 | |
NCRCRD Quarterly | Q2-2026
|
| |
DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
| As I come back from sabbatical, I’m reminded of a truth that anchors everything we do at NCRCRD: meaningful change in rural communities does not happen in isolation. It happens through sustained partnership, shared investment, and a willingness to listen before we act.
Nowhere is this more evident than in our PROPEL project with the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) across rural Illinois and Missouri. This has been an ongoing collaboration with Extension at the University of Illinois and the University of Missouri to provide technical assistance to five communities in the Delta region. Through this collaboration, NCRCRD and our Delta Regional Fellow Susan Odum have been working alongside local leaders, extension educators, and community stakeholders in some of the region's most economically distressed areas, places where the gap between potential and opportunity has long been wide, and where outside investment too often bypasses entirely.
What distinguishes this project is its grounding in community voice. Rather than arriving with predetermined solutions, our team has prioritized understanding what residents and local organizations already know about their own challenges, workforce development, access to capital, infrastructure gaps, and the quiet erosion that comes when young people leave and do not return. That knowledge has shaped every recommendation we have made and every resource we have helped connect.
This approach yielded tangible results. Across our Illinois and Missouri partner communities, we facilitated connections between local governments and DRA funding streams, supported capacity-building among rural small business owners, and contributed research that local planners are actively using to inform economic development strategies. These are not dramatic headlines, but they are the kind of steady, consequential progress that compounds over time.
I am proud of this work, and I am grateful to the community partners who have trusted us to walk alongside them. Rural development is most effective when it is done with communities rather than for them. That principle will continue to guide our approach to rural development in the region.
We are committed to innovative collaboration, which will continue to serve as the cornerstone of NCRCRD’s mission. We hope not merely to facilitate partnerships, but to build a new paradigm of rural development research, teaching, and extension that recognizes collaboration as both a methodology and an outcome that can lead to sustained impact. Together, we can actively model the collaborative innovation that rural communities need to thrive.
As always, I welcome your feedback and look forward to continuing this important work together.  Maria I. Marshall
|
NEWS
| New NCR-Stat Dataset Available: Housing & Food Security
The newly published NCR-Stat: Housing & Food Security Survey provides important open access data on two critically understudied and increasingly important issues of the North Central Region.
The Center developed the survey in collaboration with NCRCRD Fellow Samuel Mindes, Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology, Iowa State University with the objective to better understand differences in housing situations and food security between households residing in rural and urban areas.
Upcoming Webinar Highlights New Survey: Join us August 25, 2026 to explore the Housing & Food Security dataset with survey designer, Dr. Sam Mindes. See below for more information or visit the NCRCRD webinar page.
 | |
| 2026 NCRCRD Fellowship Awarded
In May, NCRCRD awarded a 2026 fellowship to Thomas Krumel, Assistant Professor of Economics in the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics at North Dakota State University.
Dr. Krumel’s fellow project, “Federal Grants and Rural Resilience: A Policy Evaluation of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program and the Local Meat Capacity Grant Program in the North Central Region” will evaluate the impacts of two major U.S. Department of Agriculture investments aimed at strengthening rural economies and decentralizing the U.S. meatpacking industry.
|
Thomas Krumel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, North Dakota State University
| |
| NCRCRD Attends Annual Food Shocks Project Meeting
On May 18-19, 2026, NCRCRD Director, Maria Marshall and NCRCRD Research and Extension Specialist, Renee Wiatt attended the annual Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) Food Shocks Project “All Hands Meeting” at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. The SAS Food Shocks meeting brought together the transdisciplinary team of researchers, educators, and Extension experts involved with the 5-year project that is focused on developing more resilient food systems for coping with multiple natural disasters. This project aims to advance scientific understanding and develop sustainable practices that ensure food security in the face of increasing global uncertainties.
The SAS Food Shocks Project is led by Michigan State University and funded through the Sustainable Agricultural Systems program of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. For this grant, NCRCRD along with other entities at Purdue University, are developing and testing a curriculum to help farmers in the Midwest better prepare for multiple natural disasters.  Attendees of the Sustainable Agricultural Systems Food Shocks Project “All Hands” meeting held May 18-19, 2026 in East Lansing, Michigan. | |
| NCRCRD Attends DRA PROPEL Community Events in Anna and Murphysboro, Illinois
Shelly Surber, NCRCRD Senior Program Manager and our Delta Regional Fellow Susan Odum, University of Illinois Extension, attended two Delta Regional Authority (DRA) PROPEL community events this quarter in support of cities Anna and Murphysboro, Illinois.
Each meeting, hosted by the respective city, recognized their recent initiatives, grants, and teamwork between city and county governments, area organizations, businesses, and individuals that have helped strengthen their community’s sense of place and economic vitality as part of their participation in the DRA PROPEL Technical Assistance Initiative.
NCRCRD's involvement is part of a partnership between DRA and NCRCRD to work with Illinois and Missouri communities participating in the PROPEL Technical Assistance Initiative.
 Attendees of the Murphysboro, Illinois DRA/Propel community event stand in front of one of the city’s murals that highlight the local lore of the Big Muddy monster. Big Muddy – off camera to the right – gave everyone a fright including Susan Odum (second from the left) and Shelly Surber (second from the right). If interested in seeing the mural in person, it's located in the alley behind 104 N. 14th St, Murphysboro, IL. | |
|
| New Publication: North Central Region Community Development Extension Impact Report 2025
This year's report once again showcases remarkable impacts achieved through Extension programming across the North Central Region (NCR). With 13 NCR institutions reporting, some of the 2025 regional impacts include generating over $190 million in grants and resources, reaching more than 469,000 individuals through educational contacts, and supporting the development of over 1,400 plans and policies that strengthen our regional fabric.
| |
| New Publication: North Central Region Household Survey Reports
Organized into NCRCRD’s three thematic areas: Promoting Community Health & Wellness, Creating Resilient Communities & Economies, and Developing Leadership & Civic Engagement, these indices enable comparisons between rural and urban areas across the North Central Region, providing benchmarks for tracking changes over time.
With support from the North Central Cooperative Extension Association, thirteen reports (one regional report and twelve state reports) were compiled by the NCRCRD team of Dr. Michael Wilcox, Dr. Zuzana Bednarik, DeAndre Malone, and Mary Breidenbach.
| |
| NCRCRD Conference Presentations
Small Business Institute 2026 Conference April 8-11, Fort Myers, Florida - Staying by Choice or Necessity? Mobility Intentions of Family and Non-Family Businesses in Rural and Urban Areas. Zuzana Bednarik, NCRCRD/Purdue University
- Creating Recovery-Friendly Workplaces: Small Business Owners’ Identity and Practice. DeAndre Malone, NCRCRD/Purdue University and Laura Montenovo, Purdue University
- Determinants of Succession Choice in Family Businesses: When Do They Prefer to Keep It in the Family? Pedro Antonio Díaz Cachay, NCRCRD/Purdue University and Juan Sesmero, Purdue University
- The Tangled Worlds of Love and Labor: Spousal Compensation in Copreneurial Firms. Maria Marshall, NCRCRD/Purdue University, Renee Wiatt, NCRCRD/Purdue University, and Yoon Lee, Utah State University
2026 International Farm Transition Network (IFTN) Conference - Roadmapping Your Farm’s Transition. Renee Wiatt, NCRCRD/Purdue University
2026 Work and Family Researchers Network Conference (WFRN) June 17-20, Montreal, Canada - Pay Me What I’m Worth: Copreneurs and Spousal Compensation in U.S. Small Businesses. Maria Marshall, NCRCRD/Purdue University, Renee Wiatt, NCRCRD/Purdue University, and Yoon Lee, Utah State University
- Childcare Responsibilities, Gender, and Financial Stress Among Small Business Owners. Maria Marshall, NCRCRD/Purdue University, Renee Wiatt, NCRCRD/Purdue University, and Yoon Lee, Utah State University
In Pursuit of Place Summit June 22-25, Green Bay, Wisconsin. This inaugural conference that was organized by the NCRCRD Placemaking Regional Working Group. Dr. Michael Wilcox, NCRCRD Associate Director and Assistant Director and Program Leader for Community Development, Purdue Extension, presented the following session along with others from Purdue Extension Community Development: - Enhancing the Value of Public Spaces: Placemaking, Healthy Communities, and Community-Led Action Planning. Kara Salazar, Michael Wilcox, Daniel Walker, Blake Connolly, Lisa Graves, Rebecca Payne, Aaron Thompson, and Steve Yoder, Purdue Extension
Community Development Society 2026 Conference July 19-24, Savannah, Georgia - Does Place Matter for Caregiver Well-Being? Evidence from Urban and Rural America. Zuzana Bednarik, NCRCRD/Purdue University and Stephan Goetz, NERCRD/Penn State
| |
| NCRCRD Renee Wiatt Earns Ed.D.
This spring NCRCRD Research and Extension Specialist, Renee Wiatt successfully defended her dissertation and earned a Doctor of Education in Leadership and Innovation degree from Purdue Global. Her dissertation topic: What Motivates Undergraduate Students to Return to the Farm? Familial Influence on Education and Career Choices.
Congratulations Dr. Wiatt! |  Renee Wiatt, Ed.D. |
WEBINARS
| August Webinar
Housing and Food Security in the North Central Region: Evidence from the 2026 NCR-Stat Survey
Tuesday, August 25, 2026 • 2:00 pm (ET) / 1:00 pm (CT) • Length: 60 minutes
Dr. Mindes will present key findings from the 2026 NCR-Stat: Housing and Food Security Survey, which collected data on housing conditions, costs, and features, as well as food access, food security, and household demographics across the North Central Region. The presentation will summarize observed patterns in housing and food security, including respondents’ reported moving and staying behaviors and intentions. It will also highlight major descriptive findings from the survey and discuss potential future applications and practical uses of the data for programs, planning, and community decision-making in the region.
Presenter: - Samuel Mindes, Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology, Iowa State University
| |
| September Webinar
Building Options: Flexible Housing Curriculum for Rural Communities
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 • 2:00 pm (ET) / 1:00 pm (CT) • Length: 60 minutes
Developed by a collaborative network of Midwestern land-grant university Extension systems, this webinar introduces a flexible, modular framework designed to help rural communities address aging housing stock and expand local housing access. Attendees will learn how educators and local leaders can leverage the adaptable modules, ranging from housing literacy and group facilitation to strategy development and implementation, to tackle place-based challenges.
Presenters: - Omar Padilla, Community Development Specialist, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach - Community and Economic Development
- Lisa Bates, Assistant Director, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach - Community and Economic Development
|
UPCOMING TRAININGS / CONFERENCES
| Transforming Early Child Care in Your Community Boot Camp 2nd Cohort FREE to North Central Region Stakeholders
The second cohort of University of Missouri Extension's Transforming Early Child Care in Your Community Boot Camp is being offered once again this Fall at no cost for anyone from the 12-states of the North Central Region (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin). During this 8-session virtual program which begins September 14, participants will explore the Community Change process in terms of child care, and learn how to effectively advocate and collaborate with other stakeholders to lead early child care change in their communities.
NCRCRD Fellow Sarah Kennedy, an Extension Field Specialist at University of Missouri, developed this highly interactive course for stakeholders who want to improve the child care system in their communities as her fellow's project.
 | |
| Rural Grocery Transition Specialist Course
Registration is open now through August 24th for the fall 2026 offering of the Rural Grocery Transition Specialist course. Offered by the Rural Grocery Initiative at Kansas State University, this program trains and deploys resource professionals across the country to better serve rural grocers through business transitions to help rural communities maintain access to the benefits of hometown grocery stores.
-2026-07-24t135818.png.jpg) | |
| Upcoming Conferences
First American Land Grant Consortium (FALCON)
73rd Annual Meeting of the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) | |
| STORY BEHIND THE NUMBERS 
By Pedro Antonio Díaz Cachay, Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University
This working paper explores the variation in exit intentions and succession planning among family businesses across the North Central Region. | |
| |
North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
403 Mitch Daniels Blvd., West Lafayette, IN 47907
|
| |
|
|
|
