The anticipation is building as we make preparations to welcome everyone to the 2024 Rural Summit on March 20-21. Our theme this year is Building a Vibrant Future.  

Last year, we grappled with the challenges posed to our rural communities by the relentlessly increasing pace of change that rural leaders are grappling with on the ground. We identified eight Drivers of Change and built an entire 12-county Summer Road Trip around understanding how those eight drivers are showing up in the different rural regions of our state. This year is all about a return to the fundamentals of how we build vibrant rural communities with stronger economies, stronger families, and a brighter future.

For most of our 37 years, we have taught the building blocks of rural economic and community development to the more than 1,500 rural leaders who have attended our Rural Economic Development Institute or our regional HomeGrown Leaders classes. The building blocks have evolved over the decades, but they truly stand the test of time and remain a key framework for how we build more vibrant rural communities for the people who call rural North Carolina home.

Our 2024 Rural Summit will feature keynote addresses, plenary sessions, and breakout sessions built around four essential building blocks of economic development -- Physical Assets, Business Growth, Social & Civic Vibrancy, Talent Development -- and the one essential ingredient of Authentic Leadership that we seek to instill in every REDI or HGL participant.  

We hope you will join us in March for a back-to-the-basics approach to the fundamentals of Building a Vibrant Future for current and future generations of rural people.

Register for Rural Summit: Building A Vibrant Future

The Rural Summit is the NC Rural Center's annual conference and we would like for you to join us. Each year, we think of it as our state's rural homecoming - a unique opportunity for local leaders and state partners to come together in conversation and celebration. 

The Rural Summit 2024 is taking place this year on March 20-21 at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley.



The 2024 Rural Summit will bring together community leaders, policymakers, and rural allies from across the state and nation to engage in a thoughtful, intentional dialogue. This year, we will have a special emphasis on sharing stories of success even while we know that challenges remain. These stories will all tie into the Framework for Community Economic Development that is the basis for our leadership training programs. We want everyone who attends to walk away with at least one example of how others are building a vibrant future for rural communities.

We hope to see you there. Register today.

Faith Program Expanding Thanks to $1.25 Million Grant

The NC Rural Center has received a $1.25 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. to expand its successful Faith in Rural Communities program to 40 rural faith communities of color over four years.

The Faith in Rural Communities (FIRC) program partners with churches to locate the powerful intersection between their assets and community opportunities. This partnership with the Lilly Endowment will allow the program to expand to provide coaching, capacity building, and grant support to more faith-based communities. FIRC has already contracted with four coaches to assist our three staff members in carrying out this project.

“This grant affirms the important impact rural faith communities of color have on their communities’ vitality,” said Heather Kilbourne, FIRC Director. “The Lilly Endowment recognizes the power of North Carolina’s rural churches to transform their communities and we are grateful for their willingness to invest in us and them.” 

Learn more.

Homegrown Leaders will be holding its newest training in Pembroke on April 16-18.

Application opened Feb. 1 on the NC Rural Center website and people who live or work in these counties are encouraged to apply: Bladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Hoke, Montgomery, Moore, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, and Scotland. Applications will close Feb. 18.

Homegrown Leaders is a three-day regional leadership and community economic development training that equips existing and emerging leaders with the skills they need to lead long-term economic advancement in their community and region.

Learn more.

Rural Road Trip: Small Business Edition

We are excited to announce the Rural Road Trip: Small Business Edition event, a collaborative effort sponsored by the NC Rural Center; its subsidiaries Thread Capital and CornerSquare Community Capital; and our State Small Business Credit Initiative.

The next stop on our tour is in Asheville on Feb. 16. We'll also be visiting Thomasville, Wadesboro, Troy, Morehead City, and Warrenton. The main objective of the Rural Road Trip: Small Business Edition is to bring together business owners, aspiring entrepreneurs, and business support organizations from across the state. These organizations, including small business counselors, incubators, accelerators, and legal and financial services, will network, share resources, and collaborate to support entrepreneurs.

RURAL CENTER ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Name: Margarita Ramirez

Position: Executive Director, Centro Unido Latino Americano

What county do you live in? McDowell

Leadership Class: REDI, December 2022

What has been the impact of REDI on your leadership journey since completing the training, personally and professionally? 

This training led me to implement a senior leadership team. This decision was essential as it allowed me to delegate administrative tasks to senior team members and it also gives them experience managing team members and taking on a leadership role within the organization.

The REDI training has also allowed me to be more mindful and intentional in managing staff, creating, and evaluating programs, and elevating Centro Unido as an organization to reach and impact more community members’ lives.

Full interview here.

Are you a graduate of REDI or Homegrown Leaders? Would you like to be featured in our next leadership spotlight? Each month, we will highlight one Rural Center leadership alumnus on our LinkedIn page and in our newsletter. If you would like to be considered, click this link and complete the form. Please contact Olaunda Green, director of leadership training, at ogreen@ncruralcenter.org with questions..

DHHS Creates Medicaid Expansion Dashboard

A new dashboard developed by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, updated monthly, tracks how many people are newly enrolled in NC Medicaid as a result of expansion. The dashboard allows anyone to view and filter the data by health plan, demographics, or county.

An estimated 600,000 people became eligible for Medicaid on Dec. 1, 2023, through an expansion of the program. Under expansion, NC Medicaid covers people ages 19-64 years with higher incomes. Many North Carolinians who did not qualify for health coverage before expansion now do.

Learn more.

Medicaid Training Opens as Expansion Progresses

Care Share Health Alliance, the NC Community Health Center Association, and the NC Navigator Consortium have partnered to offer free trainings to support communities during the Medicaid expansion process.

These two-part trainings cover the basics of Medicaid, its expansion and outreach, education and enrollment considerations. No previous experience with Medicaid is required to attend.

Part 1 is offered online Feb. 7.

Part 2 is offered at each of these locations:

• Feb. 8 - Mooresville
• Feb. 13 - Greenville
• Feb. 21 - Winston-Salem
• Feb. 27 - Fayetteville
• March 5 - Waynesville

Register now:

Day 1 Registration Form

Day 2 Registration Form

The Camber Foundation is offering a new funding opportunity for nonprofits located in Eastern North Carolina.This grant program supports organizations working in the fields of health and wellness, education, and economic development, with a specific emphasis on organizations in Eastern North Carolina that offer programming and services in the following areas:

• Access to healthcare
• Mental health services and programs
• Postsecondary education attainment
• Workforce development
• Entrepreneurship
• Youth development
• Digital inclusion

Applications opened Feb. 1.

Learn more.

AARP Offering Community Grant Opportunities

AARP North Carolina is accepting 2024 Community Challenge Grant applications. The AARP Community Challenge provides small grants to fund quick-action projects that can help communities become more livable for people of all ages. In 2024, the AARP Community Challenge will be accepting applications for three different grant opportunities. The application deadline is March 6.

Learn more.

Planning Handbook for Coastal Resilience Now Available

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Division of Coastal Management has published an online and updated Resilient Coastal Communities Program Planning Handbook in English and Spanish. 

The handbook is a resource for communities and contractors and was developed in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, N.C. Sea Grant, and the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency.

The Resilient Coastal Communities Program supports communities in developing and implementing locally driven resilience strategies, and implementing projects or activities that reduce the impacts of coastal hazards such as flooding and storms.

For more information about the Resilient Coastal Communities program and to find a copy of the planning handbook, click below.

Learn more.

Preservation North Carolina has scheduled its annual conference for Oct. 16-18 in Rocky Mount and Tarboro. More details about the event are coming soon.

Founded in 1939, the mission of Preservation North Carolina (PNC) is to protect and promote buildings, landscapes and sites important to the people of North Carolina. PNC has protected nearly 900 historic properties statewide through its Endangered Properties Program. 

Learn more.



The second annual Pecan Pickling Film Festival has been scheduled for Sept. 13-15 in Windsor. Filmmakers from around the country are invited to submit their short films and a limited number of feature films for consideration.

For more information on submissions and festival updates, please visit the official Pecan Pickling Film Festival website at www.equity-films.org.

Learn more.

North Carolina is the 10th highest priority state when it comes to rural education, according to a new report from the National Rural Education Association.

In North Carolina, 481,044 of our students attend rural school districts — second only to Texas, says the 148-page report: “Why Rural Matters 2023: Centering Equity and Opportunity.”

Compared to its rural peers, North Carolina’s students are much more likely to live in a household with an income below the poverty line, attend a racially diverse school located in a community where many families live below the federal poverty line, and have moved residences within the last 12 months.

Schools and districts are large, instructional spending on students is low, and the state is one of the few places where rural students graduate high school at a lower rate than their non-rural peers.

Access to student supports is on par with peers in other states, except for low enrollment in public preschool access and inadequate internet connectivity.

“The invisibility of rural education persists in many states where education policy is dominated by highly visible urban problems,” says the report.

North Carolina is one of just two states — Georgia is the other — with large proportional and absolute rural student enrollments.

- Courtesy of Education NC

Learn more.

The NC East Alliance, a 29-county regional economic development partnership, has released plans for a new initiative to develop its workforce through its STEM East Industry In Schools Initiative.

The STEM East Industry In Schools Initiative is based on four pillars: STEM Schools of Distinction, Industry In Schools Clusters, Advanced Technological Education, and regional career and job fairs.

“This program is being invented and implemented for the purpose of stopping the export of our most valuable resource, our homegrown workforce.” said Todd Edwards, chairman of the NC East Alliance Board of Directors. The program has 29 school districts and 10 community colleges signed on to participate.

Dr. Laura Ullrich, senior regional economist with The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, spoke at the meeting where the initiative was announced.

“Future workers need to know there are good, well-paying, in-demand jobs in their communities. Companies need to know that the community has a workforce that is present, trained, and ready to work.” Dr. Ullrich said.

Learn more.

The East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine and the University of Florida College of Dentistry received a five-year, $3.7 million grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research to establish a practice-based research network between the dental schools.

As part of the grant, the schools will conduct two research studies with dental patients, one on diabetes detection and the other on acute/chronic pain. Dental students will participate in the research. ECU operates eight community service learning centers in rural communities throughout the state. Fourth-year dental students treat patients at the centers.

Learn more.