THE NORTHEAST REGIONAL CENTER FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT - 2014

We will implement the programs and activities approved by the Center's Board of Directors at the Fall 2013 Board Meeting in Beltsville, MD, and build on the past programs and successes documented in the Annual Report 2013. The leadership of NERA and NEED continues to seek out the Center for its expertise in rural development and is asking us to contribute to new regional initiatives in the areas of climate change and local food systems. Responding to input from the Center's Technical Advisory Committee, we will continue our efforts of networking land grant university stakeholders and other agencies in the Northeast as well as nationally. The Center's three key subject matter areas align with the priorities of NERA and NEED as well as USDA/NIFA as follows: entrepreneurship and job creation, including workforce development; community, local and regional food systems, as related to childhood obesity, food safety, food access and capacity to feed the region and world; and land use and balanced use of natural resources, addressing trade-offs between alternative forms of energy use and development, invasive species, and other issues. The Center's continuing relevance, importance and impact are evident, inter alia, from the fact that the Director was invited to support a network development following the Joint Northeast-Canadian Workshop on Climate Change last fall and to help FCS Educators develop a local food systems-oriented grant proposal, among other activities. The social capital data set developed by the Center is used in an analysis that has served as the basis for Congressional Budget Committee testimony and attracted the attention of senior leadership within USDA. Webinars and workshops organized by the Center attract around 150 registrants per event. Finally, we are providing key support to national initiatives such as SET and CAPE.