Aberdeen American News, SD
06-06-06
NSU to host town hall meeting
June 29
Speaker is director of North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
Northern State University
The third annual town hall meeting will be June 29 in the Student Center on the
campus of Northern State University.
The meeting is sponsored by the Institute for Rural Education and Community
Development. All interested community leaders and policymakers from
northeastern South Dakota are invited to attend.
Cornelia Butler Flora will provide the keynote address entitled "South Dakota
Community Capitals: Building on Regional Strengths for the 21st Century." Flora
is a professor of sociology and agriculture at Iowa State University and
director of the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, which
covers 12 north-central states, including South Dakota.
Flora believes that economic success in the 21st century requires new networks,
skills and resources, which are developed by investing in the best of the 20th
century capital stocks, including natural, cultural, human, social, political, and
financial. Participants will learn the importance of creating "innovative flexible
partnerships to identify and recombine these capitals based on regional activity in
South Dakota."
In addition to the keynote address, representatives from area organizations,
including Grow Spink, Northeast South Dakota Regional Aging Council, Regional
Development Task Force of Absolutely Aberdeen, and Glacial Lakes Area
Development, will share their success stories. Participants will share in small
roundtable discussion groups focusing on critical areas of interest, including
education, affordable housing, aging populations, sharing of resources, and
economic success.
All interested community leaders and policymakers are encouraged to attend.
The day-long meeting will begin with rolls and coffee at 8:30 a.m.; lunch will be
provided at noon.
The early registration fee is $15 per person. After June 23, the registration fee
will be $25 per person. For more information, contact Constance Geier, Institute
for Rural Education and Community Development, Northern State University,
Aberdeen SD 57401. She can also be reached via e-mail at
geierc@northern.edu or phone (605) 626-3169.