Rural Matters

In Part II of this six-part series — Living in Rural America, 2022 and Beyond — produced in collaboration with and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Michelle chats with three experts on how rural America is dealing with the pandemic and other significant issues. Dr. Don Albrecht, Director of the Western Rural Development Center (WRDC), who has published research on the impact of COVID-19 on rural areas; Patrick Woodie, President of the NC Rural Center; and Karen Jackson, President of Apogee Strategic Partners, LLC, a Virginia firm specializing in developing and implementing technology and innovation strategies and programs. Albrecht discusses: why most rural economies have been stagnant or declining for decades, what thriving rural communities look like, and why per capita COVID-19 deaths in rural America are higher than in urban areas. Woodie details how rural business has fared in North Carolina and the importance of access and funding broadband in rural areas. Jackson describes how there has been influx of rural remote workers during the pandemic (a "silver lining" echoed by the other two guests), as well as how rural areas can position themselves at this time to capitalize on post-COVID opportunities. This episode, and the entire six-part series, is sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation's largest philanthropy dedicated solely to health. Find out more about the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at rwjf.org or on Twitter, @rwjf.

In the first installment of our six-part series produced in collaboration with and underwritten by the Ascendium Education Group, Michelle chats with Kirstin Yeado, a program officer at Ascendium responsible for strategic grantmaking in support of Ascendium's Rural Education and Workforce Training program.: Shanell Watson, a program officer with the Woodward Hines Education Foundation, a foundation that has focused on increasing postsecondary access and completion for Mississippi residents since 1995.; Denise Callahan, the Director of Postsecondary Success at The Ford Family Foundation in Oregon; and Allison Pennington, Programs & Strategy Associate for Greater Texas Foundation, a private foundation focused on helping more Texans complete postsecondary credentials. In this first part of our 2022 series — a continuation of our terrific series produced with Ascendium last year — Yeado discusses how her organization seeks to remove obstacles faced by learners from low-income backgrounds, investing in high-quality, actionable research, and implementing evidence-based strategic initiatives for learners. Watson discusses essential tools that funders need to successfully build relationships with partners to implement programs in rural communities and how her organization learns strategies for success through its Get2College programming and grantmaking efforts, such as the Global Teaching Project. Callahan discusses why The Ford Family Foundation focuses almost exclusively on rural communities, why success in education beyond high school is such an important part of the foundation's work, and the findings from its 2021 report, "Supporting Rural Students in Oregon in High School and Beyond: A Study of College Enrollment, Persistence, Transfer, and Completion Outcomes." Pennington discusses why Greater Texas Foundation intentionally funds rural communities and highlights examples of successful rural postsecondary education collaboratives in Texas, including Rural College Promise and West Texas Rural Resilience and Opportunity on the High Plains. This episode and the entire six-part series is supported by the Ascendium Education Group. www.ascendiumphilanthropy.org

Michelle chats about the incredibly important topic of heart health in Rural America with Dr. Jessica Barnes, co-founder and CEO of 20Lighter, LLC, an award-winning cardiometabolic health program targeting inflammation and visceral fat, the holy grail of cardiovascular and metabolic disease; and Irion "Chip" Pursell, M.P.H., R.N., B.S.N., the director of cardiology research at UAMS in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the Principal Investigator of the UAMS Lincoln Project. Pursell describes how the workings of this unique initiative, which is based on a strategy for community engagement and an ultimate goal of improving cardiovascular health in highly underserved areas of the Arkansas Delta. Local engagement is crucial to increase wellness measures and target obesity in a region where economic and health disparities have life-altering consequences for residents, explains Pursell. Dr. Barnes discusses the role 20Lighter plays in the UAMS Lincoln Project, including focusing on proactive engagement of at-risk patients. Her program addresses a medical condition associated with a variety of ailments, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and COVID-19. The UAMS Lincoln Project is in progress, with results expected later this year. Want to learn more about 20Lighter and the UAMS Lincoln Project? Visit 20Lighter.com/ArkansasDelta and UAMS Lincoln Project.

In Part I of our six-part series, Living in Rural America — 2022 and Beyond, produced in collaboration with and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Michelle discusses myths and realities of the rural experience today with four experts in this space: John Pender, a senior economist in the Rural Economy Branch of the USDA Economic Research Service; Mark Partridge, Swank Chair of Rural-Urban Policy at Ohio State University; Kai Schafft, professor of Education and Rural Sociology at Penn State University where he directs the Center on Rural Education and Communities; and Brock Slabach, Chief Operating Officer at the National Rural Health Association. Pender discusses how rural residents and the rural economy are faring during the pandemic compared to metro areas and access to broadband and advanced telecommunication connectivity. Partridge talks about growth patterns, economic policy, federal funding, and technological developments affecting rural areas. Schafft focuses on the rural sociology and the Rural Sociological Society, rural schools and communities, mental health needs, and burnout among superintendent and teachers. Slabach also discusses how the pandemic has dramatically impacted rural health care workforces, population health, and incentives for improving rural health. This episode and the entire six-part series is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. For more information, visit rwj.org

In the first Rural Matters Bonus Brief of 2022, Michelle and Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves come together again to discuss how rural America is struggling to keep up with inflation and supply chain issues. They begin their conversation discussing how the pandemic has affected global supply chains. "...for the last two years, we have been in this global pandemic. That has had a major impact on the supply chain, not just in this country, but the entire world. And when we shut down in 2020 for the pandemic, it just takes a lot of time to get the economy back online again," said Graves. Graves covers over the actions that the Biden-Harris Administration have taken to reduce prices, eliminate bottlenecks in the supply chain, and ease access to products and services for consumers. He also speaks on President Biden's Action Plan for America's Ports and Waterways, as well as the Administration's decision to release 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower prices for Americans. Lastly, Michelle and the Deputy Secretary touch on capacity building, and how President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is seeking to improve U.S. infrastructure for the long-term. "It's our ports, it's our airports, it's our highways, it's our railways, our bridges. Making sure that all across the country the infrastructure that we see, especially in rural areas that has continued to crumble, that we are making the investments that we need... for the long run. That is going to position us to be the most productive country in the globe," said Graves. If you would like to listen to Michelle and Deputy Secretary Don Graves' previous conversation on the American Rescue Plan, click here.

In Part VIII, the final segment of this fabulous series we're producing in collaboration with and supported by the Ascendium Education Group, Michelle chats with Nicholas Hillman, professor in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Hillman's research examines how finance, policy, and geography shape educational opportunities in the United States. Hillman discusses the goals of his current research effort; the definition of "rural"; how his research team used "commuting zones," rather than "counties" or "metropolitan areas" to locate rural places; how the team found large enrollment declines among rural "broad-access" colleges but how the opposite was true for selective research universities. This episode and the entire series on rural higher education and workforce development is sponsored by Ascendium Education Group, a nonprofit organization committed to helping learners from low-income backgrounds reach their educational and career goals. For more information, visit ascendiumphilanthropy.org.

Mapping Rural Colleges Links: Main page: https://mappingruralcolleges.wisc.edu/ Report: https://mappingruralcolleges.wisc.edu/documents/sstar_mapping_rural_colleges_2021.pdf Mapping tool: https://mappingruralcolleges.wisc.edu/map

In the final part of our four-part series on rural funding, produced in collaboration with and supported by Thomas USAF, Michelle chats with Thomas Kimsey, President and CEO of Thomas USAF Group, who manages more than $100 Million annually in loan production. Michelle also welcomes Dr. Karama Neal, who is the USDA Administrator for the Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Prior to her time at the USDA, Dr. Neal served as president of Southern Bancorp Community Partners, a nonprofit community development loan fund and financial development organization promoting economic mobility in rural Arkansas and Mississippi. She spent twelve years at Southern and led their small business, consumer and other development lending, consumer and savings focused public policy work, and a variety of financial development services to help low and moderate wealth families and communities build wealth. Finally, Michelle chats with Jacqueline Ponti-Lazaruk, who leads the USDA's Rural Development Innovation Center as the Chief Innovation Officer. She has nearly 13 years of leadership experience at USDA Rural Development, leading the Telecommunications and Water Programs for more than 11 years, and leading critical agency-wide efforts to streamline programs and increase the agency's impact in rural areas. Michelle, Thomas and Dr. Neal chat about promoting competition and strengthening America's food supply chain, discuss details on the new $800 million allocated to provide economic relief to biofuel producers and renewable fuel markets effected by the pandemic, and how rural lenders work with rural borrowers, and how they interface with USDA Rural Development. During Michelle's chat with Jacki Ponti-Lazaruk, they discuss some of the challenges that USDA's Rural Development Innovation Center face, the opportunities that have risen out of the pandemic, as well as the future outlook for the program in 2022, and 2023. If you would like more information on the various programs discussed on the podcast, please visit the links below: Biofuel Producer Program: https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/energy-programs/biofuel-producer-program Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/12/09/usda-launches-loan-guarantee-program-create-more-market Face Shield Story: https://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/success-stories/rural-development-project-uses-3d-printing-fight-against-covid-19-spread This episode and the entire four-part series are sponsored by the Thomas USAF Group. With 40 years of experience working in the government guaranteed loan space, Thomas USAF Group is uniquely positioned to offer exceptional services to meet your business needs. For more information, visit www.thomasusaf.com.

In this special episode of Rural Matters, Michelle chats with Brian Alexander, author of the powerful best-selling book, "The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town." During the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) annual meeting on October 13, 2021, Michelle and Brian were featured speakers for a session they called, "Candid Conversations." During this episode, Michelle talks with Brian about his book as told through the lens of a small town hospital in Bryan, Ohio. The critically-acclaimed book covers how an individual's race, social/economic standing, and zip code can affect or determine their health and whether or not they can access vital health care services.

"The Hospital shows how fragile our country's health care was even before the pandemic, and how that fragility affects staff and administration as well as patients."―The Washington Post

Continuing the conversation, Michelle and Brian discuss his take on NOSORH's National Rural Health Day theme of the 4 R's: Resiliency, Relationships, Readiness, and Resolve. They also discuss Brian's views on the challenges that rural communities and health care face in the future and field questions from listeners.

"Nobody would make this (health care) system 100 years ago. If you start with that… there may be room to say, let's blow it up. But we need to be honest about what disruptions that would cause. It is 19% of the American economy… the disruption would be enormous. If we are willing to do that, we can have a much better system, but I think that we can start with the commonality that nobody likes it." - Brian Alexander.

Stay tuned for more Candid Conversations in 2022. To follow Michelle and today's guest, you can find them @MRBImpact and @BrianRAlexander on Twitter. You can also read about NOSORH's 2021 Community Stars here.

In Part VII of our landmark series on rural higher education and workforce development, produced in collaboration with the Ascendium Education Group, Michelle explores a key issue for rural communities — building transfer and career pathways for rural learners with two experts in the field: Dr. Erica Orians and Dr. Lia Wetzstein. Orians is Executive Director of the Michigan Center for Student Success at the Michigan Community College Association. In her role, Orians supports Michigan's 28 community colleges in their efforts to improve equitable student outcomes while emphasizing the linkages between policy, practice, and research including rural colleges that serve vibrant communities across the state. The MCCA has helped lead several statewide transfer initiatives in Michigan including the Michigan Transfer Agreement, the Michigan Transfer Network, and the MiTransfer Pathways. Dr. Wetzstein is the Director of Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI) at the University of Washington. She engages in education equity research on postsecondary education reform, vertical transfer, STEM education, and community college outcomes. She leads CCRI's equity agenda to enhance degree attainment and living wage careers for low-income learners and minoritized students. The discussion involves important issues in transferring between colleges; lessons learned from the pandemic; a STEM transfer partnership project; and improving rural student transfer success in the rural space. This episode and the entire eight-part series is sponsored by the Ascendium Education Group. For more information, visit ascendiumphilanthropy.org.

In Part VI of this landmark series produced in collaboration with and supported by the Ascendium Education Group, Michelle discusses the challenges and opportunities involved in postsecondary partnerships in rural America with three recognized experts in the field: Dr. Sheila Martin, Vice President for Economic Development and Community Engagement at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities; Dakota Pawlicki, the Director of Talent Hubs at CivicLab; and Dr, Gretchen Schmidt, a Senior Fellow with the National Center for Inquiry and Improvement and a national leader in higher education transformation. Martin works with university leaders and policy stakeholders to improve university practices related to economic and community engagement. She describes the unique opportunities for building human capital in rural communities and the exciting activities being undertaken by Cooperative Extension at many universities. Pawlicki serves a network of almost 100 local and regional cross-sector partnerships focused on postsecondary attainment and also hosts Lumina Foundation's podcast, Today's Students, Tomorrow's Talent. He describes why Talent Hubs are an exemplary cross-sector partnerships and CivicLab's recent launch of a new capacity-building initiative to support rural partnerships. NCII has worked alongside a group of community college leaders in the last year to highlight issues facing rural institutions post-COVID, notes Schmidt, adding how rural colleges, working in collaboration with local communities, can develop and integrate higher education, with financial resources and social services to enable students and residents to thrive and not just survive. This episode and the entire series is sponsored by the Ascendium Education Group. For more information, visit ascendiumphilanthropy.org.