Latest Updates from ruralprosperityne.unl.edu

The term “community environment” can cover everything from culture to safety to infrastructure. But when Shawn Kaskie, a Rural Prosperity Nebraska extension educator based in Broken Bow, discusses community environment, he has one specific meaning in mind.

“For communities to thrive,” Kaskie said, “leaders and business owners must build and grow a robust entrepreneurial environment.”

A first-of-its-kind grant will fund the building of three hydroponic greenhouses on the Omaha reservation.

Tribal Planner Mike Grant and Attorney General Theresa Rachel of the Omaha Tribe joined representatives from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Rural Prosperity Nebraska initiative and the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this month to finalize the terms of the $671,000 agriculture grant awarded to the tribe.

Our newsletter for the second quarter of 2022 is here!

Download the latest updates from the RPN team on community developement and vitality in Nebraska.

Public health has long been a concern for rural America. In Nebraska, 34 counties have no hospitals within their borders, 14 of which don’t even have clinics. The 2019 floods and COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted where Nebraska struggles health-wise. However, this summer, the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska­–Lincoln’s Rural Fellows program are teaming up to combat this issue. 

In a tree-lined neighborhood in northeast Grand Island, Carime Ruvalcaba cares for 10 children in the community’s only English- and Spanish-language daycare.

In 2020, when most daycares were closing due to the pandemic, Ruvalcaba opened Karime Childcare with the help of Sandra Barrera, a Rural Prosperity Nebraska extension educator.

An immigrant from Colombia, Barrera leads the Latino Small Business Program, a Rural Prosperity Nebraska initiative that helps immigrants start businesses across the Cornhusker State.

Valentine’s Main Street looks a little different lately. In summer 2019, the Nebraska Department of Transportation began repaving Highway 83, which runs through Valentine’s business district, and the Sandhills city got to work revitalizing its downtown streetscape. From revamping parking to installing greenspace, the town of 2,700 is creating a place where visitors feel welcome and residents feel at home. And it’s all been aided by a University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumnus.

As many rural areas experience decline in population and economic opportunity, some Nebraska communities are pushing back against the trend by embracing and enhancing what makes them unique.

Valentine, Nebraska, which boasts proximity to both the Niobrara River and the Sandhills, is one such town and students in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Landscape Architecture program collaborated with officials there on a new look for the town’s Main Street.

In order to begin to develop design visions for the community and DOT to respond to, architect Jim Leggitt and landscape architect Kim Wilson created live sketches and plans throughout the workshop that highlighted what Main Street’s buildings, public spaces, rights of way, architecture and physical environment could look like in the future.

Workshop Challenge

This summer, in nearly 100 communities across Nebraska, vendors are selling fresh produce, baked goods, handmade crafts, clothing and more at local farmers markets. To make fresh goods and produce even more accessible, this year two rural Nebraska farmers markets are qualified to accept SNAP benefits.

Twenty-six students begin their 10-week internships in 16 Nebraska communities on May 24. They are the newest cohort of Rural Fellows, an experiential learning program organized through the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Rural Prosperity Nebraska initiative.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Nebraska Cooperative Development Center is collaborating with the Northwest Cooperative Development Center, based in Olympia, Wash., to create an online academy that walks rural communities through creating homecare co-ops in their communities. The six-session academy begins May 4 and runs weekly through June 8. Sessions will be available on Zoom for free.

The Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities Conference will be held April 27 to 28 in Columbus’ historic downtown business district.

Our newsletter for the second quarter of 2022 is here!

Download the latest updates from the RPN team on community developement and vitality in Nebraska.

“To lead is to seek out different viewpoints,” said Lexi Curnyn of Wayne.

“To lead is to be an example,” said Christine Haney of Schuyler.

“To lead is to encourage one another to be their best self,” said John Mullen of Wayne.

“To lead is to be that resourceful person that anyone can come to,” said Adi Perez of Schuyler.

Lincoln, Neb., March 23, 2022—According to the USDA, a “food desert” is any rural community more than 10 miles from its nearest food retailer. In early 2020, Lynch became a food desert when its only grocery store closed. In a community where the closest stoplight is 45 miles away, locals didn’t want grocery shopping to become a road trip. So they decided to make some changes. 

Within every endeavor, there are people behind the scenes who are rarely recognized by the general public. When it comes to Rural Prosperity Nebraska and community development, Daniela Manhani Mattos, an assistant professor and graduate thesis adviser in the Department of Agricultural Economics, is one such person.

Tilden residents enter the city library, bundled up against the cold. They greet each other between sips from their thermoses, then take a seat. Jordan Grummert-Rasmussen and Amanda Kowalewski, extension educators for Rural Prosperity Nebraska, welcome the attendees and begin the first meeting of the Entrepreneurial Communities Activation Process program.

At the Tilden Public Library, Nebraska Extension Educator Amanda Kowalewski welcomes residents to the first discussion of the Entrepreneurial Community Activation Process program. When meeting with community members for the first time, she often asks about their hopes, dreams and challenges for their community.

“I really want to know their perspective,” Kowalewski said.

As a Rural Prosperity Nebraska extension educator, she knows it’s not her job to fix communities, but to learn how to help locals where they most want help.

Rural Prosperity Nebraska’s Rural Fellowship program recently finished its eighth year. Since 2013, students from around the globe have spent their summers living, working and serving in rural Nebraska communities. During their immersive internships, Student Fellows have strengthened towns’ websites, created hike-and-bike trails and initiated small-business development programs, among other community development projects.

Our newsletter for the first quarter of 2022 is here!

Download the latest updates from the RPN team on community developement and vitality in Nebraska.