Non Technical Summary
The North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) is one of four Regional Rural Development Centers and Purdue University serves as its host institution. The NCRCRD enhances rural resilience by facilitating and fostering collaborative relationships among the 34 land grant institutions from the twelve states in the North Central Region (NCR).The NCRCRD's work is focused on three themes: creating resilient communities and economies, developing leadership and civic engagement, and promoting community health and wellness. The NCRCRD also uses a systems approach at the intersection of: communities, businesses, and households. This proposal enhances USDA's current (2022-2026) strategic goals: 1) combat climate change to support America's working lands, natural resources, and communities; 2) ensure America's agricultural system is equitable, resilient, and prosperous; 3) foster an equitable and competitive marketplace for all agricultural producers; 4) provide all Americans safe, nutritious food; and 5) expand opportunities for economic development and improve quality of life in rural and Tribal communities.The Center facilitates research and Extension throughout the NCR via partnerships, small grants, multistate working groups, fellowships, and conference development. The NCRCRD increases the visibility of research and Extension from the NCR through webinars, newsletters, and the dissemination of regionwide impact indicators. The Center collects and maintains an open access database titled NCR-Stat and publishes data snapshots and research briefsrelevanat to rural stakeholders. The Center fosters opportunites for the 34 land grant institutions to collaborate on projects and professional development that enhances their capacity to work in rural communities.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
608	6050	3010	30%
602	6199	3010	15%
610	6099	3010	20%
801	6020	3010	15%
805	6099	3010	20%

Knowledge Area
602 - Business Management, Finance, and Taxation; 805 - Community Institutions, Health, and Social Services; 608 - Community Resource Planning and Development; 801 - Individual and Family Resource Management; 610 - Domestic Policy Analysis;

Subject Of Investigation
6199 - Economy, general/other; 6099 - People and communities, general/other; 6020 - The family and its members; 6050 - Communities, areas, and regions;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics;

Goals / Objectives
The overarching goal of the Center is to enhance the research and educational outreach capacity of our region's 34 land-grant universities for the benefit rural communities, local decision-makers, entrepreneurs, families, farmers, and ranchers to help address a wide range of development issues unique to our region. Our objective is to foster direct, intentional engagement with all the land grant institutions in the NCR through research, teaching, and extension networks. The theme for the NCRCRD plan of work was developed by consulting the NCRCRD Board of Directors and Advisory Committee and is focused on therecruitment and retention of residents in rural communities. This focus on recruitment and retention has workforce development as its centerpiece. Workforce development involves decreasing barriers to quality jobs and careers and thus intersects with topics such as rural depopulation (4-H work ready, youth engagement, leadership succession), climate change (extreme weather events. outdoor recreation), trust in institutions and civil discourse, and community resilience and wellbeing (health, caregiving, housing, broadband, placemaking, entrepreneurship). These topics will serve as the foundational for data collection, fellowships, small grants, and working groups.

Project Methods
Our methods of enhaning the capacity in the NCR include the following activities and how we evaluate them.Hosting a website where we track unique visitors and downloads of publications.NCR-Stat websites on PURR. We track number of data downloads and citations of the data in publications.Publishing a quartetly newsletter that highlights the NCRCRD's work and upcoming events. We track newsletter subscriptions.Hosting monthly webinars to connect extension professionals and researchers with innovative extension programming and research with ahighpotential for adoptionand/ordissemination. We track registrations, attendees, and conduct an evaluation after every webinar.Publishing data snapshots and research briefs that highlight NCR-Stat data useful to rural development practitioners and rural communities. We upload our publications on AgEcon Search to increase visibility andtrack citations.Expanding current work with North Central program leaders to collect, highlightanddisseminate the collective impact of each program area, including cross-programmatic efforts, to NIFA and other stakeholders. We publish the NCR indicators report on our website and track downloads.Maintaining the CD Extension Library which is a national repository of programs, curricula, tools, and fact sheets shared and used among extension professionals. We track downloads and visitors to the website.Funded small grants and working groups. We send out a survey to PIs and track outcomes and impacts of these funded activities.