Deadline dates for future Vanguard editions:

1 March 2006
1 May 2006
1 August 2006

Please send submissions via email to srlease@buttscounty.org, via fax to
+1 (770) 775-3118,
or via postal mail to:

Steven Lease, AICP - Director
Community Development Dept.
Butts County
431 E. College Street
Jackson, Georgia 30233-2009
USA

Listening Across America on Rural Entrepreneurship:
Successes, Potentials, and Possibilities

Momentum is mounting across the globe and focusing attention on supporting entrepreneurship to foster business development and job creation as well as civic and social innovation. This momentum, however, emerges not just from a focus on creating jobs, but rather from a desire to remake rural communities in the new economy in ways that support the values and vision of those that live there and that increase the quality of their lives and those of their children in sustainable ways.

From Scotland with the Entrepreneurship from Cradle to Grave initiative, to entrepreneurial coaching programs in tobacco country, to the Entrepreneurs' Boot Camp in Wisconsin, numerous countries and states have focused attention and resources on ‘growing their own.' We saw proof of this momentum in the 182 proposals submitted to W. K. Kellogg Foundation's request for proposals for collaborations to support rural entrepreneurship. Conservatively, we estimate this response mobilized 2000 organizations. Entrepreneurship, particularly in a community context, was also identified as a high priority among extension educators in the North Central Region at the 2005 conference of the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals.

In response to this mobilization of interest and motivation coupled with the ongoing announcements of ever more initiatives, Jim Zuiches, Project Director at Washington State University , worked with the Kellogg Foundation to map this mobilization and harness the momentum to initiate a national effort. (See Map 1.) Our proposal to Kellogg asked for funding to promote and host ‘listening sessions' on entrepreneurship in rural America . Northwest Area Foundation joined the project with funding to support listening sessions in Indian Country, and the Farm Foundation also contributed to the project. Finally, the Regional Rural Development Centers contributed significant staff time to organize and facilitate the listening sessions. (Continued)

Snappy™, the Traffic Safety Turtle:
A Community Based Safety Program for Children and Their Families

Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among children and youth in the United States. Jerry Robinson, Jr., a long-time member of CDS, believes he has created a program that will help reduce the trauma caused by traffic accidents. A pilot test for an innovative multi-media educational program on traffic safety for children and their families is being implemented in Cleveland and Bolivar County, Mississippi this fall. The program uses two animal characters Snappy™, The Adult Traffic Safety Turtle , and Snappy™, The Baby Traffic Safety Turtle . The adult Snappy™ is presented as a police officer, and Snappy™, The Baby Safety Turtle , is presented in a child safety seat that resembles a turtle's shell. The program is designed for children in grades kindergarten through 5. Jerry W. Robinson, Jr is Distinguished Professor of Rural Sociology Emeritus at DSU and the University of Illinois. He is the creator and director of the Snappy ™ program. (Continued)