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Central Community Connections

Central Michigan University has provided funds to a faculty/student team to form the Central Community Connections project. Central Community Connections is a community of CMU faculty, staff, students, and mid-Michigan governmental and non-governmental representatives who want to work together to:

  • Enhance the connections between mid-Michigan's rural/regional stakeholders and CMU resources and services.
  • Identify and maximize the use of CMU resources to to promote rural development and the enhancement of the quality of life in the mid-Michigan region.

Join our Team

PLEASE JOIN US IN THIS REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT EFFORT. Below are some ways in which you can participate:

 Presenters from the August 6-7 Boundary Crossing conference have kindly made their handouts and other materials available.  Click relevant links below.

  •  
 Chuck Fluharty, President Emeritus, Rural Policy Research Institute

Livable Communities/A Livable Countryside: The Rural Considerations within the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act and the Obama Administration's Domestic Policy Agenda

   
  •  
 Ken Van Der Wende, Erin Strang, Cason Thorsby and Scott Weller, CMU-RC
YOU Have a New Business Idea? Working with the CMU-RC Smartzone
   
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Scott Govitz, Director, M-TEC at Mid Michigan Community College, and Tony Fox, Regional Director of SBTDC
Business Development with M-TEC: Expand, Diversify and Train Workers
   
  •  
 Katharine Czarnecki, Manager, MEDC
Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Community Assistance Teams
   
  •  
 Leslee Fritz, Director Michigan Economic Recovery Office
  The Recovery Act in Michigan
   
  •  
 Tony Fox, Regional Director of SBTDC
So You Want to Be an Entrepreneur?
   
  •  
 Jean Toner and Mary Senter, CMU
Demonstrating Outcomes: A Primer for Non-Profit Professionals

          

 

  • RURDEV Listserv List on regional issues. The purpose of this list is for us to share information regarding the mid-Michigan region with each other. Each month, our team will send out any news or resources that we have discovered, and we would like you to share your news and resources. Sign up HERE.
  • CONDOR. Introducing the CONDOR public access library repository to help you connect to a collection of materials focused on the mid-Michigan region. Example documents will include the results of economic development and social service reports, surveys, and data sets.  Please consider submitting documents to build this repository. This repository is maintained by the CMU libraries.
  • CMU Public Broadcasting. Introducing CMU Public Broadcasting radio and television features that highlight successful collaborations between CMU and our community, focusing on regional issues and success stories.

Helpful Links for Understanding Regional Issues

Below are links to organizations that will help you frame Michigan's rural development issues within the broader national context, and help you find out what's happening in Michigan.

Rural and Regional Organizations

  • Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI). (12/10/08)

    RUPRI conducts policy-relevant research and facilitates public dialogue to assist policymakers in understanding the rural impacts of public policies and programs. This site includes many interesting papers and powerpoint presentations on rural issues.

  • USDA Economic Research Service. (12/10/08)

    • The Economic Research Service is a primary source of economic information and research in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. With 450 employees, ERS conducts a research program to inform public and private decision making on economic and policy issues involving food, farming, natural resources, and rural development.

  • The Center for Michigan. (12/10/08)

    • The Center for Michigan is a "think-and-do tank" founded by Phil Power in early 2006. A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, The Center's objective is to assist our state through its current period of wrenching economic trouble and to lay the foundation of informed hope for a better future Michigan. It will help develop and execute comprehensive, long-range and, in some cases, radical policy solutions to transform Michigan's business, economic, political and cultural climate. In so doing, it will work to help reform the structure and workings of Michigan's political system.

  • Rural Partners of Michigan (RPM). (12/10/08)

    • The Rural Partners of Michigan is a public/private partnership whose charge is to develop new, collaborative approaches to build sustainable communities and to enhance the future of Michigan citizens. The emphasis of the Rural Partners' work is on finding new, innovative, non-traditional ways to address the issues, problems and needs of rural Michigan. Each April they host the Small Town and Rural Development Conference.

  • Kellogg Foundation, Food Systems and Rural Development. (12/10/08)

    • The Kellogg Foundation is in the midst of a multi-year transition. They have recently announced a new mission, vision and program framework. As a former program area with the Kellogg Foundation, Food Systems and Rural Development is no longer making new grants. However, many of the Kellogg-funded projects and grantees are continuing their work. The Foundation will continue to share news highlights and stories about these projects within these Food Systems and Rural Development web pages. The Kellogg Foundation supports the Rural People, Rural Issues project of which Michigan plays a part.

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides snap shots of state population data (Version 1.5), including local level community profile information. It can be browsed by county and state and searched by zip code.

News and Newsletters

Below is a selection of newsletters on regional issues. To receive these newsletters, you will need to sign up on their Web sites below as directed.

Social and Economic Indicators

Links to data for our region:

 

Community Partners

 2009 CCC Conference
"Boundary Crossing"

Community Connections Team: John Lopes, Mary Senter, Jean Toner, Alicia Haley.

We are available to meet with your community organization, economic development group, or municipality to help you connect to the resources at CMU.

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