Discusses service industries' role in developing economies of rural areas. Describes ways service industries generate employment and local income and blend with a local economy. Summarizes survey of contributions to local economies and what attracted them to their communities for 385 service firms in nonmetropolitan Wisconsin. Tables provide…

Offers theses to encourage search for community in the changing countryside: because of its influence on social well-being, the community is alive; rural areas present special community development advantages/problems; strategies must address sources of rural problems in larger society; rural sociology can specify/measure parameters of rural…

The paper addresses the importance of developing a rural community's commercial sector for economic development by providing some analytical tools. Procedures are outlined to estimate commercial sector activity in a community, to estimate commercial sector activity for various counties within a state (Nevada is used as an example), and to develop…

Whether large-scale or small farms dominate, a county's farm structure is influenced not only by changes within farming but also by key factors such as nonfarm economic activity, geography, and population growth. Large-farm counties where agriculture dominates the economy are concentrated in the Plains, Midwest, and Mississippi Delta. Small-farm…

This directory is a compendium of over 600 scholars and educators in a range of disciplines throughout the United States who are actively involved in research or teaching of rural issues. It is intended as a resource for those individuals and for other professionals, providing access to one another and aiding a multi-disciplinary approach to rural…

Surveys administered to 48 state student representatives and 46 chapter advisors attending the 1983 National Future Farmers of American (FFA) Conference on Community Development provided data about the Building Our American Communities Program (BOAC), which originated in 1970 as vocational agriculture's vehicle for high school level community…

The first effort to estimate the impact of Community Resource Development (CRD) programs of the late 1950's and 1960's on the quality of life in Arkansas counties had confusing results. Researchers developed an estimation model to measure the impact of CRD activity on the 1960-1970 and 1960-1980 change in quality of life and used data from CRD…

Rural economic development presents a paradox of growth in population and jobs without corresponding improvement in local economic well-being. Four forces may impede nonmetropolitan development efforts. Growth of multiestablishment corporations makes traditional regional economic development models unrealistic. Rural industrialization is socially,…

Findings from current literature form the basis for this examination of five critical elements of change and development within the local community setting which impact on agriculture: population, employment, land, water, and environment. Renewed rural population growth during the 1970's has reversed small farm trends but placed strains on local…

A study of the process of a 1977-1983 oil and gas boom in Caldwell, Texas, disproved the assumption that local social effects of rapid energy development are severe and negative. Using interviews, surveys, observation, local newspapers, and other writings as data sources, researchers determined that during the boom, Caldwell's population grew…

The directory of rural development researchers in the South first lists researchers by state for the 13 southern states and Puerto Rico, then by subject area. Research projects (25) of the Southern Rural Development Center since 1975 are also listed. The listing by state covers Alabama (31 researchers), Arkansas (12), Florida (10), Georgia (15),…

The diminishing role of the federal government in rural development has created an opportunity for new initiatives in this area. One potentially useful response is the creation of a state-rural policy center. Such centers can combine the efforts of land grant institutions, extension services, and state universities in the development and…

Reviews socioeconomic impacts of rapid growth on rural areas in the western United States. Concludes that costs of development exceed benefits for some groups. Calls for research and policy initiatives to identify appropriate strategies to manage the growth and decline which are characteristic of changing rural areas. (LFL)

The book is the final report of an effort to estimate the impact of Community Resource Development (CRD) programs of the late 1950's and 1960's on the quality of life in Arkansas counties. It details an estimation model developed by researchers using specially designed statistical procedures. The report also describes the data taken from CRD…

This 658-item bibliography lists some of the development and non-formal education literature that is available in Spanish at Michigan State University's Non-Formal Education Information Center Library. Published primarily between 1966 and 1982, the cited materials describe development projects and experiences or ideas of planners and practitioners…