Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development

The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development is dedicated to providing research-based information that helps create regional prosperity through entrepreneurial and cluster-based innovation, while assuring balanced uses of natural resources in livable communities in the northeastern United States.

Latest News

June 2, 2023

Just released: Agritourism and direct sales fact sheets for all 50 US states

A new set of fact sheets provides comprehensive insights into the demographics of U.S. farms that offer agritourism activities or sell food directly to consumers or both. The fact sheets are available for all 50 states and are intended to help local decision makers, farmers, and the organizations that support them in their efforts to strengthen and expand agritourism enterprises.

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May 31, 2023

Webinar: Local Climate Action Planning—Penn State and Municipal Partners Implementing Together

This webinar will provide an overview of the Local Climate Action Program (LCAP), a partnership initiative of the PA Department of Environmental Protection, Penn State’s Sustainability Institute, Penn State’s Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, and ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability. While this webinar will describe a Pennsylvania-based program and related opportunities for PA municipalities, it will also give non-PA attendees an overview of an innovative program that could potentially be replicated in other states.

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May 25, 2023

Northeast Digital Equity Summit Call for Presentation Proposals

The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD) is pleased to announce a call for presentation proposals addressing issues of digital equity for inclusion in its upcoming Northeast Digital Equity Summit, which will take place virtually on September 19, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET.

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April 19, 2023

Opening farms to visitors boosts nearby farms' direct sales, and vice versa

Farmers use many marketing strategies to diversify their incomes and stay in business. New research led by NERCRD Faculty Affiliate, Claudia Schmidt, suggests that two of these strategies—agritourism and direct farm sales—complement one another when they occur within the same community. The findings could help farmers and the local organizations that support them plan strategically for farm resilience and growth.

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