Session: Office of Rural Prosperity and The Roadmap to Rural Prosperity
Office of Rural Prosperity Director, Sarah Lucas, kicked off the Rural Prosperity Summit by grounding the day in the Roadmap to Rural Prosperity. While recognizing the challenges that rural communities face, Lucas championed innovative ways that rural Michigan is leading the way for statewide resilience and highlighted examples of state and federal agencies that are working to support local and regional capacity.
 Office of Rural Prosperity Director, Sarah Lucas
Keynote: Roadmap To Rural Prosperity - Reimagining Rural Policy
Tony Pipa, a Senior Fellow for Global Economy and Development at Brookings, drew from his research and experience leading the Reimagining Rural Policy Initiative at Brookings to highlight gaps and opportunities in federal policy as it pertains to rural prosperity. Part of Pipa's work includes connecting with rural communities across the country with the Reimagine Rural podcast series. He shared rural voices and stories that demonstrated the grit, resilience, and strategic action that rural communities draw from to reach their goals.
 Keynote speaker, Tony Pipa, shares insights on Reimagining Rural Policy.
Session: Perspectives from Local Government Leaders in Michigan's Rural Communities
Natalie Fitzpatrick, Project Manager at the University of Michigan's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy provided insights from 7 years of the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS). Fitzpatrick covered rural perspectives on funding and fiscal health, social issues like housing and addiction/recovery, democracy and civic relationships, and relationships with state government. The data sparked discussion about how lack of capacity impacts local rural government's ability to address issues, apply for grant funding, and seek out additional resources.
The MPPS publications, presentations, and data sets are available at the Michigan Public Policy Survey website.
Panel: Young Rural Champions
Josh Fruik (Negaunee, MI), Courtney Wilson (Fenwick, MI), and Sam Bailey (Harbor Springs, MI) represented the Office of Rural Prosperity's Young Rural Champions (YRC) group on a panel focused on attracting and retaining young people in rural Michigan. The YRC consists of representation of individuals ages 18-34 from rural communities and sectors across the state and meets regularly with ORP staff to identify new or scale existing innovative solutions to retain that attract young people to Michigan’s rural communities. The panel was facilitated by Hilary Doe, Michigan's Chief Growth Officer, who also provided an overview efforts of the Let's Grow Michigan team. The panel touched on the necessary investment in "housing, transportation, and childcare" to attract and retain young talent, as well as the importance of pathway programs that allow communities and regions to expose youth to in-demand jobs. Insights also included the value of creating a welcoming culture that is open to exploring new, innovative ways of tackling community issues as a critical condition when looking to increase civic and community participation.
 Left to right: Panel facilitator, Hilary Doe (MEDC), and panelists Josh Fruik (Negaunee, MI), Courtney Wilson (Fenwick, MI), and Sam Bailey (Harbor Springs, MI)
Community Spotlights
Gaylord: Resilience and Recovery
Erin Mann, Disaster Recovery Coordinator - Gaylord Long Term Recovery Group, shared lessons learned as the community of Gaylord activated and recovered from an EF3 tornado in May 2022. The story of how the community came together in the immediate wake of the disaster was inspiring, and she urged communities to plan in advance, not just for immediate emergency response, but also for long-term recovery efforts by forming teams, assigning roles, and developing funds.
Cassopolis: The Imagine Cass Approach
Members of the Cassopolis Team - Emilie LaGrow, Village Manager; Tonia Betty, Village Clerk; and Ben Anderson, Department of Public Works Superintendent - provided insights into how they transformed their small rural community into an exceptional place for residents to live, work, and play via the Imagine Cass initiative. The team shared their mantra: "If you invest in yourself, others will invest in you," and detailed how they audited their finances, built community confidence, and leveraged various financial resources to create the community that their residents envisioned.
Panel: State Leadership
ORP director, Sarah Lucas, moderated a conversation with state leaders focused on how state agencies are supporting the collaborative and collective action needed to advance the strategies found in the Michigan Roadmap to Rural Prosperity. The conversation focused on recent and future programs and initiatives that address rural needs, including program processes and structures that make it easier for rural communities to access resources.
 Left to Right: Moderator: Sarah Lucas, Director – Office of Rural Prosperity; Panelists: Kathy Angerer, Chief of Staff – Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development; Susan Corbin, Director –Michigan Labor and Economic Opportunity; Amy Hovey, Executive Director – Michigan State Housing Development Authority; Dan Lord, Chief, Finance and Operations Department – Michigan Department of Natural Resources; Matt McCauley, Senior Vice President, Regional Development – Michigan Economic Development Corporation
Panel - Rural Readiness Grantees
Rural Readiness Grantees shared insights and experiences in building capacity through partnerships with the support of grants from the Office of Rural Development. Models included multi-jurisdictional and multi-sector partnerships to build grant writing capacity, university and tribal nation partnerships to develop an economic development fellowship program, and multi-sector partnerships to enact community visions for increased emergency response.
To date, $1.8 million in Rural Readiness Grant Funding awarded in late 2023 has enabled rural communities to serve more than 238 community partners, support more than 45 grant applications totaling over $13 million \and securing over $2 million \in funding as of May 2024, less than halfway through the Rural Readiness Grant Program reporting cycle.
 Left to Right: Tim Heiden, Village Supervisor – Village of Peck; Robin Meneguzzo, Executive Director -- Keweenaw Community Foundation; Mary ZumBrunnen, Assistant Director -- Center for Community & Economic Development / University Outreach and Engagement / Michigan State University; Chris Martin, Executive Director -- Develop Iosco
Session: MI Funding Hub
Melissa Milton-Pung, Program Manager at the Michigan Municipal League (MML), provided an overview of a new capacity building resource: MI Funding Hub. With funding support provided by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, the MML team is providing communities support to better understand and successfully pursue state and federal recovery and infrastructure funding. MI Funding Hub consists of an Online Resource Portal, Help Desk, Webinars and Newsletter, sand Justice40 Community Trainings.
 Presentation Slide: Mi Funding Hub
Thank You to Our Event Sponsors
The 2024 Rural Prosperity Summit would not have been possible without the generous support of our event sponsors.
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