Membership Dues Deadline:
January
16, 2004 was the deadline to renew your annual NREDA
membership. If you missed the deadline, don't
worry-you've been granted an extension. Please mail your
dues to NREDA today. Membership options include
corporate memberships of $395 (two members from the same
organization) and professional/individual memberships of
$270. Questions? Contact Terry McConnell at staff@nreda.org.
Arts-Based Community Development:
Business
incubators, artisan cooperatives, tourist venues and
other approaches to arts-based community development are
paying off for small towns in more ways than one. In
this NREDA Conference follow-up, Rhonda Phillips,
director of the University of Florida Center for
Building Better Communities, reports on trends and
success in arts-based development. FULL
STORY>>
Congressional Action Affects Cooperatives:
Grassroots
action in 2003 won battles to keep federal regulators
out of cooperative boardrooms, protected cooperative
transmission access and prevented consumer's rates from
increasing. Other Congressional issues addressed in 2003
include hours-of-service, climate change and Medicare
reimbursements. FULL
STORY>>
Rural Resources:
Searching
for a comprehensive resource for rural development
information on the Web? Check out the Internet resources
page found at USDA Rural Development Online. The page
includes hundreds of links to agriculture resources,
census information, community development sites and
more. VIEW SITE: http://click.exacttarget.com/?fe9e11707164057a75-fe231576776d027b7d1171
Catalog of Faith-Based
Grants: If
you work closely with faith-based organizations or local
and state officials who distribute funds to charities
and social service providers, you may wish to share the
Catalog of Faith-Based Grants with them. Over 100
federal grant programs are listed. The booklet also
includes basic information about the federal grants
process. DOWNLOAD CATALOG HERE
Small Hospital
Improvement Grants: New
grants from the U.S. HHS Health Resources and Services
Administration help rural hospitals reduce medical
errors; improve the quality of service and help cover
costs related to federal health care requirements.
Eligible hospitals must have 49 beds or less. GET
INFO >>
Wireless E-911 Safety
Grants: The
Public Safety Foundation of America announces a series
of grants to support and expedite the implementation of
Wireless E-911 throughout the U.S. Nearly $2 million
will be awarded to 42 grantees in 24 states.
Applications for the next round of grants will be
accepted through March 5, 2004. GET
INFO>>
Every
community has within it the seeds of greatness. The
trouble occurs when one community looks at another and
says, "I want to be like that!" A hickory nut will never
become an oak tree. Communities must discover their own
souls rather than imitate another's. FULL
STORY>>
September
11-14, 2004 • Memphis, TN NREDA Annual
Conference
The Rural
Developer E-Bulletin is published monthly for members
of the National Rural Economic Developers
Association 431 East Locust Street, Suite 300 • Des
Moines, IA 50309 Tele: 515-284-1421 • FAX
515-243-2049 E-mail: director@nreda.org or
staff@nreda.org
