Rural Development – Creating Wealth

Posted by ERUDIO in Inspiration on Jan 18th, 2010

So, you lived much of your life in the country. But, you now have many more life choices.

Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.--- Albert Einstein

You have those choices, because now you’ve earned your degree, or you’re about to graduate. How will you use that knowledge?

Will you take your degree to the big city, and find work, and climb the big corporate ladders there?

Or will be take it all back home— will you go back where you came from? Will you start a rural business, or throw yourself in pro-active social work?

Will you use your hard-earned degree, your new knowledge, to improve your homeland, your own rural base?

Worldwide, governments are exploring strong new schemes for developing their rural areas.

The global push, to exploit all the amazing depth of intellectual human potential in rural areas, has created amazing new programs to stimulate growth— this means rural job creation, business loans, and funds for community projects.

How can you utilize the knowledge you’ve earned, by working so hard to obtain your degree?

a variety of jobs

In the USA, for example, there are many ways you can step up and begin to develop a business, or foundation. The mental skills and social validation you’ve earned, through higher education, have polished you, made you a self-affirming asset.

You know how to deal with official orgs and how to write plans. You learned all this working for that degree.

Best of all? Your majors and minors in college can now be applied directly to development of business plans or social plans.

Virtually every GRAD2B area of learning (see our “Careers” links) can be applied to the following list of US Gov (and State) rural development programs………….

BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY LOAN GUARANTEES — The business and industry program provides loan guarantees for expansion and preservation of jobs in rural areas. The guarantees are issued to commercial lenders who make credit available to support business activity in rural areas with populations up to 50,000. Loan funds may be used to purchase land, buildings and equipment; working capital; and refinance debts. The goal of the program is to strengthen the economy of rural communities through the creation of employment opportunities.

INTERMEDIARY RE-LENDING PROGRAM — Loans are made to private nonprofit corporations, any state or local government, Indian tribe, or cooperatives… who in turn provide credit to finance business facilities and community development projects, in rural areas on a revolving loan basis.

RURAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY GRANTS — Rural Business Opportunity Grants provide funding for technical assistance, training, and planning activities… that improve economic conditions in rural areas.

RURAL BUSINESS ENTERPRISE GRANTS — Rural Business Enterprise Grants finance the development of small and emerging private business enterprises. (Public bodies, non-profit corporations and recognized Indian Tribal Groups may be eligible applicants.)

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LOANS AND GRANTS — The purpose of the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program is to develop projects that will result in a sustainable increase in economic productivity, job creation, and incomes in rural areas. (Projects may include business start-ups and expansion, community development incubator projects, medical and training projects, and feasibility studies.)

COOPERATIVE SERVICES TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE — Cooperative Services (CS) assists rural residents in forming new cooperative businesses… and improving the operations of existing cooperatives.

RURAL COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT GRANTS — Rural Cooperative Development Grants (RCDG) are made for establishing and operating centers for cooperative development, to improve the economic conditions of rural areas.

VALUE-ADDED PROGRAM GRANTS — This program enable producers of agricultural commodities to participate in the economic returns to be found in the value-added market.

RENEWABLE ENERGY GRANTS — This program enable agricultural producers and small businesses, to purchase renewable energy systems and make energy improvements, to reduce the cost and consumption of the nation’s energy needs.

These programs in the USA are offered at both the federal and the individual state levels.

Ancient wisdom tell us, that if you want to change your world, begin by changing the world closest around you.

If you came from a rural area, you know its problems and its possibilities, intimately. And now you have a degree! How will you use it?

Or… you don’t have a degree, do you realize how greatly a degree would empower you?

Think, if you did have a degree— as an educated person, you could better engage the government officials, in the ways they expect, and respect.

With as degree in a field of your focus, you could help bring development to the people of the rural regions, the people you’ve know all your life.

What better life goal, than to empower the people you love?

Just think of it… could building better communities be your path to building a better You?

And who knows, maybe you’ll make your fortune at the same time!