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Posts Tagged ‘Kansas’
Rural Grocery Store Conference Announced
April 22nd, 2010
Kansas State University’s Center for Engagement and Community Development has been a leader in promoting the importance of grocery stores in small rural communities. For the past several years, they’ve been conducting research on the subject and have developed a valuable website to share what they’ve learned.
On June 14-15, 2010, they will share what they’ve learned at a conference titled the “Rural Grocery Summit II: Saving Rural America’s Critical Infrastructure.”
Specifically, the Center has identified three goals for the conference:
- Highlight the latest and best research on rural grocery store sustainability,
- Provide rural grocery store owners and resource providers network opportunities,
- Highlight the best practices of rural grocery stores from around the country, and
In the past, we’ve sought to inspire rural residents with stories of communities who have taken initiative to open community owned grocery stores. (see here, here, and here).
If you’ve recognized that your community needs help in opening a grocery store (or preventing one from closing), I’d highly encourage you to check out the conference. You can learn more about it on the conference website.
Tags: grocery stores, Kansas
Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, Rural, Training and Events | Comments (0)
Kansas “gets” importance of grocery stories
April 14th, 2009
The Kansas Sampler Foundation not only “gets” rural culture, but they also get the importance or rural grocery stores.
In response to a call from a resident from a rural town (pop. 1100) that lacks a grocery store, Marci Penner called for the establishment of a two-day Midwest Small Grocery symposium. The idea being we need to “reimagine” how rural grocery stores operate. Couldn’t agree more!
We’ve talked about a few retail models (here, here, and here) that have emerged in the upper Midwest. We’d love to hear other stories from around the country.
Tags: Buy Local, grocery stores, Kansas, retail
Posted in Economic Development, In the News, Rural | Comments (1)
Do you “get” rural?
April 7th, 2009
Many of my high school and college friends who have moved away from South Dakota don’t “get” why I love South Dakota, let alone why I love rural South Dakota. This became painfully obvious recently as several “why would you still live there” comments appeared on the Facebook pages of friends in my network.
Most of the comments were made in fun, and came in response to our complaints from resident South Dakotans concerning recent late spring snow storms. As I reflect on the comments, however, I can’t help but think these out-of-state friends really don’t understand what those of us who live in South Dakota love about this place. In a way, it saddens me, but then again, what’s a guy going to do to change their minds?
Taking a proactive approach, the Kansas Sampler Foundation created a blog “to help people understand or ‘get’ rural Kansas.” It introduces readers to people and places around rural Kansas, providing a glimpse into the daily life of the state’s rural residents.
It is hard to imagine that we need a blog to help people understand what’s special about rural places. On the other hand, what a great way to share stories that never make the cut via traditional media outlets.
Discovering the blog also caused me to wonder if other efforts like that of the Kansas Sampler Foundation blog exist. If you are aware of any, please share.
Tags: Facebook, Get Rural, Kansas, South Dakota, web 2.0
Posted in Rural | Comments (6)
The Climate and Energy Project
December 9th, 2008
I recently ran across a promising new project of The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. The Climate and Energy Project (CEP) was launched in Februrary of 2007, and has since grown to a full-time staff of six. Randy Parry (Rural Learning Center President) saw a video from CEP at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation’s Rural People Rural Policy Network gathering in Kalamazoo, MI this Fall.
The CEP is about creating climate and energy conversations across the Great Plains, and staff hope to inspire stewardship, resilience, innovation and balance in rural places in the Midwest. Here’s a super video from the CEP team, focusing in on their home state, called “Where Does Kansas Stand?”
I’d encourage you to poke around a bit on the Climate and Energy Project website, including a great section called “Take Steps,” with tips (from free to expensive) for farms, businesses, and congregations. What does climate change and energy consumption mean for rural communities? Please share your thoughts in the Comments.
Tags: climate change, energy, environment, green, Kansas, Land Institute
Posted in Economic Development, Leadership, Rural, Rural Life | Comments (0)