The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 established a national framework to guide the development of statewide school-to-work (STW) opportunities systems in each state. Governors apply to the National School-to-Work Office for 5-year federal implementation grants. Early research on implementation of STW in rural areas suggests that policymakers should be wary of prescriptive formulas and formats, as they are often based on the deficit model approach and are likely to provoke local opposition. Each community is unique. Local partnerships in high-poverty urban and rural areas may also apply for federal implementation grants. These local partnerships create the opportunity to link STW to rural development strategies in particular rural areas. However, little information on such linkages exists. Strategies for linking STW and economic development include coordinating services with economic development organizations, encouraging the formation of groups of businesses with common training needs, targeting high-growth industries, developing skills standards to better match what students are taught and what the workplace demands, and broadening economic opportunity by working with others. A focus on building comprehensive community-wide systems that incorporate education, economic development, and employment and training expands possibilities for linking STW and rural development strategies. (TD)