This week’s reading assignment pertained to initiatives aimed at helping rural America. Dr. Bruce Ransom from Clemson University explains that since the 1950’s urban America has been the focus of attention in terms of creating opportunities for the populous, while rural communities have been left in the dark (Ransom, 1998). These communities do not receive the same help and are prone to get hit hard by various factors which include: a decline in population, jobs and tax bases (Ransom, 1998). The federal Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities program is designed to help communities set up a framework of plans that can help mitigate these factors and help improve the quality of life for the communities. A community must come up and implement a “broad-based community strategic planning process” in order to receive funds from the federal government.  The idea behind this plan is that helping the community fight unemployment, poverty, and eroding economies will increase the general welfare of the community (Ransom, 1998). I think that this is a great program that can have a positive outcome if it is implemented well and funds are allocated appropriately. It’s great to see the federal government has an interest in helping rural areas as opposed to concentrating all help to urban areas.

References

Ransom, B. (1998). Planning For Development In Rural Areas: An Assessment Of The Strategic Plans For South Carolina's Enterprise And Champion Communities. Clemson: Strom Thurmond Institute.