Last Updated January 24, 2005
Regional Rural Development Centers
Strengthening the capacity of local citizens to be key players in guiding the future of their rural communities
The USDA's four Regional Rural Development Centers play a unique national role in the USDA's service to rural America. Each center links the research and extension capacity of land-grant universities with local decision-makers to address cutting-edge regional and over-arching national issues. They build partnerships with citizens, community organizations, politicians, local and state government officials, and private entrepreneurs to encourage locally led and sustainable development. They serve as leaders and primary facilitators of rural development research, education, and policy dialogues to help families, communities, farms and ranches, and businesses attain prosperity and security.
The centers were established by the Rural Development Act of 1972. The first was established for the North Central region at Iowa State University; subsequent centers were established for the Northeast region at Pennsylvania State University, the Southern region at Mississippi State University, and the Western region at Oregon State University, now at Utah State University. Each center is administered by a joint agreement between USDA and a host institution operating for the extension services and the experiment stations in the region.
Core funding comes from the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) and the regions' land-grant universities. Increasingly, other federal and state agencies, private foundations, and public interests contribute funding. A board of directors for each center is composed of administrators and faculty from the institutions, a representative of CSREES, and representatives from public and private agencies and foundations.
Information Available
Each of the rural development centers offers a variety of publications, newsletters, and reports on rural development policy and implementation; information on regional and national poverty levels; reports on training opportunities offered by the federal government and nonprofit organizations; calendars listing rural development conferences and other events; news about funding opportunities; and regional and national links to other resources for rural community development.
Contact
Lionel J. (Bo) Beaulieu, Director
Southern Rural Development Center
Box 9656
410 Bost Extension Bldg.
Mississippi State, MS 39762
Phone: (662) 325-3207; Fax: (662) 325-8915
Website: http://srdc.msstate.edu/
E-mail: ljb@srdc.msstate.edu
Stephen J. Goetz, Director
Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development
The Pennsylvania State University
7 Armsby Building
University Park, PA 16802-5602
Phone: (814) 863-4656; Fax: (814) 863-0586
Website: www.cas.nercrd.psu.edu/
E-mail: sgoetz@psu.edu
Cornelia Butler Flora, Director
North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
Iowa State University
107 Curtiss Hall
Ames, IA 50011-1050
Phone: (515) 294-8321; Fax: (515) 294-3180
Website: www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu
E-mail: cflora@iastate.edu
Dr. John Allen, Director
Western Rural Development Center
Utah State University
8335 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-8335
Phone: (435) 797-9732; Fax: (435) 797-9733
Website: http://extension.usu.edu/wrdc
E-mail: wrdc@ext.usu.edu
For additional information:
Sally Maggard, National Program Leader
Economic and Community Systems
CSREES-USDA
1400 Independence Ave., NW, Stop 2215
Washington , DC 20250-2215
Phone: (202) 720-0741
E-mail: smaggard@csrees.usda.gov
Internet
Website addresses for each rural development center are listed in the contact information section.
