Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Accomplishments Objective 1: o Developed an input-output analysis of impacts of invasive weeds on a recreational area. o Developed fiscal impact model for the state of Nevada employing cross-sectional and time-series data. o Investigated application of Target MOTAD procedures for estimating tax revenue portfolios for Western U.S. states. o Completed industrial demand analysis for potential pinion-juniper biomass industry in northeastern Nevada. o Completed analysis of factors for rural business incubators and possible pinyon-juniper biomass incubator for northeastern Nevada. o Developed a primary and secondary data social accounting model for Eureka County, Nevada. o Completed a cluster economic development and feasibility analysis for a national wild horse and burro interpretative center in Lyon County, Nevada. o Developed input-output procedures to estimate county and sub-county economic impacts of the local health care sector and feasibility analysis of a kidney dialysis center in Humboldt County, Nevada. o Developed procedures for targeted cluster economic development. o Developed instrumental variable technique to estimate state-level locational factors for biotechnology firms. o The Western Entrepreneurial Listening Sessions were facilitated by the WRDC in partnership with LGUs, NGOs, state government agencies and Tribal organizations. Data was collected at each of the ten sessions which were held in Utah, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Arizona, California, North Dakota, Nevada, New Mexico and Hawaii. The listening sessions facilitated the identification of target areas for increased education and research focused on enterprise development in the West. To read detailed reports of each session, visit the listening session web page at http://extension.usu.edu/wrdc/Entrepreneurial%20Listening%20Sessions.cfm o The Rural Policy Research Institutes Rural Governance Initiative (RGI) Community Clustering Initiative (CCI) has been exploring how rural people and institutions make decisions about their collective well being through the process of governance. The WRDC has provided the needed technical support to the Community Clustering Initiative to facilitate the multi-state meetings without the added travel expense of face-to-face meetings. The WRDCs technical graduate intern has enabled this group to conduct their meetings live over the Internet utilizing Macromedia Breeze. The RGIs CCI assembled a team of advisors comprised of colleagues in the fields of rural development, community capacity-building and youth engagement. To read a press release about the Rural Governance Initiative visit this web page http://www.rupri.org/news/Default.asp?news_ID=38 Objective 2: o The WRDC organized a small team of researchers and submitted a grant proposal to NRI titled, Integrating Interactional Field and Rational Choice Theories to Enhance Understanding of Rural Community Responses to Rapid Energy Development. The grant did not receive funding. o Funds from regional research Hatch Project NE-1011 were used as well as U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration University Center program. Lincoln County Economic Development authority and State of Nevada Commission on Economic Development provided funding for industrial energy demand study for Lincoln and White Pine Counties. Funding was approximately $20,000. U.S. Forest Service provided $5,000 funding for study of possible pinyon-juniper biomass incubator in Lincoln or White Pine Counties. Eureka County provided approximately $20,000 for semi-survey of county input-output model. Lyon County Commissioners and USDA-Rural Development provided approximately $36,000 for feasibility study of wild horse and burro interpretative center. University of Nevada Rural Health Department provides approximately $6,000 for county economic impact analysis of health sector and selected health care service feasibility studies. Objective 3: o The WRDC organized a multistate team to develop and submit a WSARE grant proposal titled, Entrepreneurial Sustainable Agriculture: Alternatives for Processing, packaging, labeling, and Marketing in Retail/Internet markets. The grant was funded for $58,755. Objective 4: o The Western Rural Poverty Research Conference was coordinated by the WRDC in April 2005 and included approximately 40 participants from throughout the regions LGUs, state agencies and tribal colleges. This multistate research conference focused on poverty alleviation in rural communities of the West. Scientists from across the region participated in the conference and it was broadcast live via the Internet. To view the conference presentations, visit the website at http://extension.usu.edu/wrdc/poverty_main.cfm o The WRDC Newsletter, Rural Connections, is published quarterly by the WRDC and serves as a resource for the regions LGUs, government and non-government partners and others by disseminating research. Each issue of Rural Connections highlights one topic which correlates to one of the Centers focus areas (Enterprise Development, Capacity of Land Grant Universities and Partners, Civic Capacity and Land Use/Public Policy). The newsletter also includes regular features on community development, publications, data sources, the Centers Board of Directors and upcoming events. To view the newsletters online go to http://extension.usu.edu/wrdc/newsletter.cfm o Rural Sociological Societys 69th Annual Meeting  Panel Discussion. John C. Allen will participate in a panel session focusing on the research conducted on entrepreneurial success in rural communities. Objective 5: o The Energizing Communities through Entrepreneurism: Spring Symposium was sponsored and coordinated by the WRDC in April 2005. Over 50 people representing LGUs, state and non-government agencies, and community development practitioners participated in this one-day training. Attendees learned from nationally known developers of successful entrepreneurial models for making communities more vital and sustainable. To view the symposium presentations, visit the website located at http://extension.usu.edu/wrdc/symposium_main.cfm o The Western Community Vitality Initiative (WCVI) Training Workshop and Resource Fair was sponsored and coordinated by the WRDC in May 2006. It attracted over 80 participants from the region including Guam and Hawaii. In attendance were representatives from LGUs, including Extension faculty/agents and state agency personnel. The training was geared to enhance the capacity of the land grant university system. To view the detailed workshop program including the trainers bios, visit the website http://extension.usu.edu/wrdc/WCVIweb1.cfm . Note: As of June 27, 2006, the WCVI trainers presentations are not on the website; however, the WRDC staff is working to get these collected and posted within the coming month. o The E-Commerce Training sponsored and coordinated by the WRDC, brought together private sector and Extension faculty trainers in May 2006 for a two-day train-the-trainer workshop. Designed for LGUs, Extension faculty/agents and community development practitioners, participants gained knowledge and skills needed to assist their clients with implementing E-Commerce to increase the success of their businesses. In addition, participants heard from and interacted with several local business owners and discovered how they became successful incorporating E-Commerce into their business practices. You may view the trainers presentations by visiting the E-Commerce website http://extension.usu.edu/wrdc/ecommerce2006.cfm Objective 6: o The WRDC signed an MOU with the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship where we now co-brand out reach educational materials focused on supporting rural entrepreneurs. o Curriculum: Building on Assets and Mobilizing for Collective Action has been adopted by a Utah State University Anthropologist and is being applied in rural communities in Peru during the summer of 2006. In addition, Dr. Glass-Coffin will be translating this curriculum into Spanish for future publication by the WRDC.