Food Deserts and Insecurity

Last month First Lady Michelle Obama announced a program with retailers to expand access to healthy, affordable food in “food deserts;” rural or urban areas where healthy, affordable food is difficult to obtain.  This is often a result of food insecurity.  A federal Office of Rural Health Policy report defined this: “the food intake of [...]

August 29, 2011 · KJacobson · No Comments
Tags: , , , , , ,  · Posted in: Grant Advice, Reports and Studies

Obama’s Rural Policies

President Obama recently created the White House Rural Council through an executive order.  The Council “will focus on job creation and economic development by increasing the flow of capital to rural areas, promoting innovation, expanding digital and physical networks, and celebrating opportunity through America’s natural resources.”  The Council will address a number of key issues [...]

July 6, 2011 · KJacobson · No Comments
Tags: , ,  · Posted in: Reports and Studies

Office of Rural Health Community Grants, Part V: Driver Safety

Last month I met with the Juneau County Coalition for At-Risk Drivers at Mile Bluff Medical Center in Mauston.  The Coalition is another recipient of our rural community grants.  Their Safer Driver Initiative will plan and pilot a driver-screening program to assist the elderly and others with medical conditions that could lead to unsafe driving [...]

November 16, 2010 · KJacobson · No Comments
Tags: , , , , , , ,  · Posted in: Grant Advice, Program Updates, Reports and Studies

Rural Community Development-Let Your Voice Be Heard

I received this request today from the Rural Assistance Center to provide input on federal rural community development policy.  They’re looking for successful examples of community development that can serve as models.  The complete announcement is below.  Please share your success stories—you could influence federal policy!  BTW, if you haven’t looked at the Center’s website, [...]

October 13, 2010 · KJacobson · No Comments
Tags: ,  · Posted in: Program Updates

Rural Community Development Announcements

Congratulations to the Park Falls (WI) Area Community Development Corporation.  Last week USDA Rural Development announced that they will receive a $74,000 Rural Business Enterprise Grant to establish a revolving loan fund to provide gap financing at low interest rates and flexible terms for small businesses wishing to expand, start-up or relocate in southern Ashland [...]

September 13, 2010 · KJacobson · No Comments
Tags: , ,  · Posted in: Grant Advice, Training and Tools

Rural Community Development

There’s been an interesting series in the Daily Yonder on rural economic development in Alabama, but I think the author’s comments and conclusions apply to Wisconsin or any rural area.  Larry Lee starts his last installment with the observation “What we’ve called ‘rural development’ has failed us miserably for decades.”  A pretty strong statement, but [...]

April 20, 2010 · KJacobson · One Comment
Tags: , , , , ,  · Posted in: Conferences and Webinars, Grant Advice

Nutrition, Wellness and Development

Well, it’s the last day of National Nutrition Month.  What, you didn’t know it was National Nutrition Month?  Apparently, you don’t read my blog on a regular basis!  I thought I’d put up one more post on the topic of nutrition.  While the goal of a healthy diet is to improve our health, nutrition can [...]

March 31, 2010 · KJacobson · One Comment
Tags: , , , , ,  · Posted in: Grant Advice, Reports and Studies, Training and Tools

Community and Economic Development Part II

This is a continuation of my last post on development opportunities and resources.  There are a few funding opportunities—both grants and loans— and other resources.  I know that everyone always want s grants to fund projects and programs.  But there are a lot of loans and grant/loan combination opportunities, especially through the USDA.  You should [...]

March 23, 2010 · KJacobson · One Comment
Tags: , , ,  · Posted in: Grant Advice, Training and Tools