NERCRD research featured in Lancaster Farming

Research led by NERCRD Faculty Affiliate Claudia Schmidt was featured in Lancaster Farming on January 24, 2024. The study highlighted a paper published this month in Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy that found having more women in agriculture is associated with greater community well-being.

Catching up with Pennsylvania’s Coming Together for Racial Understanding Team

December 6, 2022

The team discussed how they adapted the Coming Together curriculum for Penn State Extension, the reach and impacts of their work thus far, and their plans for taking it to a wider audience.

Webinar: Dealing with Contentious Public Issues

December 2, 2022

This webinar, presented by Walt Whitmer, Senior Extension Educator with Penn State Extension, explored the changing landscape of contentious issues, how this evolving landscape affects our work, and some of the strategies available to us to navigate this new environment, regardless of program area or expertise. View the recording and related resources here.

Schmidt receives Roy C. Buck Award for paper on women farmers in the United States

November 16, 2022

Claudia Schmidt, assistant professor of marketing and local/regional food systems Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and NERCRD faculty affiliate, is the recipient of the college’s 2022 Roy C. Buck Faculty Award, which recognizes the best article accepted or published by a refereed scholarly journal in the social sciences within the past two years.

NERCRD is hiring!

November 12, 2022

The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD) is seeking applications for a limited-term, Non-Tenure Track Assistant Research Professor/Associate Director position. The NERCRD is located in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education within Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. The Center’s mission is to work on and coordinate a broad range of issues with land grant universities and other partners in the Northeast as well as nationally in support of rural development.

Farewell to NERCRD Associate Director Dr. Jason Entsminger!

September 12, 2022

Congratulations to NERCRD Associate Director Dr. Jason Entsminger, who has accepted a new tenure-track position at the University of Maine. His last day with NERCRD will be September 14.

International Workshop on Agritourism draws visitors from around the world to the Northeast

September 11, 2022

More than 500 people from 56 countries gathered in-person and virtually for the International Workshop on Agritourism (IWA), hosted by University of Vermont Extension in Burlington, VT, August 30-September 1.

Webinar: Building the Capacity to Invest in Rural Prosperity

August 2, 2022

On Friday, May 27 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern, the Council on Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics (C-FARE) and the Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDC) are holding a panel discussion on building the capacity needed for impactful investments in rural prosperity.

New data briefs examine COVID’s impacts on Northeast economic activity

July 29, 2022

Two new data briefs in NERCRD’s COVID-19 Issues Briefs series examine the pandemic’s effects on Northeast economic activity. The first uses Gross Domestic Product data to summarize the impact of COVID-19 on the economies of the Northeast U.S., and sets the stage for subsequent briefs that will examine impacts in key industries and sectors. One sector-specific brief, focusing on the tourism and recreation economies in the region, also was released this week.

Tourism Activity Collapse During COVID-19 Benefited Rural Hospitality Employment

June 20, 2022

While the COVID-19 pandemic delivered a massive economic blow to the U.S. tourism sector, some rural communities benefited from the crisis in terms of employment gains, according to a team of researchers from the NERCRD and West Virginia University. Their study, which is the first to document COVID-19’s economic impact on tourism in the U.S. at the county level, may help guide the development of rural tourism and destination management strategies that enhance community resilience.

Webinar: Building the Capacity to Invest in Rural Prosperity

May 23, 2022

On Friday, May 27 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern, the Council on Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics (C-FARE) and the Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDC) are holding a panel discussion on building the capacity needed for impactful investments in rural prosperity. Panelists, including NERCRD Director Stephan Goetz and Associate Director Jason Entsminger, will outline recent trends affecting rural communities, the assets they have at their disposal, and the capacities they have and need to promote shared economic prosperity over the long-term. This webinar is the first in a series of events aimed at integrating findings from the RRDCs’ Rural Development Listening Sessions Initiative and work recently published by the St. Louis Fed and the Federal Reserve Board on investing in rural communities.