Rural America includes 72% of the nation’s land and 46 million people. It encompasses regions of American agriculture as well as places with significant work in industries such as manufacturing, mining, and forestry.These traditionally-rural sectors continue to anchor the economies of more than half of U.S. counties. The economic success of the United States today and in the future depends on optimizing rural America’s productivity and quality of life – truly, unleashing the potential & ingenuity of rural communities is an integral part of providing employment and economic well-being to all Americans.
The loss of landownership and farming operations has contributed to the poverty of many rural communities in the South. We feel that the rural landowner must be sustained through workforce development initiatives that strengthen them and connect them to resources in the community and the State. Yet, there are cultural, social and economic barriers that are preventing adult learners in the Blackbelt from participating in learning and earning a living wage.
As Alabama’s Land Grant University, our mission is to serve all of Alabama, especially through Outreach initiatives. Through this project, we hope to increase access and support to anyone who wants to further their education or knowledge across a lifetime of learning and career transitions, especially in terms of the forest industry. The forest and forest products industry are the most important economic engine in rural Alabama.
The main goal of this project will be to connect forestry-related agencies and promote interagency collaboration in the Blackbelt of Alabama. This will improve rural access to education and training in the forestry industry for small landowners in the area. Additional objectives will include increasing awareness of Alabama’s forest products industry in the Blackbelt region, creating and distributing a survey collect information on Blackbelt landowners needs related to economic development, and providing professional development and training about Alabama’s forests to the workforce development programs in the Blackbelt.
Results/Conclusions
TBD