ATTENTION! This program has been discontinued!
Overview
Stronger Economies Together (SET) is an exciting collaboration launched in 2010 by USDA Rural Development along with the nation's Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDCs) and their land-grant university partners. The Stronger Economies Together Program (SET) is a strategic planning program designed to help communities in rural America to work together on a regional basis to develop strategic economic development plans based on current and emerging economic strengths in each region.
Partners in economic development in Nevada have now drafted a timeline to put SET into action in Nevada in 2012. To date, partners for the Nevada SET Executive Committee include --Tom Harris, UNR Center for Economic Development; Carl Dahlen, UNCE and Nevada Rural Development Council Director; Buddy Borden, UNCE; Des Craig, Governor's Office of Economic Development; Ron Radil and Mike Guss, Western Nevada Development District; Sarah Adler, David Foster, and Kelly Clark, USDA Rural Development; Lindsey Niedzielski, Connect Nevada, and Winnie Dowling, the UNR Small Business Development Center.
An initial workshop to explain SET and identify partners and interests was held Nov. 9-10, 2011, in Carson City. As a result, the 8-county Western Nevada Development District has agreed to host this innovative new planning program in 2012. The first recipients of the SET program are the eight counties of the Western Nevada Development District, which are Carson City, Churchill, Douglas, Humboldt, Lyon, Mineral, Pershing and Storey.
The workshop in Fallon introduced the SET training modules and commenced the 6 to 8 month economic development process for the WNDD communities.
Thirty-five (35) hours of SET training will be delivered in the region, a process that guides the development of practical and viable regional economic development strategies. Much of this training involves actual hands-on work on the regional plan by team members.
Each region receives tailored economic analyses describing the region's current and emerging clusters and its comparative economic advantages.
To supplement the SET training, each region will receive some targeted technical assistance to help them launch their plans.
Experiences and insights will be shared among the regions and the State Partner Teams on this website.
Curriculum and Resources
The Stronger Economies Together (SET) curriculum is a national economic development strategic planning model designed to allow local stakeholders to develop their own regional economic development strategy. It will facilitate the development of a regional economic analysis and strategy for communities working together in rural Nevada. Through it participating communities, cities, counties, and economic development authorities will develop knowledge and awareness of the challenges and opportunities faced in terms of infrastructure, access to capital, regional development and more. Each module is designed to build upon the previous. Facilitators and trainers will be Nevadans with subject matter expertise to share.
