Rural economic development requires local consensus and a coordinated effort by community leaders and the public at large. In 12 rural Georgia counties, the University of Georgia is implementing a Rural Revitalization Initiative (RRI) that emphasizes collaboration of public officials and private individuals across disciplines, professions, neighborhoods, and county lines. The project is conducted by representatives of six university service units working collaboratively with each other and the communities. The project focuses on: (1) governmental management training and technical assistance; (2) implementation of four collaborative models of community development; (3) community education about rural culture and heritage, training of rural newspaper and radio staff in community history and development, and encouragement of innovative approaches to rural community problem solving; (4) encouragement of economic growth through small business development and business retention; (5) portable simulation training systems concerned with human relations skills and group dynamics; and (6) leadership development programs. The linkage for RRI begins at the University of Georgia and extends to statewide organizations conducting economic and community development work. Additional proposed programs for any particular must build on that county's existing programming efforts. This report briefly describes five promising collaborative projects in California and Ohio. (SV)