Dear Colleagues:

The four Regional Rural Development Centers are leading an effort to identify the issues various rural stakeholders see as top priorities for economic and workforce development. We invite you to participate in this effort by completing an online survey to share more about the challenges and opportunities you see for investing in Rural America. Responses must be submitted no later than October 6th, 2021.

Responses to the survey will be used to formulate a public report, identifying both regional and national priorities. This report will help guide the work of the four RRDCs and will be shared with USDA NIFA and other federal partners as stakeholder feedback. Results of the survey will also be the basis for listening sessions - convenings of selected stakeholders with facilitated dialogue that deepens our understanding of the priorities identified.

Completing the survey takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Its questions allow you to identify what you view as the most important issues for rural communities, rate the capacity of your organization to engage in these areas, offer comments on challenges and opportunities, provide feedback on the kinds of activities and programming you value, and share more about your background. We are inviting a broad range of rural stakeholders who have professional roles supporting the development of rural economies, communities, businesses, and workers.

Your participation in the survey is voluntary and you may choose not to participate and may elect at any time to exit it without providing further responses. We do not collect any personally identifiable information tied to your responses to the questions, but in a separate area you may request to receive a notice when the public report is available. No compensation is offered for participating in the survey.

Before beginning the survey, you will be provided with information so you can make an informed choice to participate. Your voice is important in understanding how we and our partners can invest in building Rural America. To complete the survey, visit: https://bit.ly/RuralPrioritiesSurvey.

Sincerely,

Regional Rural Development Center National Team