Smart Communities

Childcare is Key Investment

Yesterday my community of Charlottesville officially launched its Smart Beginnings program to improve early child development and get every child ready for kindergarten. This is a multiple-pronged initiative in our community and others in the Commonwealth. Here are a few things we learned: for every $1.00 invested in early learning and school readiness there is a 7 to 10 percent return rate; programs that target children from disadvantaged families have the greatest return; and before the age of five children develop the foundation for such workforce skills as critical thinking, teamwork and communication. If we want to be "smart" in Charlottesville and every other community, we must insure a smart beginning for all children. For more information on the economic returns of early childhood programs see Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

What is your community doing?

Rural School Defies the Odds

Great article by my friend Larry Lee on how one rural Alabama school has defied all the odds in test scores and achievement. This is a school and a community that missed the articles on why they shouldn't succeed. They just went about their work on helping all children reach their potential and the proof as they say is reported in this article. We will be reporting more on the importance of rural schools. In the meantime, read Larry's article and check out the Rural Schools and Community Trust website.

Los Angeles' My Future, My Decision Campaign

LA is just more hip than the rest of us--let's admit it. The latest evidence of this is their school districts' new effort--My Future, My Decision--designed to prevent students from dropping out of high school and encourage those who have to come back. One of the most unique parts of the new program is the emphasis on social networking. Through a series of conversations with students who have dropped out, they learned that the best way to reach young people is in the places where they meet each other. Using this reconnaissance to know its audience, the school district is using a whole range of social networking vehicles to reach kids including text messaging, YouTube, MySpace, and youth-focused radio marketing. Featured messengers for My Future, My Decision will be students who dropped out and have come back to school. In addition to this outreach effort, the school district is adding more counselors in the most at-risk schools and employing a full-range intervention strategy to keep kids in school.

I believe this comprehensive and yes--hip--approach has great promise. We will be following it and will keep you posted. More about the effort can be found on the My Future, My Decision website and in a terrific article by Lesli Maxwell in Education Week.

What To Do on Monday

If rural communities need a blueprint, read this week's blogs on rural revitalization. My only addition to is to emphasize the importance of leadership development. We have written extensively about the Horizons program's work with towns under 5,000 and the difference made using our LeadershipPlenty model. New, broad-based, and revitalized leadership is the key to making things happen. In some of the towns we have worked with in the Horizons program, they now have 30 more people dedicated to making things better. They are making a huge difference. See the difference that leadership development is making in New York Mills, MN and Presho, SD.

Rural Winners--Platte, SD

Our final rural winner this week is Platte, SD, population 1,369. Platte is doing many things right but three of them relate directly to the Smart Communities model. First, on the economic vitality side they are promoting local businesses and a revitalized Main Street. Second, they are thinking long-term with a community daycare program. And third, they are promoting workforce devolopment and youth retention with their scholarship/job shadowing program for young people. What was impressive to the Federal Home Loan Bank folks and certainly to me, is that these are things that all communities could do and they are paying off. The local banks are actively involved which is also key. They have a "chat" feature on their website and area really appealing to tourists through their recreational assets. I salute Platte because they are doing what every small town should be doing--starting where they are and charting a course for the future. This kind of effort will preserve and enhance small town America.

Rural Winners--Brookfield, MO

What can a town of less than 5,000 in north central Missouri do about its future? Well Brookfield, MO, thinks quite a lot. Through a series of town meetings, the community is deciding its own course. The Hometown Competitiveness program has allowed Brookfield's citizens to discuss and decide the issues that they believe matter most to the future. As we say in Smart Communities, talk is action. That action in Brookfield is an emphasis on entrepreneurship, leadership development, local philanthropy, and youth--all critical elements in any community. What is impressive about the Brookfield model is that they understand that they cannot stop with economic development--the future of the community will be determined by the priorities set for economic, community, and civic development in tandem.

So what must some of those priorities be? Just a cursory look at community data tells me that on the economic side living wage jobs are a priority--not just because everybody always says that--but because their median income is low compared to the state average and their poverty rate is quite high. Second, they must attract and keep more college graduates. With only about 10 percent in the community, they are behind here. This might require one of those "come back home" strategies for young people. And finally, they must leverage their existing assets (which are numerable) including a supportive business community to attract more new businesses and skilled workers. Brookfield is doing the right things to change the future.

Another Rural Resource

In our quest this week to provide you with some additional resources, let us add the new report on rural schools to your list. What I think we are all hearing from this report and other resources we have sent along is that rural does matter. As I wrote in Smart Communities, we don't want to live in a country that is connected by interstate highways and fast-food restaurants.

New Rural Resource

USDA has published the 2007 edition of Rural America at a Glance. It will give you a quick update on what is happening across rural America that may be affecting your community. Take a look.

Rural Winners--Ashley, ND

Ashley, North Dakota, is a real small town with only 800 residents that are older than average. While one could peg Ashley as a "retirement" community, that don't quite see it that way. Limiting their entrance into the global economy they felt was their lack of cell phone service so they joined with other communities in something called "zap the gap" initiative. This recognition that we are "better together" than we are alone would be enough to win the Federal Home Loan Bank's Capital Communities Award but there was more. This town has reakty taken advantage of its local assets. On the town website they feature ecotourism and promote their town in a very positive light. I was particularly impressed with the web page devoted to seniors. It described activities as well as services and gave the reader a sense that seniors are important to the community. Ashley is a town with focus.

Rural Winners--Mahnomen, MN

Another of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines award winners is Mahnomen, MN. Located in northeast Minnesota on the White Earth Indian Reservation, Mahnomen has 1,200 residents--74 percent white and 16 percent Native American. The name means "wild rice" in Chippewa. It has issues reflected in its 16 percent poverty rate but it is getting answers too through its Seventh Generation Initiative. This communitywide initiative is asking questions about what will guide the future of the community. They are not working from a blank slate: the community has taken some bold steps in the last few years to affect its future including a new business park, expanding recreational opportunities, and building on its cultural diversity. But for me the Seventh Generation Initiative is a model for all of rural America. They are deciding together about the future. People are getting on the same page in assessing the situation and they are taking action together. Working with two dozen local groups, the city created the Initiative. Now it is taking on a life of its own with broad-based participation--their slogan "successful communities need more participants and fewer spectators." Couldn't have said it better myself.