On April 8-9, 2009, RUPRI’s newly- created National Advisory Board met in Washington DC. The Board, chaired by Tom Payne, was briefed by RUPRI president, Brian Dabson on the mission, goals and operations of the organization and on the vision and priorities for the medium term. Chuck Fluharty, RUPRI vice president, provided his assessment of the directions for rural policy both at the Federal level and internationally. In addition, the Board heard from leadership across the RUPRI family on the current status and future prospects in their respective areas – health policy, human services, entrepreneurship development, and regional competitiveness, as well as different dimensions of RUPRI’s analytical capacity.

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2009-04-21 - Regionalism, Assets, & Entrepreneurship: The Future of Rural Economies
• Chapter by RUPRI President Brian Dabson in Looking Forward, the 10th anniversary publication for the Funder's Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities.  Click here to open the document.

2009-04-15 - The Great Beyond: Developing Stronger and More Equitable Rural Policies
• Presentation by Charles Fluharty, Vice President for Policy Programs to the Texas Conference of Rural and Community Hospitals, Dallas, TX, April 15, 2009.  Click here to launch the presentation.

2009-04-15 - RUPRI Comments on Broadband Initiatives in the ARRA - pdf
• Comments from RUPRI to the NTIA and RUS regarding broadband initiatives within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  Click here to open the document.

2009-03-27 - Rural America in Deep Economic Downturn - pdf
• New analysis from the RUPRI Center for Regional Competitiveness shows that the rural economy is now losing jobs at a faster rate than the rest of the nation, with a particularly sharp rural slide over the past two months. 

Legislative Update - more updates >>
CRC holds Rural Hospitals Briefing
RUPRI Rural Health Panel participated in an April 23 Congressional Rural Caucus briefing on rural hospitals.
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Rural in the News - more news >>
Federal Funding in Rural America Goes Far Beyond Agriculture -
Analysis by the Economic Research Service, USDA, of fiscal year 2005 federal funds distributions in metro and nonmetro areas. 2009-03-31
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