National Extension Tourism and the Regional Rural Development Centers: Partnering to Promote Community Vibrancy
The National Extension Tourism Design Team includes an executive committee and regional representatives (as of 2021): • Chair : Lisa Chase, University of Vermont Extension • Vice Chair : Andy Northrop, Michigan State University Extension • Secretary : Stacy Tomas, Oklahoma State University • Past Chair : Cynthia Messer, University of Minnesota Tourism Center • 2021 Conference Chair : Bryan Fluech, Georgia Sea Grant Northeast Regional Representatives: • Doug Arbogast, West Virginia University Extension Service • Penny Whitman, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Southern Regional Representatives: • Julianne Dunn, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service • April Turner, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium • Matt Ulmer, Auburn University Extension Western Regional Representatives: • Dolan Eversole, Hawaii Sea Grant • Miles Phillips, Oregon State University Extension Service/Oregon Sea Grant • Jake Powell, Utah State University Extension North Central Regional Representatives: • Natalie Chin, Wisconsin Sea Grant • Diane Van Wyngarden, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach • Xinyi Qian, University of Minnesota
The NIFA Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDCs) were established by the Rural Development Act of 1972 and play a unique role in USDA’s service to rural America. With core funding from USDA NIFA, they link the research and educational outreach capacity of the nation’s public universities with communities, local decision-makers, entrepreneurs, families, and farmers and ranchers to help address a wide range of development issues. They collaborate on national issues that span regions — like tourism, the changing interface between rural, suburban, and urban places, and workforce quality and jobs creation. Each tailors programs to address particular needs in its region. The RRDCs have been longtime partners with the NET Design Team. In 2018 this partnership was strengthened when the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD) offered staffing support to the Design Team as it planned the 2019 NET biennial conference. Since then, this partnership has flourished, with all four RRDCs supporting and participating in the ongoing growth and development of the National Extension Tourism network. In 2021 - 2022, the NERCRD is expanding its support of NET through a partnership with the Extension Foundation funded by USDA NIFA’s New Technologies for Agricultural Extension (NTAE) Program. The project seeks to make critical investments in NET which hold promise to scale up the network’s activities. As of this report NET engages more than 800 individuals.
Tourism Center Federal Liaisons • Brent Elrod, USDA NIFA
• Elizabeth Rohring, NOAA Sea Grant Learn more at: extensiontourism.net
2 Extension Tourism: Impact and Opportunities of Land- and Sea-Grant Programming
extensiontourism.net
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