The Reimagining the Rural West Initiative Special Report of WGA Chair and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum highlights the work of Western Governors to re-energize rural communities and help them tap into the opportunity that abounds in global economic trends and technological innovation.
The Special Report released on June 30, 2020 offered more than a dozen recommendations focused around three organizational pillars: Opportunity, Connectivity and Community. The recommendations included, in part:
Change the way we do economic development to focus on attracting workforce and building community assets that improve quality of life.
Develop policy and financial solutions that can bring broadband access to all rural communities, enabling them to take advantage of remote work opportunities, distance learning and telehealth, among other things.
Strengthen local leadership with the capacity to develop a shared vision for the future along with their community, and then leverage local resources to achieve it.
LISTEN: In the ninth installment of WGA's Out West podcast, WGA Executive Director Jim Ogsbury spoke with Senior Policy Advisor Lauren DeNinno, who led WGA’s work on the Reimagining the Rural West Initiative, to address the origins of Gov. Doug Burgum’s policy effort. Out West is available on Podbean, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
