Examine trends to bolster your rural recruitment strategy.
There’s a wave of change coming to rural America – people are moving in, moving out, and moving over, resulting in major demographic shifts that will change rural communities and have far-reaching consequences. Since the 1970s, there has been a regular march of new residents populating our rural communities, resulting in a housing shortage during the past 15 years. During the next 20 years, we are poised to welcome a new generation of residents, since nearly three-quarters of our owner-occupied housing will turn over as seniors and baby boomers move out. A broad examination of trends – such as workforce housing, a tight labor market, and changing household residential preferences – will be discussed during this webinar. As a result of attending this session, participants should feel ready to develop action plans or modify current recruitment strategies.
The session will consist of a 40-minute presentation, followed by Q&A and strategy-building exercises. Participants are encouraged to register for all three sessions to gain the most out of the series.
Presenter: Ben Winchester, Senior Research Fellow and Community Economics Educator, University of Minnesota Extension
Co-hosts: Rural Partners, Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, and Governor’s Rural Affairs Council
If you will need a reasonable accommodation to participate, contact Nancy Ouedraogo at esarey@illinois.edu. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet access needs.
About the Series: Attracting Rural Residents
Many rural communities have seen declining populations for decades. Those population losses can drive a narrative that rural areas are undesirable, dying places left behind by the modern world. In a free, interactive webinar series, rural community leaders can explore language, trends, and strategies to develop a positive narrative, retain current residents, and attract new people to the area.
All Sessions in the Series:
January 17 | Noon
Rewriting the Narrative About Rural Areas (Session 1 of 3)
Small towns keep getting smaller. Churches, schools, clinics, businesses, and now post offices, have closed their doors as the lucky few migrate out to large cities. This deficit framework dominates how we discuss and envision our rural communities. However, the story of rural America since 1970 is rich and diverse, with positive regional trends occurring under the radar. Put another way, if our rural communities are dying, why can we not find homes to buy? Learn about this 40-year trend of the “rural brain gain” whereby people are moving to rural communities in their prime earning years. This redefines how we talk about community involvement, economic development, and regional living as we have diversified our rural landscape.
The session will consist of a 40-minute presentation, followed by Q&A and strategy-building exercises. Participants are encouraged to register for all three sessions to gain the most out of the series.
Session Homework: Interview two newcomers to your community.
January 31 | Noon
Rural Resident Recruitment (Session 2 of 3)
Attracting residents is vital to ensure the future of our rural communities. Studies of the motivations and factors related to rural workforce movers document a “brain gain” whereby people ages 30 to 60 are moving to small towns and rural places during the past four decades, providing a re-invigoration of social, economic, and demographic life. This Resident Recruitment strategy incorporates activities in community development, economic development, and tourism. Recruitment of residents is especially important in a tight labor market. It is not enough to show new potential residents the job, they must envision their life there. During this session, we’ll discuss how we live in the Middle of Everywhere.
Session Homework: Interview two seniors looking to make a housing change in your community.
February 14 | Noon
Moving In, Moving Out, and Moving Over: Rural Housing Dynamics (Session 3 of 3)
There’s a wave of change coming to rural America – people are moving in, moving out, and moving over, resulting in major demographic shifts that will change rural communities and have far-reaching consequences. Since the 1970s, there has been a regular march of new residents populating our rural communities, resulting in a housing shortage during the past 15 years. During the next 20 years, we are poised to welcome a new generation of residents, since nearly three-quarters of our owner-occupied housing will turn over as seniors and baby boomers move out. A broad examination of trends – such as workforce housing, a tight labor market, and changing household residential preferences – will be discussed during this webinar. As a result of attending this session, participants should feel ready to develop action plans or modify current recruitment strategies.