News

2005 Rural Partners Forum Nov 3-4: “Small Town, NC: Embracing Change, Taking Charge”
Join the Rural Center November 3-4 for the annual Rural Partners Forum at the North Raleigh Hilton. “Small Town, NC: Embracing Change, Taking Charge” will look at how North Carolina’s small towns are doing in today’s rapidly changing world, what they need to be successful now and in the future, and offer promising new strategies for their leadership, governance and financing. The center will also release details of a major new initiative to bring financial resources, technical assistance and information to North Carolina’s small towns, along with a new report that documents vital information on these rural places. Participants will see how North Carolina’s small towns are grappling with change and charting new courses for the future through a new video, and will have an opportunity to attend workshops that will showcase small towns across the state and their creative strategies for jump-starting their economies. David Beurle, founder and director of Innovative Leadership Australia, will give the keynote address on Nov. 3. For more information on the forum, contact the communications office at the Rural Center, (919) 250-4314. To register online, visit the center’s website.

More than $384 million flows into the rural economy as first checks from tobacco buyout are sent to growers, quota holders
North Carolina growers and quota holders have received checks totaling more than $384 million one year after Congress approved a 10-year, $9.6 billion tobacco buyout. Officials with the Farm Service Agency said last month they had cut checks for nearly all – about 98 percent – of the contracts signed by growers and quota holders this year. Farmers have until Nov. 1 to decide whether to take their remaining payments in a lump sum or continue to receive yearly checks through 2014. North Carolina will ultimately receive about 40 percent of the $9.6 billion federal buyout, under which quota owners will get $7 a pound for their 2002 quota and farmers will get $3 a pound for the amount of tobacco they grew. As of late September, the agency had sent checks for $115.2 million to farmers and $269.3 million to quota owners. Subsequent yearly payments will be made every January 15th. To find out the latest news on the buyout and disbursements made to date under the Tobacco Transition Payment Program, click here.

Settlement against tobacco co-op could mean millions for North Carolina growers
A Wake County judge is set to rule on a proposed settlement in a lawsuit brought by tobacco growers from six states against the Flue-Cured Tobacco Stabilization Cooperative Corp. The settlement could be worth between $50 million and $288 million for about 200,000 growers in six states – many of them in North Carolina – who argued that the co-op had outlived its usefulness in the wake of the tobacco buyout and should return assets to its members. Under the terms of the settlement, the cooperative, which was established in 1946 to administer the federal tobacco program, will pay out at least $50 million and probably more to its members who grew and sold flue-cured tobacco over the last 20 years. The payments, which would be dispersed over three years, will be made from the sale of surplus leaf that the co-op had on hand at the time of the buyout. The settlement includes $110 million of ‘paid-in capital’ for members who paid assessment fees for the 1982-84 crop years, but those funds will be allocated only if the co-op dissolves or retires those obligations, attorneys said. The settlement doesn’t require growers to remain members of the cooperative in order to claim their assets, and contains language designed to protect farmers who still want stabilization. To find out more about the proposed settlement, visit the North Carolina Farm Bureau website.

North Carolina gets mixed reviews on state-level education attainment report
North Carolina still has a long way to go to close the achievement gap between poor and minority students and their non-poor, white classmates, according to the new report, "Education: The State We’re In", by the Center for American Progress. The report provides an in-depth look at how states are doing in seven key issue areas. Each state’s individual performance is then ranked on those education benchmarks from highest to lowest. North Carolina’s scores show a state still struggling to raise its high school graduation rates – the state is currently ranked 37th – as well as its reading and math scores for poor and minority students. Only 16 percent of low-income fourth graders are considered proficient in reading, compared to 45 percent of non-poor students, and only 12 percent of African-American students are considered proficient in reading, compared to 44 percent of their white classmates. There is also a large discrepancy in student performance in North Carolina between state-level and national tests aimed at gauging reading and math proficiency. In fact, 81 percent of the state’s eighth graders score well enough on the state math test to be considered proficient, while only 32 percent of those students scored as well on a national math test. And now for the good news: the state ranks 12th nationally for its ability to prepare high school graduates for the academic work of college, and is ranked among the top 14 states for higher education accessibility and affordability. To read the complete report, click here.

Reports and Research

Farm poverty at lowest level in U.S. history, according to new report
A new article just released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service reveals a new reality about American farm families – they are better off financially than at any point in American history. Researchers say the improvement is due to the availability of remunerative off-farm employment coupled with onfarm gains in labor productivity. The well-being of farm families, who are fewer in number than in the 1930s, has improved significantly and depends much less on the outcome of the farm business, according to the article. However, some14 percent of the nation’s 2.1 million farm families still struggle to make ends meet, and the report addresses possible options for helping make their farms more profitable and create safety nets for the future. To read the full article, click here.

New report links rural travel and tourism to employment growth and higher wages
As rural communities across North Carolina and the nation try to boost their recreational and tourism-related offerings, there a host of issues – positive and negative – local officials should keep in mind, according to a new article in Amber Waves, a quarterly publication of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. Rural workers stand to earn an average of $2,000 more per year in counties with strong recreational activities and attractions, and they seem to have more employment opportunities on the whole. Increases in tourism and recreation often lead to educational improvements in local schools and better access to quality health care, but can also boost a community’s cost of living to a point where local residents will have difficulty affording housing and other living expenses. Reports of increases in crime and other social problems are also fairly common in rural areas with high tourism rates, researchers say. To read the full article, click here.

2005 Rural America at a Glance examines recent rural trends and issues
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service has released the "2005 Rural America at a Glance" brochure, a six-page publication that highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to benefit rural places. The brochure is the fourth in a series of reports that uses current social and economic data to highlight population, labor market, income, and poverty trends. The brochure provides information on key conditions and trends currently in play in rural communities, including: the importance of recreation and tourism to economic growth in rural counties, continued high poverty rates in the South despite a sustained dip in overall rural poverty, slow population growth, and an increasingly diverse rural population due to a rise in immigration. To view the full report, click here.

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Meetings and Events

Southeast Wireless Symposium to be held Nov. 16-17 in Asheville
The e-NC Authority is hosting the third annual Southeast Wireless Symposium Nov. 16-17 in Asheville. Workshop sessions fall under the categories of education, business, government and healthcare, and cover such topics as wireless deployment and operation costs, technology concerns, public policy and legal issues. Day two of the symposium will feature an in-depth workshop on building wireless municipal networks. The event is co-sponsored by Advantage West, Qualcomm, FireTide, Inc., Internet Business Consulting, Inc., True802 Wireless and Avenda Wireless Technologies. For more information or to register, visit the e-NC Authority’s website at www.e-nc.org , or call Donna Sullivan at (919) 250-4314.

Appalachian Entrepreneurship Policy Summit to be held Oct. 27 & 28 in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Association for Enterprise Opportunity will host the Appalachian Entrepreneurship Policy Summit on Oct. 27 & 28 in Knoxville. The summit, “Removing Barriers, Opening Opportunities in Rural Communities,” will examine effective entrepreneurship development policies and result in a practical set of policy recommendations for rural communities. The summit will focus on the southern Appalachian region of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, but urban and surrounding areas are encouraged to attend and consider areas of joint interest. Participants will include state and local policy makers, economic development and microenterprise officials, entrepreneurs, community development funders, university and college professionals and others. Registration is $65 and includes meals on both days. For questions or to register by phone, contact Katie Igrec Lima at (703) 841-7760. To download a registration form, click here.

UNC’s 3rd annual Education Research Summit to be held Dec. 15 in Research Triangle Park
The University of North Carolina has set the date for its 3rd annual Education Research Summit. The summit, “International Education: Linking Research to Practice,” is UNC’s effort to inform key education policy makers, researchers and educators of the current and future state of international education from an international, national, statewide and grassroots perspective. UNC will partner with RTI International, a research and consulting firm with strong ties to the university, in hosting the event at the Sheraton Imperial at Research Triangle Park on Dec. 15. To register online, click here. For questions on the summit, contact Dr. Valerie Brown at (919) 541-6558 or by e-mail at vbrown@rti.org. Registration is free.

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At the Rural Center

Center-led team to hold entrepreneurship workshops Oct. 28, Nov. 11 and Nov. 18 in Graham, Hertford and Robeson counties
A Rural Center-led team working to create a comprehensive entrepreneurship development system to serve rural and minority entrepreneurs in low-wealth areas of the state will conduct a series of regional workshops starting later this month. The 21-member team was awarded a $2 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation earlier this year to build a Rural Entrepreneurship Development System (EDS) in North Carolina over the next two years. The workshops, which will be held Oct. 28 in the Stecoah Valley Center in Graham County, Nov. 11 at Hertford County High School in Ahoskie and Nov. 18 at the COMTech park in Pembroke, are an integral part of the project’s outreach efforts. The EDS team will hold similar events in other distressed regions over the next year. The purpose of the workshops is to engage rural community and policy leaders in understanding and supporting their local entrepreneurs and to work with rural business service providers in building support networks capable of growing, nurturing and sustaining entrepreneurs. The EDS team will work directly with rural entrepreneurs around the state starting in 2006. The fee to register is $30. Space is limited, so register early. To find out more, contact Michelle Hall at (919) 250-4314, or by e-mail at mhall@ncruralcenter.org.

Funding Sources

Blue Cross accepting proposals from rural communities who will develop innovative strategies for boosting community health
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation's (BCBSNC Foundation's) Fit Together grant program will provide funding and technical assistance to rural North Carolina communities that seek to improve community health by implementing innovative and integrated strategies to increase physical activity. Projects will utilize a comprehensive "5Ps approach" developed by Active Living by Design, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Up to five grantees will be chosen to develop and maintain interdisciplinary community partnerships that seek to implement programs, policies, physical projects and promotional strategies that increase access and reduce barriers to opportunities for active living. Selected nonprofit or government organizations will receive up to $40,000 per year for three years for a total of up to $120,000. For more information on the Fit Together grant program, click here, or download an application.

From the N.C. Press

Associated Press: Judge orders Phase II payments released from tobacco trust fund
Tobacco growers in 14 states should be paid $318 million as part of 1998's settlement between states and cigarette makers while litigation continues on whether the farmers are entitled to more money, a judge ruled Wednesday. The tobacco companies fought unsuccessfully in North Carolina courts for a refund, arguing that the compensation due to farmers was overridden by last year's passage of a $10 billion federal buyout of tobacco quotas. The quotas allowed farmers to grow a specific amount of tobacco and ended with the buyout. In the farm economy, quotas added value to land and were used as loan collateral. The decision of North Carolina Business Court Judge Ben Tennille means as much as $125 million will be distributed to about 80,000 farmers and quota holders in North Carolina, said John Ray Davis, executive director of the state's certification board. Davis said a farmer who had a 3,000-pound tobacco allotment would receive about $450. Tennille also ruled that the bank holding the money as trustee could pay $114 million directly to the state of Kentucky, which approved legislation that paid its growers the money before the case was settled. In total, the money represents payments by cigarette makers for the first three quarters of 2004. The companies continue to dispute whether they should make a final payment of $106 million that was due for the fourth quarter of 2004. The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled last month that the companies must make payments for 2004 because during that time they had not started paying for the quota buyout. An agreement between the 14 states and the companies gave legal jurisdiction to courts in North Carolina, the nation's leading tobacco state, to decide the issue. Tennille said he would hear arguments this month over the final round of disputed payments. The payments stem from a $206 billion settlement of anti-smoking lawsuits filed by 46 states against the cigarette makers. After that settlement, the tobacco companies agreed to a second part of the deal - Phase II - which would compensate tobacco growers and quota-holders for reduced tobacco demand by paying them $5.1 billion over 12 years.

Winston-Salem Journal: Congress could save $246 million a year to go to hurricane recovery costs
Before leaving for this week's recess, House Republican leaders instructed bean counters to find $50 billion in spending cuts to offset the rising cost of recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, and several congressional leaders have recommended eliminating various programs that they say are outdated and duplicative. It's estimated that the cuts would save $246 million a year. In a statement announcing the cuts, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Education Committee, said, "We have a responsibility to help those in need in the aftermath of two devastating hurricanes, but we also have a responsibility to cut unnecessary federal spending elsewhere to pay for it." Included in the proposed cuts are programs geared toward arts in education, community technology centers, education programs for jailed youth, and financing for the Women's Educational Equity Act, or WEEA. These proposed cuts are just a few of what are expected to be many recommendations over the next few weeks, as Congress tries to finish its work for the year. Of the 14 appropriations bills, only two have been passed. The deadline for passage was Sept. 30, but in light of Katrina, the deadlines were pushed back. Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said that Congress could make things easier if it made across-the-board cuts - including defense cuts - instead of focusing on specific programs. "No one can say they can't come up with 1 or 2 percent, just delay hiring someone or don't distribute (paperwork) that you typically do," Sabato said. "It will cause great consternation if you just target specific groups." House leaders have indicated they would consider across-the-board cuts, but those are just one of many solutions to the growing budget problem.

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The mission of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center is to develop, promote, and implement sound economic strategies that improve the quality of life of rural North Carolinians, with a special focus on individuals with low to moderate incomes and communities with limited resources.

N.C. Rural Economic Development Center
Michelle Taylor, UPDATE editor
Kelly Tucker Griffin, UPDATE production manager
Elaine Matthews, vice president for communications and development
4021 Carya Drive, Raleigh, NC 27610
(919) 250-4314 Fax: (919) 250-4325
www.ncruralcenter.org