jobs forum

Many dug out of snow drifts and bundled up due to temperatures well below zero on Saturday to attend the Tri-State Jobs & Economic Development Forum in St. Louis hosted by USDA Rural Development (RD) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) of Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.  The forum was held in conjunction with the Missouri Governor’s Conference on Agriculture.

One hundred and fifteen people from Georgia and South Carolina attended a U.S. Department of Agriculture-sponsored Presidential Roundtable Forum on job creation at Augusta State University earlier this week.

About 25 community leaders brainstormed solutions to high unemployment numbers and the impact on rural areas, while extra chairs were added as people continued to arrive.

Despite frigid temperatures and snow-packed and icy roads, nearly 200 Nebraskans brought their ideas and solutions to the Nebraska Forum on Rural Jobs and Small Business Credit on Friday, January 8.

Rural Development’s Southern New England jurisdiction received a strong response when we sent out the call to our partners, fellow community development strategists and business leaders to join us for a local jobs forum. Community and business leaders in our area told us they were eager for the opportunity to take part in a local conversation - like the national forum held by President Obama in early December, 2009 - exploring possible avenues for job creation in the region.

Freezing temperatures, swirling winds and snow didn’t stop about 90 people from coming out and sharing their ideas with the USDA about how the agency can best create jobs and economic development in rural communities. The North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota offices of USDA Rural Development and the Farm Service Agency hosted a tri-state rural jobs and economic development forum on January 6 at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton.

Oklahomans gathered in Muskogee, Oklahoma on Tuesday to kick off 2010 by accepting President Obama’s invitation to participate in the development of the next step in his administration’s strategy to create jobs and promote economic growth.  Nearly 50 people joined together on the first business day of 2010 to participate in USDA’s Jobs and Economic Growth Forum.  The forum was organized to offer Oklahomans an opportunity to respond to the seven questions posed by the President.  The group viewed a video welcome message from Deputy Secretary for USDA, Kathleen Merrigan, before delving into w

Oscar Wilde once said, “The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.”

It was within that frame of mind that the Obama Administration brought its ‘Jobs Roundtable’ series to Somerton, Arizona.  The goal of the roundtable was to reach out to local leaders for their thoughts and ideas on how to create jobs, move the economy forward, and create rural wealth.

USDA Rural Development-New Mexico, along with the Farm Service Agency held a Jobs Forum yesterday in Silver City -- a community nestled in the Gila Wilderness of Southwestern New Mexico.  Silver City is working hard to address its local economic situation.  The recent drop in copper prices caused local mines to lay off more than 600 employees in a community of 10,000.  Those layoffs and other economic factors caused the County’s unemployment rate to rise by 10 percent in three years.

This week, at my request, USDA Rural Development and Farm Service Agency staff kicked off a series of meetings intended to gather ideas about ways to spark job creation and economic growth in rural America. This request is a direct result of the Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth that President Obama hosted at the White House earlier this month.