By Joshua Seidemann, NTCA Vice President of Policy and Industry Innovation
I enjoy working with our Smart Rural Community providers to explore strategies for rural economic development. As a board member of the National Rural Economic Developers Association (NREDA), I have been able to examine the boots-on-the-ground success stories of our SRC companies alongside the experiences of a broad range of local economic development pros. Working with NREDA, we analyzed these collective outcomes and concluded that 1) planning and strategy are crucial for building strong rural economies, and, 2) we can approach the planning by analyzing past data and creating future projections.
The Key Point Indicator (KPI) paper published by SRC and NREDA offers an analytical construct for communities to measure critical factors like local wages, housing prices and business dynamics. Importantly, the paper recognizes that rural spaces are incredibly diverse, so I'm not proposing a universal solution. Instead, the KPI approach offers a framework that communities can adapt to their unique contexts.
Rural stories — and the economic factors and communities that create them — reinforce a fundamental truth: Each rural community is distinct. What works in one place might not be the best approach for another. But, when examining potential economic impacts, we can (and must) consider multiple variables and remain flexible.
Of course, broadband plays a particularly critical role in this effort. Our SRC library is filled with reports outlining the benefits of broadband for economic development, agriculture, education and healthcare. And numerous reports from other resources have demonstrated its positive economic effects, from employment and e-commerce to real estate values and agricultural productivity. But, as we note often in our SRC discussions, simply having the infrastructure is not enough — communities must actively engage with these technologies.
While broadband will not transform rural America overnight, regions without it certainly risk being left behind. SRC’s goal is to share and amplify your insights to empower rural communities in their journey towards economic success.