Michigan Rural Council

Don’t miss the December Michigan Rural Network Forum!

We have an exciting agenda for you at December’s Michigan Rural Network forum.  Along with the much requested information sharing and networking opportunities, we will be spending time talking about landbanking in Michigan, specifically in rural areas.  We are happy to offer you the opportunity to interact with the Center for Community Progress to learn about their work in this area and opportunities in your local community. We hope you will join us and invite your colleagues as well!

We will be meeting on Tuesday, December 13 from 2:00 – 3:30pm at Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM) located at 1000 South Washington, Lansing, MI 48910.

Please RSVP to Kari Marciniak (marciniak@cedam.info) to ensure adequate space.

For meeting agenda and driving directions, click here. 

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Recently, I had the privilege to participate in the Rural Wealth Creation and Livelihoods Conference sponsored by the USDA Economic Research Service and the Ford Foundation.  This conference convened researchers, practitioners, and public policy folks to discuss basic questions around creating wealth in rural communities:

• What does it mean to say “wealth”?
• How can we create wealth?
• What is currently being done that we can lift up as best practices?
• How does current policy affect the ability of communities to create wealth

Through many rich (pardon the pun) conversations, we did our best to answer those questions.  While we did not always succeed I think we came away with several “take home” points that help give a view of what a path to wealth creation may look like.

What is wealth anyway?

Throughout the conference, I heard several times that the term “wealth” is slightly misleading and I tend to agree.  When you use the word wealth, the mental image almost always gravitates toward people who have a lot of money.  This is not the connotation in which we want wealth to be perceived.  Therefore, I tend to prefer “capital” which most people are more familiar with and more easily lends itself to nuanced differences among difference types.  There are, in fact, several types of capital that can be nurtured and utilized to create a vibrant community (for the full descriptions. see “Keeping Wealth Local“.)

1. Individual – the stock of skills and the healthiness (both physical and mental) of people in a community.
2. Social – the stock of trust, relationships and networks that support civil society.
3. Intellectual – the stock of knowledge, innovation and creativity in a community.
4. Natural – the stock of unimpaired environmental assets in a community or region.
5. Built – the stock of physical infrastructure.
6. Political – the stock of power and goodwill held by individuals, groups, and/or organizations in a community.
7. Financial – the stock of monetary assets in a community.

What does this mean for communities in Michigan?  Well, that’s hard to answer.  All the forms of capital are important and those communities that are thriving tend to have all or most of them.  However, in the current economic conditions, it is difficult to move beyond financial capital and focus on building other forms when there are so many without jobs or solid economic standing.  Tell us what you think.  How do you view and work with different forms of wealth/capital in your day-to-day work? 

The last three questions are still unanswered by the participant community.  However, you have a chance to shape the answers!  An outgrowth of the conference is the Wealth Creation and Rural Livelihoods National Community of Practice.  This is an online place where researchers, practitioners, funders, intermediaries, policymakers and others can learn from and work with each other to advance what works.  Membership in the Community of Practice is wide open and anyone is invited to participate.

Help build the Community of Practice!  Join anytime – and feel free to invite your colleagues and friends. 

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The Michigan Rural Network is proud to announce the release of the MRN Rural Michigan Housing Profile 2011!  This report profiles the type of production and services being offered in Michigan’s rural counties since 2008.  Many thanks to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) and to the survey respondents for their assistance in the completion of this profile.

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Good afternoon readers!

It is my last few days here in Lansing working on the Michigan Rural Network, as my AmeriCorps term of service is coming to an end. Looking back, I have been very happy to have this opportunity to get to know so many great organizations and the people who compose them.

I think we were able to do some great things this year that will help the MRN be an effective resource for rural community development in the future. Through fully integrating with CEDAM’s activities and programs and finding new ways to partner with the Rural Partners of Michigan, we have been able to create strong partnerships that will help expand our reach and resources further than it ever could by ourselves. We were able to pass an official Strategic Plan that lays out a 5 year plan for further development and accountability within the Network. I have been able to convene working groups that have brought in new members and interest into the Network and will be able to complete projects in the future.

I have read a lot about how small towns and rural areas are facing an uphill battle. Costs for providing community development services are increasing and budgets are shrinking. On the upside, I have met so many individuals that are hard to bet against this year. To make it rural community development, you have to be creative, sharp and passionate. Our Network is full of such people. It will be an uphill battle, but I think rural Michigan has the right people to come out on top.

Again, thank you for your help, patience and support this year as I tried to help grow the Michigan Rural Network. I am moving on to another AmeriCorps position at the Center for Community Progress in Flint, where I will help provide technical assistance and capacity building to land banks across the state.

Thanks and take care,

Charlie

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Don’t miss the August Michigan Rural Network Meeting!

We have an exciting agenda for you at this month’s Michigan Rural Network meeting.  Along with the usual information sharing and networking opportunities, we will be spending time talking about economic gardening in Michigan.  Many of you have heard Governor Snyder use this term in his talks across the state and you may have seen news articles about the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s work in this area.

We are happy to offer you the opportunity to interact with Public Policy Associates to learn about upcoming workshops on the topic.  We will also be hearing from Mark Lange, Executive Director at the Edward Lowe Foundation on economic gardening specific to rural communities.  This is a great opportunity for you to learn from and talk with experts in this field.  We hope you will join us and invite your colleagues as well!

We will be meeting from 2:00 – 3:30pm at Greenstone Farm Credit Services located at 3515 West Road, East Lansing, MI 48823.  Please RSVP to Kari Marciniak (marciniak@cedam.info) to ensure adequate refreshments.

For meeting agenda and driving directions, click here. 

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Photo used under Creative Commons from hyperboreal

Earlier this week, the Council on Foundations convened the third Rural Philanthropy Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.  While Michigan Rural Network was not able to attend in person, we have been following the conversations arising out of the conference.  But from those not currently involved in this field, I usually get the question “What is rural philanthropy and why should I care?”  Well, Rick Cohen just answered those questions in his recent piece for the Nonprofit Quarterly entitled “Where Is Rural Philanthropy Heading and Where in the World are its Partners on the Journey?”   It’s a terrific summary and I encourage you to take a few moments to read it.

This is quite timely for us in the Michigan Rural Network as we just launched a work group dedicated to rural philanthropy.  Over the past three months, we have been whittling away at an idea of how we envision rural philanthropy in Michigan.  You are invited to read our concept paper outlining those ideas.  We will be working in partnership with the Council of Michigan Foundations to examine how to best build capacity in Community Foundations.  We think that rural philanthropy can indeed be a tool for economic development in those communities who choose to utilize it.  How about you…what do you think?

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