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Innovation Matters Education Opportunities 03/16/2021

Publications and Resources

FACT SHEET: United States Department of Agriculture Provisions in H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan
This fact sheet provides an overview of the provisions within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reduce hunger across the country, strengthen the food supply chain, invest in rural America, and provide long awaited support to underserved, socially disadvantaged farmers.

USDA Invests $598 Million to Improve and Modernize Rural Electric Infrastructure After Severe Weather and Age Test the Grid
USDA announced a $598 million rural electric loan package to build or improve electric infrastructure in 11 states. Several of the loans will help expand smart grid technologies, which can be a catalyst for broadband and other telecommunications services in unserved and underserved rural areas.

Women’s Business Centers
The U.S. Small Business Administration funds Women's Business Centers to support the growth of women-owned businesses through training, technical assistance, and access to credit, and international trade opportunities.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Rural America
USDA’s Economic Research Service provides data and an overview of information on how the pandemic is affecting rural America, including the spread of cases and trends in employment/unemployment among the U.S. metro and nonmetro populations.

Tribal Energy Atlas
This tool was developed by researchers from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the Office of Indian Energy to assist tribal energy project planners, technicians, and investors with analyzing energy options in Indian Country. It is an interactive geo-spatial application allowing tribes to conduct their own analyses of installed energy projects and resource potential on tribal lands.

CDFA Community Facilities Technical Assistance Program
CDFA has worked with the USDA Rural Development to develop an innovative technical assistance approach to support rural communities that have recently experienced a natural disaster. The goal of this program is to help rural communities utilize USDA’s Rural Development Community Facilities Programs, along with identifying other potential development finance tools, to aid in the rebuild and recovery after a natural disaster.

Event Opportunities

OneRD Guarantee Loan Initiative Lender Feedback Forum
March 17 | Webinar

USDA Rural Development is inviting lenders to share ideas on how USDA can improve the application process and servicing options under the OneRD Guarantee Loan Initiative.

Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) & Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG) Webinar
March 17 | Webinar

Intertribal Agriculture Council and USDA are partnering to provide an update for tribal applicants on the extended VAPG application window and to provide a summary of the RBDG program.  

NTIA Grant Programs in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021
March 17 | Webinar
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration will provide an overview of new grant programs, including the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Grants, Broadband Infrastructure Deployment Grants and the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program.

Building to Heal: A Framework for Holistic Community Development
March 18 | Webinar

Enterprise’s Cultural Resilience Office will present their recently released resource Building to Heal to help practitioners bring a healing-centered approach to community development.

Solutions for Housing Communications 2021
March 18 | Virtual Conference 
National Housing Conference’s annual convening where industry professionals can come together to discuss messaging and marketing strategies to help advance affordable housing policy.

CDFA Rural Development Finance Webinar Series
March 23, June 1, August 31 | Webinar Series
The Council of Development Finance Agencies offers a series on financing options to preserve rural communities, investments in health care, broadband, manufacturing, food systems and education.

AFRI's Agricultural Workforce Training Priority Area Informational Webinar
April 5 | Webinar
USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture seeks to develop a technology and data savvy workforce offering funding for the development of new, expanded, or improved workforce training programs at community, junior and technical colleges to enable a work-ready labor force for 21st century agricultural jobs.

2021 Tableau Government Summit
April 6 | Virtual Summit

Join to learn how agencies are using Tableau’s data analytics platform to meet current and future demands.

Innovation Matters Educational Opportunities, March 1, 2021

Publications and Resources

A Proclamation on Women’s History Month, 2021
President Biden proclaims March 2021 as Women's History Month.

Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communities: A Guide to Federal Programs
USDA guide for producers, researchers, nonprofits and landowners to find programs that can help them achieve their goals featuring over 60 programs and updates from the from the 2018 Farm Bill.

Rural Prosperity through the Arts & Creative Sector
This action guide is part of a collaborative project between the National Governors Association, the National Endowment for the Arts and National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and offers research, insights and lessons learned from states that are harnessing the power of the arts to drive rural prosperity.

Cultivating Creativity: Exploring Arts in Community Food Systems Transformation
This document, prepared by DAISA Enterprises and commissioned by ArtPlace America, illuminates key priorities within the agriculture and food sector and provides a frame work for understanding the ways that arts and culture contribute to local, place-based agriculture and food related outcomes and supports economic development.

Thinking Beyond Flood Maps
FEMA launched a new interactive story map to help coastal communities understand their unique risks and to use the data from coastal studies to become more resilient.

Defining the Food System as an Asset Class Project
The Council of Development Finance Agencies, supported by a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, produced six in-depth white papers defining traditional development finance tools to demonstrate the viability of the food system as an asset class.

Event Opportunities

2021 Women's Entrepreneurship Symposium
March 3 | Virtual Event
United States Patent and Trademark Office event offers attendees a chance to learn about innovation and business from public and private sector experts to navigate today’s changing marketplace, and learn about efforts to bring women into the innovation ecosystem.

11th Annual International Women’s Day Forum: Business Powering a New Tomorrow
March 5 | Virtual Event
Hosted in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's 11th Annual International Women’s Day Forum will highlight how the private sector, working with cross-sector partners, can narrow gender gaps in every aspect of society, redefine leadership, reconstruct workplaces, and drive equality of opportunity for women and girls during pandemic recovery and beyond.

USDA Consultation on Consultations and Racial Equity
March 9 and 11 | Virtual Event
Join USDA as The Office of Tribal Relations will be consulting on the 1) Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships, and the 2) Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government which specifically includes addressing impediments to accessing USDA programs and services.

Rural Workforce Innovation Network (RWIN) Workshop: Federal Training Resources to Build a Stronger Rural Workforce
March 11 | Virtual Workshop
Join USDA Rural Development and members of RWIN for the next workshop in our monthly series. In this workshop, representatives from USDA Rural Development, USDA Food and Nutrition Services and the U.S. Department of Labor will explore Federal resources that rural leaders can use to foster workforce training and skill development for individuals in their communities.

Meeting Community Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Successes in the Promise Zones Webinar Series
March 16 and 30 | Webinar
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development co-hosts a webinar series with the USDA Rural Development and the National Coalition of Promise Zones highlighting how Federally recognized Promise Zones pivoted and used strategies to respond to the immediate needs affecting their residents as a result of the pandemic.

NTIA Grant Programs in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021
March 17 | Webinar
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), located within the Department of Commerce, will provide an overview of the new NTIA grant programs, including the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Grants, Broadband Infrastructure Deployment Grants, and the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program.

Solutions for Housing Communications 2021
March 18 | Virtual Conference 
National Housing Conference’s annual convening where industry professionals can come together to discuss messaging and marketing strategies to help advance affordable housing policy.

Educational Opportunities, February 17, 2021

Publications and Resources

SCORE Black Entrepreneurs
SCORE, supported by the U.S Small Business Administration, celebrates Black History Month by launching a new online resource site designed to promote small business development with a comprehensive collection of resources.

A National Agricultural Library Digital Exhibit for George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver was an agricultural scientist whose importance lies in his practical work supporting African-American farmers and his advocacy for specific crops such as peanuts and sweet potatoes. This exhibit showcases the 38 Tuskegee Institute Experiment Station Bulletins held by NAL that he wrote during his tenure as director.

Enterprising Women of Color Initiative
The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) developed Enterprising Women of Color (EWOC) to focus on the fast-expanding minority women entrepreneur population as revenue-generators for families, communities, and the nation. The vision of EWOC is to ensure women worldwide reach their economic potential. 

MBI Helps HBCUs and TCUs Navigate Distance Learning Regulations
U.S. Department of Commerce NTIA’s Minority Broadband Initiative (MBI), in partnership with the United States Distance Learning Association and the Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education, recently held a teleconference to brief Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal Colleges and Universities on new Department of Education distance learning regulations due to be implemented July 1, 2021.

Outdoor Recreation Roundtable's Rural Economic Development Toolkit
The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable has developed this toolkit designed to help your community build and sustain an outdoor recreation economy.

Event Opportunities

National Entrepreneurship Week
Feb. 13 - 23 | Virtual
Join NatlEshipWeek for a series of free workshops. National Entrepreneurship Week, a non-partisan, congressionally-chartered initiative, was founded in 2006 and takes place the third week of February annually.

Building Resilience in Agricultural & Food Systems through Innovative and Strategic Partnerships
Feb. 17 | Virtual
Held in conjunction with USDA’s Ag Outlook Forum, this event is hosted by USDA’s Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement (OPPE) and Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Mission Area to offer attendees a dynamic forum to discuss innovative strategies to build resilience in agriculture and food systems.

Agritourism & Racial Justice in the USA
Feb. 17 | Virtual
The International Workshop on Agritourism presents this opportunity to gather and focus on the role of agritourism within the racial justice movement in the USA featuring panelists from both urban and rural perspectives will discuss the potential for farm-based education and sales of local products to serve as tools in the pursuit of racial equity and social justice in food systems.

Rural Community Development Initiative Webinar
Feb. 18 | Webinar
Join USDA to learn about grants being made available for projects to improve housing, community facilities, and community and economic development in rural areas. This webinar is for potential applicants and anyone interested in learning more about the program.

USDA Consultation on Consultations and Racial Equity
March 9 and March 11 | Virtual
In March, the Office of Tribal Relations (OTR) will be consulting on the 1) Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships, and the 2) Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government which specifically includes addressing impediments to accessing USDA programs and services.

Rural Workforce Innovation Network (RWIN) Workshop: Federal Training Resources to Build a Stronger Rural Workforce
March 11 | Virtual Workshop
Join USDA Rural Development and members of RWIN for the next workshop in our monthly series. In this workshop, representatives from USDA Rural Development, USDA Food and Nutrition Services and the U.S. Department of Labor will explore Federal resources that rural leaders can use to foster workforce training and skill development for individuals in their communities.

Innovation Matters Education Opportunities 02/04/2021

Publications

Overview of Broadband Funding Opportunities in the COVID-19 Relief Act
The National Law Review provides this summary on broadband and telehealth funding from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act which establishes or re-appropriates a number of significant broadband-related support programs.

Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches, and Communities
USDA offers an updated guide for building sustainable farms, ranches, and communities for producers, researchers, nonprofits and landowners to easily find programs to help them achieve their goals.

FCC’s Fourteenth Broadband Deployment Report
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reports on broadband deployment in the U.S. with information specific to broadband access in rural and tribal communities and the U.S. territories.

Tech Talent Tracker
The Opportunity Project provides this tool to create data-driven reports to help community leaders understand the state of their local tech economies. This tool will help to empower rural decision makers by offering crucial information including county-level data, maps and charts on key metrics related to a county’s digital economy.

Economic Impact Payments
Most eligible taxpayers have received their first Economic Impact Payment by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. If you didn’t get any payments or got less than the full amounts, you may be eligible to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit when you file your 2020 federal tax return.

Event Opportunities

FY 2021 Strategic Economic and Community Development Funding Opportunity
Feb. 9 | Webinar
Join USDA to learn about the Fiscal Year 2021 funding opportunity known as Strategic Economic and Community Development (SECD). This webinar will introduce attendees to the Innovation Center, provide an overview of Farm Bill changes to SECD and highlight the FY 2021 application requirements and process. 

Rural Workforce Innovation Network (RWIN) Workshop: COVID-19, Resources to Support the Rural Workforce
Feb. 11 | Virtual Workshop
In this workshop, representatives from USDA, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Economic Development Administration will explore Federal resources and opportunities that can be used to provide relief to America’s rural workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applying to Citizens' Institute on Rural Design
Feb. 9 | Webinar
Join the National Endowment for the Arts, the Housing Assistance Council, and To Be Done Studio to ask questions and receive guidance on the Request for Applications for the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design. This webinar will inform potential applicants about the details of our program—both the local Design Workshops and the Design Learning Cohort—and guide you through the application.

Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training Grant Webinar
Feb. 16 | Webinar
Join USDA to learn about grants being made available to rural communities with limited staff and resources to build the capacity needed to access USDA funding to support essential community facilities. This webinar is for potential applicants and anyone interested in learning more about the program.

Rural Community Development Initiative Webinar
Feb. 18 | Webinar
Join USDA to learn about grants being made available for projects to improve housing, community facilities, and community and economic development in rural areas. This webinar is for potential applicants and anyone interested in learning more about the program.

The Agricultural Outlook Forum
Feb. 18 - 19 | Free Virtual Conference
The 97th annual Agricultural Outlook Forum theme is “Building on Innovation: A Pathway to Resilience”. This is the largest annual meeting and premiere event, independent of commercial interests, organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It aims to facilitate information sharing among stakeholders and generate the transparency that supports well-functioning open markets and will feature a panel of distinguished guest speakers and breakout sessions.

  

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