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Hello,
This fall, we’ve been focused on what makes rural entrepreneurship grow, with new research exploring the drivers of success and a big expansion of our Rural Innovation Network.
In September, we brought rural leaders from across the country together in Emporia, Kansas, for our annual Rural Innovation Network Summit, where we welcomed 11 new communities to the Network—our largest cohort yet. The Granada Theater was buzzing as incredible leaders shared their journeys and found ways to collaborate across regions and even timezones.
We also released Roots of Prosperity, new research exploring what makes some rural communities particularly successful at growing entrepreneurship. To mark the report’s release, CORI joined our partner Capital One, the mayor of Bozeman, Montana, and The Rockefeller Foundation for a lively discussion at the Aspen Ideas: Economy conference in Tulsa about how communities can build on their existing assets to grow entrepreneurship. The energy in the room reflected a real appetite for new approaches to growing rural economies.
This month, on October 29th, we’re partnering with Dartmouth College for a conversation about AI and rural opportunity, followed that evening by our sixth annual Small Towns, Big Ideas pitch event, featuring five rural founders competing for a $10,000 prize. I’m so excited to see the next evolution of our partnership with Dartmouth and the chance to pair the theoretical impact of AI with the founders on the ground leveraging the tools to build companies in their rural communities.
Below you’ll find stories about these things and much more. We hope you can join us either in person or virtually for our pitch event; you can register here. We’ve got some fantastic companies with truly innovative ideas ready to share their work with you.
Onward,
Matt
| | Five Rural Founders. Five Ambitious Companies. One Stage. | | |
Join us on Thursday, October 29, for the sixth annual Small Towns, Big Ideas pitch event, hosted by CORI in partnership with the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth College.
This year’s finalists are building with AI across local journalism, advanced manufacturing, athletics, communications, and electrification, showcasing the range and potential of rural entrepreneurship. They’ll pitch live for a $10,000 cash prize, $5,000 in legal services, and a new $1,500 Audience Choice Award.
Attend in person at Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire, or tune in via livestream to meet the founders, hear their ideas, vote for your favorite, and see what’s being built across rural America.
| | Thank you to our event sponsors! | | Rural Opportunity in the Age of AI | | | | |
Before the pitches begin, join CORI for a timely conversation about what artificial intelligence could mean for entrepreneurship and investment in rural America.
As part of Dartmouth’s AI at 70 national conference, CORI is partnering with the Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital at the Tuck School of Business for Rural Opportunity in the Age of AI: A New Frontier for Innovation and Investment. The panel will explore how AI could create new opportunities for rural founders, communities, and investors, and what it will take to ensure rural America helps shape what comes next.
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Thursday, October 29 | 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET
The event is sold out, but you can join us for the livestream.
| | New Report: Roots of Prosperity | | |
What makes rural communities places where entrepreneurship thrives?
Across rural America, entrepreneurs are turning local strengths into new businesses, jobs, and opportunities for lasting prosperity. But what conditions help them succeed?
Our newest research report, Roots of Prosperity, developed in partnership with the Capital One Insights Center, explores the people, places, relationships, and resources that help rural entrepreneurial economies flourish—and what communities can learn from those successes to unlock their own potential.
Explore the report and discover what helps rural entrepreneurship take root.
| | Emporia, Kansas: From Recovery to Resilience | | | | |
In Emporia, Kansas, decades of manufacturing strength laid the foundation for a thriving local economy. But when a major employer closed, community leaders faced a critical question: How could Emporia build new opportunities while preserving the strengths that made it successful?
Today, Emporia is writing its next chapter, diversifying its economy, embracing innovation, and building on its existing assets to create new pathways to opportunity.
| | Explore Emporia’s story and discover what its journey from recovery to resilience can teach rural communities across America. | | A Growing Movement for Rural Innovation | | |
From advanced manufacturing and autonomous aviation to agtech and entrepreneurship, rural communities are putting their local strengths to work to build thriving tech economies.
We're excited to welcome 11 new communities across Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma to CORI's Rural Innovation Network—our largest incoming cohort yet!
Each brings unique strengths, fresh perspectives, and a shared commitment to creating new economic opportunities. Together, they're showing what's possible when rural leaders connect, collaborate, and learn from one another.
Meet the newest members of the Network and discover how they're building the future of rural innovation.
| | We invite you to join us in our work to close the rural opportunity gap and advance inclusive economic prosperity and investment in rural America. We hope you will encourage others to be part of this conversation by sharing our newsletter. | | | | |
