Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

We developed a survey, NCR-Stat: Small Business, focused on small businesses in the NCR. Beyond our group, we collaborated with members of NC1030 to review the survey and provide additional questions. We also sent the survey to other experts across the region. The survey is focused identifying the strategies used by small rural businesses to maintain and develop a skilled and healthy labor force and assess the effect of workforce wellness programs on firm outcomes such as employee retention and profitability. Data for the NCR-Stat: Small Business will be collected in December 2023-January 2024 and will be publicly available no later than April 2024.   

We used data from the NCR-Stat: Baseline survey to write data snapshots and white papers focused on rural households in the NCR that can be found here https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/newsroom/story-behind-the-numbers/.  The survey had questions regarding entrepreneurship (business owning household and non-business owning households), health status and health care, substance misuse and use disorder, quality of life, satisfaction, and wellbeing.  https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/data-resources/ncr-stat/

We disseminated work from across the NCR through the NCRCRD webinar series which can be found at https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/webinars/.

Carrillo-Siller, I. (2023, June 6). How COVID-19 Changed Workforce Participation Preferences in the North Central Region. North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/2023/09/18/how-covid-changed-workforce-preferences/

Armesto Gómez, A. (2023, September 18). Unraveling Local Living: A Peek into the Diverse Preferences of Family Households with and without Children­. North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/2023/09/18/unraveling-local-living/

Chowdhury, A. (2023, June 6). How Often do North Central Region Households Run Out of Food? North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/2023/06/05/how-often-do-households-in-the-north-central-region-run-out-of-food/

Carrillo-Siller, I. (2023, June 6). Perception of Equal Employment Opportunities in Communities of the North Central Region. North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/2023/06/02/perception-of-equal-employment-opportunities-in-communities-of-the-north-central-region/

Bednarik, Z. (2023, April 17). How Happy Are People in the North Central Region? North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/2023/04/17/how-happy-are-people-in-the-north-central-region/

Bednarik, Z. (2023, February 22). Community Awareness of Substance Use Disorder Programs in the North Central Region. North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/2023/02/22/community-awareness-of-substance-use-disorder-programs-in-the-north-central-region/

Bednarik, Z. and Wiatt, R. D. (2023, January 12). Who Cannot Afford to Pay Medical Bills in the North Central Region? North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/2023/01/12/who-cannot-afford-to-pay-medical-bills-in-the-north-central-region/

Webinars

An Introduction to NCR-Stat – the Free Household Dataset (12/7/22)

Presenters: Maria I. Marshall, Director, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD); Professor and James and Lois Ackerman Endowed Chair in Agricultural Economics, Purdue University and Zuzana Bednarikova, Research and Extension Specialist, NCRCRD

 Supporting Rural Grocery Stores Across the North Central Region (11/7/22)

Presenters: Lisa Bates, Interim Assistant Director and Field Specialist, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development; Greg Schweser, Director of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, UMN Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships; and Rial Carver, Program Leader, Rural Grocery Initiative, K-State Research and Extension

Health Care Access Among Self-Employed Workers in Nonmetropolitan Counties (10/12/22)

Presenters: Elizabeth Dobis, Research Agricultural Economist, Rural Economy Branch, Resource and Rural Economics Division, USDA Economic Research Service and Jessica E. Todd, Agricultural Economist, Food Assistance Branch, Food Economics Division, USDA Economic Research Service

Federal Programs for Rural Entrepreneurs in the North Central Region (9/22/22)

Presenters: Alan Haut, North Dakota District Director, U.S. Small Business Administration; Randy Monhemius, Business Program Specialist, USDA- Rural Development, Ohio; Eric Ness, Wisconsin District Director, U.S. Small Business Administration; and Joan Scheel, Business Programs Director, USDA – Rural Development, Nebraska

How We Work Together: Supporting Local/Regional Food Systems through Collaboration (8/30/22)

Presenter: Lindsey Scalera, Community Food Systems Collaboration Specialist, Center for Regional Food Systems, Michigan State University

Moving Rural Communities FORWARD: Future Opportunities for Rural Workforce and Rural Development through Extension (5/24/22)

Presenters: Tanya Hall, Community Development Regional Extension Educator, Purdue University; Sheila Martin, Strategic Advisor for Economic and Community Engagement, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities; and Michael D. Wilcox, Jr., Assistant Director & Program Leader for Community Development-Purdue Extension, Associate Director-North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD), Community & Regional Economics Specialist-Purdue University Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Senior Associate-Purdue Center for Regional Development