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.

The ensuing discussion among Advisory Board members was lively and wide-ranging.  Topics that were given particular attention included the impact of emerging climate change and energy policies on rural America, the need to better understand the implications of tax policy and expected banking regulations (post-financial crisis) on wealth creation/retention and capital availability in rural areas, and the criticality of broadband to rural well-being.  Attention was also paid to the need to better articulate the rural contribution to national culture and prosperity, and to the importance of regional framing for urban-rural collaboration. 

Click here to visit the RUPRI People page, with a list of the RUPRI National Advisory Board members and their bios.