ALABAMA A&M and AUBURN UNIVERSITIES

Starkeville, MAY 14---The Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC), headquartered at Mississippi State University, uses its resources to share research and information important in keeping rural development issues a top priority in the South.

The 25-year-old center works with 13 states and two territories.  It serves Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virgin Islands and Virginia.

"The SRDC taps the talents of the region's land-grant universities to help address important rural development issues," says Dr. Bo Beaulieu, SRDC director.

The first priority of the center is to keep the development concerns of the rural South in the spotlight.  Once concerns are identified, the center develops research to better understand these issues and then makes sure the research is delivered for application to the leaders and citizens of the region.   The center also informs policymakers of the impacts federal and state policies are having on the rural South.

"We try to provide the most up-to-date information for rural communities to use to develop strategies to address such things as economic development, work force preparation and strategic planning programs for its citizens.  We do this through links with each land-grant institution's Extension Service," Beaulieu says.

Recently, the SRDC hosted 150 representatives from communities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.  Knowledge and information gained at the conference helped the communities move forward in several development areas.  One county was just awarded a $3 million grant for a rural water system and one of the cities involved was given almost  $400,000 for rural health.

The SRDC puts the strengths of the Southern states to good use across the region.  Where one state may not have the resources to find a solution to a rural development issue
the SRDC can identify and recruit people from other universities to help that state accomplish the task.

"If there are some innovative educational programs that have been tested and deal with issues that go beyond a particular state boundary, then we can spotlight that program for use by other states," Beaulieu, says.

The Agricultural Research, Extension and Education Reform Act, which is the most recent Farm Bill, strongly encourages states to work together to solve problems that impact many of them.

"With this added focus on multi-state issues, the SRDC is in an ideal position to tap its network of people and universities to work as a team in tackling the tough rural development  issues challenging the South," Beaulieu says.