THE NORTHEAST REGIONAL CENTER FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT - 2016

We propose to implement the programs and activities approved by the Center's Board of Directors at the Fall 2015 Board Meeting in Washington, DC and to continue to build on the programs and successes documented in the Annual Report 2015. The leadership of NERA and NEED continues to value the Center as is evident in an invitation to provide an up-date at the June 2016 Joint Summer Session in Pittsburgh; a request from NEED to help coordinate program leaders in all areas as well as to assist with program impact evaluation; and prelim-inary discussion with NERA to increase their off the top contribution to the Center. Responding to input from the Center's Board of Directors (BOD) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), we will continue our efforts of networking land-grant university stakeholders and other agencies in the Northeast as well as nationally. This includes the evaluation of CRD economic impacts and the sharing of programs across State lines, especially the Emergency Impact and Visitation programs. Other evidence of recognition of the Center's work in the area of network science is an invitation to present at the Ohio State University's Interdisciplinary Spring Seminar this year, and at the National Academies of Sciences rural classification workshop last year. The Center's three key subject matter areas align closely with the priorities of NERA and NEED as well as USDA/NIFA as follows: entrepreneurship and job creation, including workforce development (NIFA priority 3); community, local and regional food systems, as related to child-hood obesity, food safety, food access and capacity to feed the region and world (NIFA priorities 1, 4 and 5); 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 (NIFA priority 2). This year we expect to continue our research in the area of poor mental health, including an assessment of the causes and consequences, as well as on the determinants of economic resilience, among others.