RD247 - Center for Rural Virginia 2010 Annual Activities Report


Executive Summary:
Rural Virginia – A Review of 2009 - 2010

In a struggling economy and uncertainty about the future the Center for Rural Virginia finds strength in collaborative partnerships. In 2009-2010, Board members have taken leadership roles and are actively building this Partnership Networks with an understanding that in the 21st Century, assessing the specific and overall issues that Virginia faces can only be successfully done through partnerships! Working smarter and dividing the task to conquer the problems rather than duplicating what has already been done.

Collaboration in Action

The 2009 Rural Summit was planned and hosted by a Coalition of Partners including: The Center for rural Virginia, Council for Rural Virginia, Virginia Association of Counties, Virginia Municipal League, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Virginia Community College System, UVA Cooper Center and Virginia Economic Bridge. This community based alliance purposed to advance and sustain development in rural regions of the state comes together each year to help the Center and Council look for improvements that deliver a statewide message.

Additional Actions

• Va Rural Center facilitated the Rural Caucus for the 2010 General Assembly, involving the Secretaries of Education, Agriculture, Natural Resources, Commerce and Trade, Health and Technology in briefing the Caucus during the General Assembly.

• The Rural Center lead the planning and convened the Southern Rural Regional Convening in Charlotte NC in May 2010. The Southern Region is a fourteen state group, and a number of those states joined the Rural Center in planning and presenting this important meeting.

• The Rural Center collaborated with the Council for Rural Virginia, Weldon Cooper Center, VTC, FAIRS, VACo, VML, VEB, Rural Economic Networks, RUPRI, and Southern Rural Development Center to produce the 2010 Virginia Rural Summit. An annual event that has become the premier rural meeting in Virginia.

• In 2009, Va Rural Center facilitated the planning process for the Rural Enterprise Opportunity Task Force. The 2010 General Assembly in Chapters 797 and 833 of the 2010 Virginia Acts of the Assembly directed the Center for Rural Virginia to facilitate the creation of a rural enterprise opportunity task force to develop strategies that expand and promote economic opportunities of the agriculture industry throughout the Commonwealth. The legislation also called for the task force to examine and make recommendations on the issues related to expansion and promotion of farm businesses or rural enterprises, specifically:

-- Local ordinances that may be unreasonably restrictive and efforts by localities to lessen such restrictions;
-- Provisions in law or regulation that may be unreasonably restrictive;
-- Innovative approaches taken to expand economic opportunities while preserving the rural character of the surrounding area;
-- Best management practices and successful strategies adopted in other states;
-- Model ordinances and regulations that allow the marketing and sale of products or services;
-- Tax, regulatory, and other incentives;
-- The structure and organizational design of a program that could encourage expansion and opportunity on an ongoing basis;
-- The definition and eligibility of a qualified rural enterprise; and
-- Any other issues the task force deems relevant to meet the objectives of the study.

The legislation provided that the members of the task force include the Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade for Rural Economic Development, representatives from the Virginia Farm Bureau, the Virginia Agribusiness Council, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Virginia Association of Counties, the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association, and an owner of a farm business or rural enterprise interested in expanded economic opportunities.

Additionally Va Rural Center collaborated on and facilitated the following:

• Updated the 2001 Virginia Rural Prosperity Commission Report and scheduled to release the findings at the 2010 Rural Summit, and to present the results to the Rural Planning District Commission and to the 2010 General Assembly Rural Caucus as well as the Administration for advancing recognized rural policy opportunities.

• Collaborated with the Central Appalachia Network to produce an Appalachia Regional Summit evaluating economic development, job creation, healthcare and broadband issues and needs in Central Appalachia and western Virginia.

• Collaborated as a Kellogg Fellow in Rural People Rural Policy Regional Economic Development Sessions.

• Collaborated with the VRHA to produce a Rural Health Conference

• Collaborated with Virginia Community Capital and People Incorporated to expand capital capacity to distressed areas of the Commonwealth.

• Collaborated with Partners for Rural America to produce a national rural development conference for rural regional economic development and broadband deployment.

The Rural Center’s chief resource is partners who have the same drive and passion for rural advancement. The opportunities and challenges faced by rural areas, and the strength in our partnerships will continue to move Rural Virginia ahead in 2010.