Rural development is a 2023 focus area for IFB’s Local Government Team, and we encourage you to share the following opportunity with your local government officials and organizations as well as to participate as a CFB. Helping rural communities retain and attract residents will be the focus of a University of Illinois Extension webinar series in January and February. Illinois Farm Bureau is a co-sponsor, along with Rural Partners, the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, the Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools and the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council.
Dates are Jan. 17 and 31 and Feb. 14. Each session will start at noon. The webinar series is free.
To register, visit bit.ly/3Vowjby.
Webinar participants will learn about expressing positive aspects of rural life, trends influencing interest in moving to rural areas and developing strategies to retain current residents and attract new ones. A 40-minute presentation on each main topic will be followed by a question-and-answer period. Leaders from participating communities are encouraged to join all three sessions and design strategies to recruit rural residents.
Session dates and topics include:
- Jan. 17: Rewriting the rural narrative. Ben Winchester, rural sociologist for the University of Minnesota’s Center for Community, will discuss research on the attitudes and motivations of young adults who recently moved to rural areas. Participants will have a homework assignment to interview two newcomers to their community.
- Jan. 31: Rural resident recruitment. A resident recruitment strategy incorporates activities in community development, economic development and tourism. The homework assignment will be interviewing two local seniors interested in a housing change within the community.
- Feb. 14: Rural housing supply and demand. Rural housing trends, including workforce trends and residential preferences, will be discussed. Following the discussion, participants should feel ready to develop action plans or modify recruitment strategies.