Increasing capacity and funding for rural communities

Small cities and towns across the nation are fighting harder than ever to do more with less. As workforce challenges emphasize the need for talent attraction and retention, these communities often find themselves in direct competition with larger metropolitan areas, which often have more amenities, greater resources, and the ability to leverage staff time toward planning and delivering projects.

In rural areas, municipal staff often wear many hats, which means your town planner may be pulling double duty as the economic development director or tourism coordinator. Most agencies are too busy addressing urgent critical needs to have the capacity or time to coordinate strategic initiatives.

Despite these challenges, there is a renewed interest in these small cities and local governments to work alongside community leaders to reimagine our rural places.

Read the full article in the National League of Cities.