June 2, 2023
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.
May 31, 2023
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.
May 25, 2023
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.
April 19, 2023
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.
February 27, 2023
February 27, 2023—Today the nation’s four Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDCs) are releasing their findings from a comprehensive initiative aimed at identifying the critical investments needed to build community capacity and improve quality of life in rural America. Their report, Investing in Rural Capacity: Comprehensive Summary of National Rural Development Stakeholder Listening Sessions, can be used by a broad audience of practitioners, decision makers, and government agencies to inform where programmatic efforts and resources may be most effective in tackling key issues facing rural communities.
February 1, 2023
NERCRD has released its latest Annual Report, which highlights the Center’s accomplishments and activities of 2022. We are grateful for the many opportunities to work with our regional and national partners in support of a strong and equitable rural recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges facing rural communities. We invite you to download the report for a comprehensive look at the NERCRD’s 2022 activities and impacts, and to reach out if you have any questions or feedback or would like a print copy.
February 1, 2023
The NERCRD seeks applications for a one-year Non-Tenure Track Assistant Research Professor, with good chances of renewal, subject to funding. The Non-Tenure Track Assistant Research Professor will be responsible for conducting economic and statistical analyses on a wide range of rural development topics, as determined by the Center’s emerging needs and priorities. There is a strong expectation that this research will contribute both to the science base as well as to informing U.S. rural economic development policy.
January 23, 2023
Penn State Extension is offering a monthly webinar series, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association (PA-APA), to provide in-depth information on land use topics affecting the communities of Pennsylvania, including current planning issues, land-use planning tools and techniques, and local regulations. This series benefits land owners, farmers, elected and appointed officials, developers, and community members who are involved in decision-making processes regarding using or preserving natural resources.
December 7, 2022
Members of the NERCRD’s Board of Directors (BOD), Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), and staff gathered last month in Newport, RI, for their first in-person meeting since 2019 to reflect on the Center's research and outreach accomplishments and to identify priority areas to guide its 2023 plan of work.
December 6, 2022
The team discussed how they adapted the Coming Together curriculum for Penn State Extension, the reach and impacts of their work thus far, and their plans for taking it to a wider audience.
December 2, 2022
This webinar, presented by Walt Whitmer, Senior Extension Educator with Penn State Extension, explored the changing landscape of contentious issues, how this evolving landscape affects our work, and some of the strategies available to us to navigate this new environment, regardless of program area or expertise. View the recording and related resources here.
November 16, 2022
Claudia Schmidt, assistant professor of marketing and local/regional food systems Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and NERCRD faculty affiliate, is the recipient of the college's 2022 Roy C. Buck Faculty Award, which recognizes the best article accepted or published by a refereed scholarly journal in the social sciences within the past two years.
November 15, 2022
The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD) is seeking applications for a limited-term, Non-Tenure Track Assistant Research Professor/Associate Director position. The NERCRD is located in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education within Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. The Center’s mission is to work on and coordinate a broad range of issues with land grant universities and other partners in the Northeast as well as nationally in support of rural development. Read the full job announcement here.
September 12, 2022
Congratulations to NERCRD Associate Director Dr. Jason Entsminger, who has accepted a new tenure-track position at the University of Maine. His last day with NERCRD will be September 14.
September 11, 2022
More than 500 people from 56 countries gathered in-person and virtually for the International Workshop on Agritourism (IWA), hosted by University of Vermont Extension in Burlington, VT, August 30-September 1.
July 29, 2022
Two new data briefs in NERCRD's COVID-19 Issues Briefs series examine the pandemic's effects on Northeast economic activity. The first uses Gross Domestic Product data to summarize the impact of COVID-19 on the economies of the Northeast U.S., and sets the stage for subsequent briefs that will examine impacts in key industries and sectors. One sector-specific brief, focusing on the tourism and recreation economies in the region, also was released this week.
June 20, 2022
While the COVID-19 pandemic delivered a massive economic blow to the U.S. tourism sector, some rural communities benefited from the crisis in terms of employment gains, according to a team of researchers from the NERCRD and West Virginia University. Their study, which is the first to document COVID-19’s economic impact on tourism in the U.S. at the county level, may help guide the development of rural tourism and destination management strategies that enhance community resilience.
May 23, 2022
On Friday, May 27 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern, the Council on Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics (C-FARE) and the Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDC) are holding a panel discussion on building the capacity needed for impactful investments in rural prosperity. Panelists, including NERCRD Director Stephan Goetz and Associate Director Jason Entsminger, will outline recent trends affecting rural communities, the assets they have at their disposal, and the capacities they have and need to promote shared economic prosperity over the long-term. This webinar is the first in a series of events aimed at integrating findings from the RRDCs' Rural Development Listening Sessions Initiative and work recently published by the St. Louis Fed and the Federal Reserve Board on investing in rural communities.
May 12, 2022
Several members of a team funded by NERCRD’s small-grant program in 2017-2018 have recently published a guide that builds on their NERCRD-funded project and explores the use of forums as a community engagement tool in Extension work. The comprehensive how-to guide is designed to help Cooperative Extension professionals develop issues forums in both onsite and online settings.
April 12, 2022
The sentiments and emotions expressed in tweets on Twitter can be used in real time to assess where supply chain disruptions due to a pandemic, war or natural disaster may lead to food shortages, according to researchers at NERCRD, Penn State and the Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.
March 24, 2022
We are pleased to share our latest Annual Report, which highlights the Center’s accomplishments and activities of 2021. While this was another very challenging year in many respects, we are grateful for the many opportunities to work with our regional and national partners in support of a strong and equitable rural recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges facing rural communities.
March 17, 2022
An exciting development in the NERCRD's tourism and recreation economies work is the funding of two new projects, both led by West Virginia University, that will examine tourism and resiliency through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic.
February 4, 2022
Twenty-six leading community development scholars and practitioners from around the country—including over a dozen collaborators in the Northeast Region—teamed up to publish a new book that explores how innovation manifests itself in rural places and ultimately contributes to entrepreneurial development and community resilience. The book was edited by Dr. Charlie French, program leader and Extension associate professor of community and economic development at the University of New Hampshire. Funding to support this effort was provided by the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development.
January 26, 2022
Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) and Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (ESCOP) took formal actions recently to recognize the significant contributions of the RRDCs, which are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year.
January 26, 2022
The nation’s four Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDCs) released findings this week from a national survey of rural development stakeholders. Conducted in the fall of 2021, the survey is part of a year-long Listening Session Initiative aimed at identifying key priorities and critical investments for rural communities’ recovery and growth.
January 19, 2022
The School of Natural Resources at West Virginia University (WVU) invites Ph.D. applications for a funded project (USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture) that aims to better understand tourism sustainability indicators as related to COVID-19 in rural gateway communities in eastern US.
December 9, 2021
Congratulations to former NERCRD Postdoctoral Scholar Dr. Sarah Rocker, who accepted a position as a National Program Leader with USDA NIFA, effective November 22. Rocker’s three-year tenure with the NERCRD ended on September 1.
December 7, 2021
The NERCRD annual meeting that took place virtually November 4-5, 2021, marked a change in the makeup of the Board of Directors and Technical Advisory Committee as follows.
December 7, 2021
Members of the Northeast Center's Board of Directors (BOD) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) met virtually in early November to review the Center's progress towards its goals and adopt the 2022 plan of work. In the upcoming year, NERCRD priority issues are: labor and workforce development; economic development, resilience, and innovation; tourism; food systems and agriculture; and general capacity building. To support these issues NERCRD will also prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion; climate change; and rural-urban interactions as cross-cutting areas.
December 7, 2021
NERCRD was selected recently to lead two projects under the New Technologies for Agricultural Extension (NTAE) program. The NTAE program is made possible by funding from USDA NIFA through a partnership with Oklahoma State University and the Extension Foundation. In addition to funding, selected projects receive engagement and technical support from the Extension Foundation.
