April

14, 2015

OVERVIEW
Americas economy has been
under siege for the majority of this
decade, and will not be a fully
prospering country as it once was until
rural regions are able to develop into
positive contributors to the country as
a whole. Not only is the economy in a
downward spiral but natural
recourses, and food production and
distribution is negatively affected by a
struggling rural America. When rural
America adds to the economic growth
of this country is when America will be
at its strongest and most prepared for
the future. It is not as simple as adding
jobs and waiting for the region to begin
a new phase.
The amounts of connections,
resources, and outside factors that can
affect a developing rural area are
endless. Throughout this issue brief
the concentration will be held on the
main stakeholders beliefs and the most
important aspects to consider while
going through a development phase.
The controversy in the issue lies within
the strategy taken by communities,
which are making efforts to develop a
better region.

Either through the association

of local small businesses or the use of
bringing in larger corporations, the
communities in need most often need
to boost their total jobs. Jobs are
gained and vanished through the
transitioning of businesses; the key is
how to keep jobs local and how to
develop a community to be able to
thrive on its own. According to
Jessica Crow (2006), the recruitment
of outside industries both adds a
great amount of jobs in a shorter
time frame, and also comes with less
job security due to the traditional sift
movement of large firms due to
cheaper land elsewhere.
Crow represents one of the
major problems when dealing with
the development of an area, how to
make all stakeholders happy with the
transition. Rural America will affect
the country in some way, its up to the
development strategy to utilize local
farms and businesses, to incorporate
large corporations without ruining
the natural resources and beauty,
and also to put the community on the
best track to become an economic
power of America.
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BACKGROUND

The issue of developing rural

American areas have come a long way,

but just recently has been seen as a key

to the future of Americas economy.
According to Edward Barbier (2014), the
practice of traditional agriculture on the
land is necessary for the sustainability of
the natural resources already in the
region. The idea that natural resources
in an area can be lost due to incoming
buildings and development methodology
is a scary thought for many stakeholders.
While areas natural resources are held
dearly to the local farmers and
producers of goods, the development of
farming techniques and distribution
techniques are a key factor when it
comes to the local stakeholders.

Farmers and local producers will
often hold on to their old reliable ways
while incoming factors may push them
to adapt to the current times. The Rural
Community Assistance Corporation uses
an online website as a home page to
influence a stronger sense of community
and build relationships in rural areas.
The group intends to keep its members
informed on recent policy changes and
other important information that effects
daily life (Rural Community Assistance
Corporation, 2007). Agencies that help
develop these rural areas will often
encourage locals to adapt by connecting
them with helpful resources in the same
way RCAC does, but instead focuses on
bringing in jobs and improving the
economy above keeping traditions.

This brings up the controversy in
values held by both existing locals and
outsiders that are attempting to improve
the standing techniques. While people
who have resided in the certain area
may hold more intrinsic values, the
outsiders who may be hired to develop
the region see more use in holding
instrumental values. Local farmers and
food producers want to see the land
prosper in the same way it has been,
even if there are more adaptive and
recent techniques that have proved
worthy.

The voices of the locals are often
heard when discussing another conflict
in developing, the overall footprint and
growth that their hometown will
undergo. Locals will not usually be
supporters of increased traffic and
increased pollution that comes along
with a heavier workflow. Defend Rural
America holds events across the country
in order to persuade the community
leaders to fight back against the
overtaking of rural communities (Defend
Rural America, 2013). The use of selling
DVDs on the groups store page is a
persuasion tactic to influence people
that are interested in saving the precious
land of their town. The carbon footprint
of a developing rural area must be
considered when stretching the
boundaries, by having more products
with life cycles that will often require
heavy transportation. Pollution and the
addition of more frequent large trucks
and shipments will surely affect the
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long-term environment of any area.

STAKEHOLDER VIEWPOINT

In the minds of the local farmers and local businesses, it seems only right to keep
the techniques that have gotten them thus far. The ability to produce local goods and
sell them either locally or nationally gives the region a sense of worth and pride. Even if
large corporations compromise some of the local land, rural areas can still hold the
power by locally owning those preexisting goods. According to Pender (2014), it has
shown to be a great contribution for communities to locally own the necessary assets
for industries in the area. This ownership of local goods is a key way to keep the money
within the rural region instead of outsourcing many necessities like most large
corporations would do when moving to a rural area.

Another positive would be to keep the local land preserved for its original use.
The Rural America Reality Company is pushing this by holding auctions of farmland in
local areas and assisting new farmers with the transition. Not only does this company
help sell and buy the land, but they push for the future of rural America to stay true to
its past (Rural America Reality Company 2001).

The U.S. Small Business Association has made a huge effort to assist small
businesses around the world as an article from the Desert Morning News exemplifies.
Almost 100,000 small businesses received assistance from the SBA in 2006, which is
doubling the number in 2001(Wallace, 2007).

One way to invest in the local
economy of a rural area is to look to the
future. With farmland disappearing at
an increasing rate, the future of
agriculture seems to be the most
important stakeholder of them all.
Farming isnt seen as the booming
industry that it once was; people are no
longer eager to become a rancher and
do the dirty work on a daily basis. Some
areas are looking to the future of
agriculture as an opportunity to have
the best-educated farmers as possible.
The students grow tomatoes,
pumpkins, and ryegrass, grapes,
almonds, peaches, and plums. Next
year, with the help and guidance of
local farmers, they are planning to start
an almond orchard (Fallows 2014).

The author of this article uses
loads of information in order to show
the audience a pioneering way to
construct an education program in farm
heavy locations. The future of farmland
may be up in the air, but local farmers
and farm heavy towns are taking
ownership of their precious lands and
looking to the future to continue in
their ways.

Farmers are the most

important stakeholders
when developing rural
regions. They are not only
the primary drivers of the
rural economy, but their
productive ability has a
significant global impact.

Jacob Kimeicik

ALTERNATIVE VIEWPOINT

When an advertising agency

goes into a new region to begin a
development strategy, some
stakeholders are often overlooked or
left behind if they do not adequately
adjust. Agencies often have agendas
that are proven successful, so the
small town businesses and farmers
sometimes go unnoticed as their own
government brings in outsiders to
improve their community. The local
farmers that have been the most
successful are the ones that can adapt
and change. Change their distribution
model, which will make business more
efficient (personal communication
April 7, 2015). Small towns are
irresistibly going to have to change;
its up to the local businesses to keep
up with the new techniques and to
adjust to the necessities of the region.
When a rural area develops, there are
more than just local stakeholders.

The number one thing

Americans value over
anything else, even
religion, is jobs.

-Guillermo Mazier

Outside businesses are paid to
economically develop the area by
bringing in jobs and attracting
investment to the area. The agenda of
the Atlas Advertising is to help develop
and bring businesses to an area in order
to increase jobs, capital investment and
to populate said region. The company
pushes the integration of businesses in
local rural communities to boost
economic growth; using a self-interest
model to produce the best outcome for
regions they work with (Atlas
Advertising 2014).

While advertising agencies do take
in account for natural beauty and the
use of natural resources, often their
main goal is for a success story. Success
for them usually includes an immediate
or relatively quick change in economic
capitol and the production of jobs.
Outsiders are quick to pull up statistics
and see whether a certain development
strategy worked or not. Rather than
focus on the intrinsic values of a local
region, agencies will put more focus on
instrumental values while trying to
bring in as much business and jobs as
possible.

SUMMARY

With such a complex issue at
hand, the future of rural America looks
to experts to help them out of an
economic struggle. Experts who hold
differing values and goals than local
businesses are the source of conflict

between when it comes to the best
strategy to develop a rural community.
The Director of the Student
Sustainability Center at CSU, Jacob
Kimiecik, discussed the future as he
sees it considering the life cycle of
products in rural areas: Maintaining
natural areas and preventing pollution
makes for cleaner water, higher
quality soil, clearer air, and many
more benefits.

All of these things will make for
more productive agricultural systems
and healthier people. Both factors that
significantly drive economic
development (personal
communication April 10, 2015). When
future strategies of rural communities
are up for debate, there is a lot to
consider, both immediate impacts and
long-term ones. Professor Seidl, from
Colorado State holds the future of
American towns highly when
considering development. In our
interview he discussed success stories,
which he has seen the local businesses
adequately adapt to the change that
has been forced by incoming
corporations (personal
communication April 13, 2015).

Rural America needs to
adapt to new businesses while large
corporations need to consider the small
businesses that they are ruining.
Natural beauty is a huge attraction to
this beautiful country but must be bided
on when considering the future
development of rural areas. Agriculture
techniques adapt or continue to attempt
to thrive in their own way while
differing values are used for the future
of America.

REFERENCES (MLA)
(A. Seidl, personal communication, April 13, 2015).

Atlas Advertising. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.atlas-advertising.com/Home.aspx

Barbier, E., & Bugas, J. (2014). Structural Change, Marginal Land and Economic Development in

Latin America and the Caribbean. Latin American Economic Review. Retrieved from

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40503-014-0003-5

Crow, J. (2006). Community Economic Development Strategies in Rural Washington: Toward a
Synthesis of Natural and Social Capital. Rural Sociology Department, 71.4, 573-80.
Retrieved from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7af83626-5f8e-4844aea0-009db4e13e6c%40sessionmgr4004&vid=9&hid=4104

Defend Rural America. (2013). Retrieved from
http://www.defendruralamerica.com/DRA/Home.html

Fallows, D. (2014). A Rural High School with a 21st Century Outlook. The Atlantic. Retrieved
from http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/12/a-rural-high-schoolwith-a-21st-century-outlook/383963/

(G. Mazier, personal communication, April 7, 2015).

(J. Kimiecik, personal communication, April 10, 2015).

Pender, J., Weber, J., & Brown, J. (2014).Sustainable Rural Development and Wealth Creation
Five Observations Based on Emerging Energy Opportunities. Economic Development
Quarterly. Retrieved from
http://apps.webofknowledge.com/full_record.do?product=UA&search_mode=GeneralS
earch&qid=7&SID=2Ay6nQyeyIHBCRBNe43&page=2&doc=12

Rural America Realty Company. (2011). Retrieved from
http://www.ruralamericanrealty.com/about.html

Rural Community Assistance Corporation (2007). Retrieved from http://www.rcac.org/

Wallace, B. (2007). SBA now is focusing on rural America. Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake
City). Retrieved from www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic