Connecting Rural Youth and Rural Enterprise to the Information Economy

College of Communication Arts & Sciences

Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies & Media

http://cas.msu.edu/

A youthful work force skilled in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can link rural enterprises to regional, national, and global economies and stem the tide of youth out-migration from rural communities. The project involves small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with 100 or fewer employees in partnership with high school students, parents, nonprofit organizations, community members and Michigan State University funded with a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. SMEs and their communities benefit from retaining energetic and well-educated youth both to provide human capital who wish to participate in the global economy and to form a cadre of telecommuters who can interact with urban firms while contributing to the entrepreneurial resources of their home towns.

SME participation in CommunityTies.Us, a community networking project that links rural youth to entrepreneurs can:

a. Expand the business connections of local entrepreneurs.

b. Expand the geographic scope of local business through the Internet.

c. Increase participation in local business organizations.

d. Establish relationships with local youth for internships and future employment.

e. Strengthen business connections for mutual cooperation.

f. Opportunities to recruit students from local communities that are attending MSU.

g. Open new entrepreneurial activities.

h. Develop the skills of information workers for business success.

Participation of youth in a career and volunteer networking project, CommunityTies.Us that links youth with role models in their communities can:

- Develop online resources that present a positive image of community life.

- Connect high school students with peers and adult community members interested in community development.

- Increase community attachment among youth.

- Enhance information skills of youth for success in an information economy.

- Elevate awareness of local entrepreneurial careers.

- Expand the community ties of rural youth online.

- Increase participation in community organizations by youth.

- Increase contacts between youth and community-based entrepreneurs.

- Increase placement in internships, volunteer activities and careers for youth.

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“Community Ties to Entrepreneurship”

http://communityties.us/

To thrive in the information economy rural areas must train and retain youth who are fluent with Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and nurture rural enterprises that are connected to the global economy. Michigan State University, in partnership with MSU Extension, has initiated a project that links these issues through a program spanning two years that will utilize online social networking to forge new social ties between youth and entrepreneurs focused on enhancing the social capital of both groups and the communities in which they live. The project is funded by USDA and Kellogg Foundation grants.

The program integrates outreach and research components.

High school and MSU college students from rural communities are expected to form stronger attachments to their communities by learning about entrepreneurial careers available to them now and in the future and by expanding their social circles, community activities, and pre-vocational interests in their home communities.
Small business owners will benefit from tapping the resources of a youthful workforce fluent with ICTs and from networking with each other to develop and share common resources.

The outcomes of the project will be evaluated through pre-post surveys of rural youth and entrepreneurs.

Youth outreach is serving as the initial organizing principle of the Community Development Forums to take place in Gaylord, Marquette and Traverse City in March of 2009. The Forums will engage youth and small business proprietors in dialogue about entrepreneurial activities in their communities. The in-person Forums will also provide a catalyst to engage small business entrepreneurs in online interactions with rural youth with the purpose of connecting youth to each other and to existing career development opportunities in their communities while presenting them with role models for entrepreneurship for their later life in rural America.

In addition, students at Traverse City West Senior High, Fairview High School and Ishpeming High School are currently engaged in distance-learning university course - CAS100: Developing On-line Content - being delivered by MSU. The students are receiving two college credits from MSU, paid for by Kellogg Foundation funds. Students at Gaylord High School are involved with a CAS 100 independent study. To get a glimpse – visit this web site http://youthtech.tism.msu.edu/index.html. During the course students will develop online resources that inform their peers about vocational, volunteer and other resources in their communities through social networking with each other and with adult role models in local enterprises and nonprofits.

For more information on how you can get involved, please contact Wanda Repke at repke@msu.edu or (231) 995-7085.

Link to this page

Community Ties Flickr Photos