The Rural Workforce Development Southern Region Summit is a convening for stakeholders across sectors to share solutions to complex issues, identify available resources, and increase access to workforce opportunities.

Created in partnership with the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton (UACCM) and USDA Rural Development Innovation Center Partnership Division, the Summit creates space for educators, business representatives, legislators, health care workers, nonprofit professionals, and public servants from the Southeastern United States to come together to share best practices and learn from others, both within and across sectors.

Past Rural Workforce Development Summits

We’ve hosted two summits thus far.

October 2-4, 2019

The University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton’s Workforce Training Center (UACCM) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Innovation Center Partnership Division worked with the Institute to bring together a mix of 96 rural workforce champions.

The overall goal was to create a space for stakeholders in regional rural workforce development to connect and discuss each other’s unique roles. Participants went through several facilitated exercises to explore shared challenges and their top-level ideas about how to build the perfect workforce development system.

November 5, 2020

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, planning partners cut programming from two and-a-half days down to a half-day hybrid event, with 54 total attendees (42 virtual and 12 in person).

Through breakout sessions in the virtual space and small, physically distanced groups in UACCM’s Tyson Training Hall, participants discussed developments in the rural workforce during the past year and examined future opportunities for collaboration and innovation. They identified their personal strengths and ways in which they can take action to support development in their communities.

Contact Person

Are you interested in attending the next Rural Workforce Development Summit? Would your organization like to sponsor this program? Do you have a great idea for a speaker or a topic you think we simply must address the next time we convene around this issue? Let Molly know!

Molly Thomason

Education & Evaluation Officermthomason@rockefellerinstitute.org(501) 727-6215