Rural Place Building | The Montgomery Institute

Overview:	Place building is an essential part of the mission of The Montgomery Institute. We work with mayors, supervisors/commissioners, universities, community and junior colleges, and other organizations committed to community development to bring innovative approaches to systemic problems in our region. We emphasize a “build it” approach over a “fix it” approach and believe community champions are the real keys to success.
Initiative:	RURAL PLACE BUILDING
Period:	Continuous
Funding:	Ongoing:1) Funding from the Ford Foundation’s Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI)to Meridian Community College spurred activities that ultimately led to the creation of The Montgomery Institute. RCCI grants to Alabama Southern Community College, Wallace Community College – Selma, and later to East Central Community College provided a common rural development thread in the West Alabama-East Mississippi region. 2) Funding from The Riley Foundation provided start-up resources for TMI as well as funding to offer Seven Habits of Highly Effective Leadership training in communities. 3) Funding from The Phil Hardin Foundation also provided start-up resources as well as funding for TMI to form the Commission on the Future of East Mississippi and West Alabama and to develop Cycle of Prosperity Benchmarks for Accountability and Decision-Making. 4) USDA Rural Development provided funds for TMI to host the State Rural Development Council for Mississippi. 5) The U.S. Department of Labor provided funds through a West Alabama – East Mississippi WIRED grant to fund actual rural development projects in communities in 37 counties as well as region-building research and activities. 6) The Rural Alabama Health Alliance (RAHA) provided funds for TMI to help develop RAHA’s mission in West Alabama. 7) The Walmart Foundation provided funds to develop a regional planning board for the benefit of the rural communities in West Alabama and East Mississippi. 8) The AT&T Foundation provided funds to offer the Nexus Hero Program in rural East Mississippi communities. 9) TMI utilizes its limited funds to sustain place building activities when other grant funds are not available.
Purpose:	This ongoing multi-partner, multi-funder program seeks to help rural communities in West Alabama and East Mississippi to grow and prosper. The RCCI project focused on planting seeds for leadership and project development. The Phil Hardin project focused on providing communities guideposts to see how their communities were performing and what areas needed attention. The USDA Rural Development project provided the means to collaborate with many rural partners. The WIRED grant built capacity at eight community and junior colleges to serve as place building coaches for rural communities and at TMI to serve as a facilitator for rural region and community development. The RAHA program targets health care, in part, as economic development engines for communities. The Walmart Foundation funds provide capacity to build a new WAEM Commission on the Future and helps fund WAEM Mayors Network events. The AT&T grant for Nexus Hero Programs helps rural communities better use the Internet as an economic development tool.
Key Partners:	Your Town Alabama; Your Town Mississippi; University of Alabama Center for Economic Development; Mississippi State University First Impressions Program; Alabama Southern Community College, Bevill State Community College, East Central Community College; East Mississippi Community College; Jones County Junior College; Meridian Community College; Shelton State Community College, Wallace Community College – Selma; Main Street Mississippi; Small Town Design Initiative of the Urban Studio at Auburn University; Asset Development Program at the Mississippi Development Authority; University of West Alabama; Rural Alabama Health Alliance, East Central Mississippi Health Network, and mayors in West Alabama and East Mississippi communities.
Results:	WAEM Mayors Network (click here) Building and Maintaining Great Rural Places Introduction Place Building Guide Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Nexus Hero (click here) Cycle of Prosperity Benchmarks for Accountability and Decision-Making (click here) WIRED Final Report (click here) Commission on the Future of East Mississippi and West Alabama (click here)