Roles
In pursuit of its mission and in keeping with its operating principles, the Rural Center carries out the following functions.
A) Policy Development Roles
Vision. As the state's leading rural development organization, the Rural Center works with a wide range of partners to 1) develop a joint vision for the long-range future of rural North Carolina and 2) to shape a policy agenda to achieve that future.
Research. The first step in the development of effective strategies for rural improvements is research. Each year the Rural Center identifies specific issues for in-depth exploration by center staff, who work in concert with local, state, and national experts on research initiatives.
Demonstration. To ensure that its research results in practical solutions, the Rural Center chooses strategies that hold particular promise for rural development and field tests them at sites throughout the state. The tests are carried out with partners in a range of community settings. The center particularly favors models with the potential of replication in other rural communities. In addition to its own work, the center provides financial support through its R&D Grants Program to other organizations to test innovative ideas.
Advocacy. Real change comes about only when good ideas are adopted within the public and/or private sectors and become a permanent part of their institutions. Drawing from its research program, its on-the-job experience in rural areas, and the work of others, the Rural Center develops policy options that hold promise for rural North Carolina. These options are presented by center board members and staff through testimony at public hearings, speeches, meetings with top decision makers, and outreach to local groups.
Rural Profile. To ensure that all state and local leaders have access to accurate information on which to base their decisions, the Rural Center collects and analyzes data from a range of national and state sources. Using these data, the center constructs a statistical profile of rural North Carolina, which it translates into a variety of reports and visual presentations.
B) Capacity Building Roles
Successful communities will be those that can shape their own futures. Yet many rural communities, suffering from a history of under-investment, require special resources to compete in today's global economy and to sustain growth over time. Toward that end, the Rural Center operates a set of unique programs that provide resources in the following ways:
Information Dissemination. The Rural Center shares its learnings with rural leaders through its newsletter Rural Routes, a report series on selected research and demonstration projects, and an annual Rural Partners Forum. The center also sponsors briefings, workshops, roundtable discussions, and conferences to build awareness of emerging issues and opportunities.
Technical Assistance. Many of the Rural Center's local program partners are organizations that are just getting started or ones that have operated with limited resources in the past. To give these organizations the best chance at success, the center provides technical assistance and training in areas ranging from program development to fiscal management. The center also serves as an unofficial referral service to help rural leaders and groups identify technical assistance from other sources.
- Program Operation.
- For rural leaders. The center's Leadership Development Program is designed to help individuals increase their knowledge of rural development strategies and sharpen their leadership skills. The program is carried out through an annual Rural Economic Development Institute and a program of continuing education for institute graduates.
- For rural entrepreneurs. The center runs two programs to help rural entrepreneurs gain the financing they need to start and expand businesses in rural communities. The Microenterprise Loan Program helps individuals become self-sufficient through self-employment and growth of very small businesses. The Capital Access Program, operated through North Carolina banks, provides loans to small and medium sized businesses that have sound business ideas, but do not have established credit histories or cannot meet other requirements of traditional loans.
- For rural communities. The center operates several programs whose purpose is to help rural communities and their organizations support high quality growth and development.
- Three programs--the Supplemental Grants Program, Capacity Building Grants Program and Unsewered Communities Grants Program--provide funds for water and sewer development. The Community Development Grants Program supports CDC growth and programming in minority communities. The Child Day Care Loan Guarantee Fund helps child care providers in poor communities obtain loans for child care facilities.
