2021/revenue-and-economic-update/october.pdf

Kalambokidis, Laura, editor(s). Revenue Forecast Uncertainty Report. St. Paul, Minnesota:  Minnesota State Office of Management and Budget, Economic Analysis, March 2021. Available at: https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/000/az/forecast/uncertainty/2021/march-report.pdf

Kalambokidis, Laura, editor(s). Revenue Forecast Uncertainty Report. St. Paul, Minnesota:  Minnesota State Office of Management and Budget, Economic Analysis, December 2021. Available at: https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/000/az/forecast/uncertainty/2021/december-report.pdf

Low, S.A. 2021. “Collaboration: A Condition for Advancing Federal and State Rural Development Research.” Chapter 39, Investing in Rural Prosperity edited by Andrew Dumont and Paul Daniel, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Available at: https://www.stlouisfed.org/community-development/publications/invest-in-rural

Gallardo, Roberto, and Brian Whitacre. 2022. “A Granular Look at Internet Speeds and Demographic Groups: Implications for Digital Equity.” Southern Rural Development Center Digital Divide Policy Brief.  August.

Kenyon, Daphne, Bethany Paquin, Alannah Shute, Michael Bell, Mark Skidmore, Camila Alvayay, Torrejon, John Anderson, David Merriman, Semida Munteanu. 2021. “A Deep Dive on South Carolina’s Property Tax: Complex, Inequitable, and Uncompetitive.” https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/other/deep-dive-south-carolinas-property-tax

Khalaf, C., Van Sandt, A., & Boyles, B. 2022. “Evaluating the Economic Impact of the Nonprofit Sector in Wyoming.” Laramie, WY: Center for Business and Economic Analysis (CBEA). Prepared for the Align Team.

Kuhns, M. and S.A. Low. 2021. “Missouri Health Care Availability and Outcomes Differ Regionally.” University of Missouri Extension Guide, mx0056. Available at: https://extension.missouri.edu/media/wysiwyg/Extensiondata/Pub/pdf/miscpubs/mx0056.pdf

Meadowcroft, D., Ayoung Kim, A. Barefield, and J. Barnes, 2021, “The State of Broadband Access in Mississippi.” Extension Reports #P3653, Mississippi State University Extension Service. http://extension.msstate.edu/sites/default/files/publications/publications/P3534_web.pdf

Rhoades, Claudia, Brian Whitacre, and Alison Davis.  “Higher Electronic Health Record (EHR) Functionality Lowers Urban Hospital Costs, But Rural Impacts Are Minimal.”  Policy Brief for Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. September 2021.

Rossi, J., S. Rocker and D. Thilmany. 2021. “Exploring Awareness and Promotional Linkages to New Market Channels During COVID.”  Local Food System Response to COVID Series CFI-09. https://lfscovid.localfoodeconomics.com/consumer-food-insights/

Sanders, A., Low, S.A. & M.C. White. 2021. “Entrepreneurial Dynamics in Missouri Counties.” University of Missouri Extension Guide dm302. January. Available at: https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/dm302

Skidmore, Mark, Fernanda Alfaro, and Dusan Paredes. 2021. “Assessment of Property Tax Reductions on Tax Delinquency, Tax Foreclosure, and Home Ownership.”  Cambridge, MA:  Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/working-papers/assessment-property-tax-reductions-tax-delinquency-tax-foreclosure-home

Spell, A. and S.A. Low. 2021. “Economic Benefits of Expanding Broadband in Select Missouri Counties.” University of Missouri Extension. Available at: https://extension.missouri.edu/media/wysiwyg/Extensiondata/Pro/ExCEED/Docs/BroadbandImpactReport_Jun2021.pdf

Taylor, Gregory S., Rebekka Dudensing, Craig Wesley Carpenter, and Jamie Rae Walker. 2021. “What is Community Development?” Texas AgriLife Extension Service, The Texas A&M University System. College Station, TX, March.

Thilmany, Dawn. (Contributor to National report.) 2022. “Healthy Food America and the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition. How GusNIP Nutrition Incentives Work: A Theory of Change.”  https://www.nutritionincentivehub.org/resources-and-support/resources/reporting-evaluation/theory-of-change/nutrition-incentives.

Thilmany, D, H. Edmondson and M. Gill. 2022. “The Changing Face of Food Retailing: Growth in Online Platforms during COVID.” CSU REDI Report – April 2022. https://redi.colostate.edu/

Thilmany, D. and H. Edmondson. 2021. “COVID-19 Food Channel Expenditure Shares: Trends Across Time and Consumer Perceptions.” Local Food System Response to COVID Series CFI-07. https://lfscovid.localfoodeconomics.com/consumer-food-insights/

Williams, D., Van Sandt, A. 2022. “Assessing Total Personal Income and its Components for the United States, Rocky Mountain Region, Wyoming, and its Counties (2001-2018).” Forthcoming

Whitacre, Brian, and Roberto Gallardo. 2022. “Broadband Availability vs. Adoption: Which Matters More for Economic Development?” Southern Rural Development Center Digital Divide Policy Brief. August.

Whitacre, Brian, and Christina Biedny. 2022. “State Policies that Impact Rural Broadband Availability.” Southern Rural Development Center Digital Divide Policy Brief. August.