Progress 09/15/01 to 09/30/05
Outputs
This project seeks to create diversified economic opportunities for agricultural and other rural, small businesses in the Lower Mississippi Delta by assisting in e-commerce business development. The project has developed and provided multimedia e-commerce training to rural businesses through a series of educational seminars. In addition, technical support in web site development, developing an Internet marketing strategy, electronic retailing services, and space on a secure server have been provided to participating businesses. Seminar modules have been distributed to e-commerce educators at other institutions as downloadable files from the project's web site (www.deltaecom.latech.edu). Educators from 52 institutions from nine different countries have acquired a copy of the project's seminar modules. During the four years of the project, a total of 21 e-commerce seminars were delivered in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas, exposing 406 rural businesses to e-commerce
concepts. Seventy-seven of these rural businesses received technical assistance, ranging from business advertising and marketing to the development of fully-integrated, transactional outlets. The project had five selected papers presented at annual professional meetings including the American Agricultural Economics Association, the Rural Sociological Society, the Southern Rural Sociological Association, the Southern Agricultural Economics Association, and the Southwestern Society of Economists. Three award-winning selected posters were presented at the annual meetings of the American Agricultural Economics Association and the Rural Sociological Society.
Impacts
The educational materials that have been developed and made available to rural businesses and rural development professionals through seminars, the project web site, compact discs, and professional meetings describe a forum for interaction and the conduction of business that does not hinge on geographic location. Adoption of e-commerce capabilities by rural businesses will help bridge the geographic gap between rural communities and urban business centers that drive the economy.
Publications
- Watson, S., Nwoha, O., Kennedy, G., and Rea, K. 2006. The Delta E-commerce Connection: Preliminary Findings. Southern Rural Sociology. 21:1(2006):25-36.
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Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/05
Outputs
This project seeks to create diversified economic opportunities for agricultural and other rural, small businesses in the Lower Mississippi Delta by assisting in e-commerce business development. The project has developed and provided multimedia e-commerce training to rural businesses through a series of educational seminars. In addition, technical support in web site development, developing an Internet marketing strategy, electronic retailing services, and space on a secure server have been provided to participating businesses. Seminar modules have been distributed to e-commerce educators at other institutions as downloadable files from the projects web site (www.deltaecom.latech.edu). In the fourth year of the project, four e-commerce seminars were delivered (two in Mississippi; two in Arkansas), exposing 80 rural businesses to e-commerce concepts. The project originally projected exposing 30 rural businesses in the fourth year. E-commerce capabilities developed for
these businesses ranged from business advertising and marketing to fully-integrated, transactional outlets. Project participants can be viewed at the following url: www.deltaecom.latech.edu/sponsored.html. The project presented a selected poster entitled, Characteristics of Rural E-commerce Adopters in the South, at the Teaching in Higher Education Conference, April 17-19, 2005, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A selected paper entitled, Success in E-Commerce for Rural Businesses, was presented at the annual meetings of the Southwestern Society of Economists, March 1-5, 2005, Dallas, Texas. A selected paper entitled, How Much is E-Commerce Worth to Rural Businesses? was presented at the annual meetings of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association, February 6-9, 2005, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Impacts
The educational materials that have been developed and made available to rural businesses and rural development professionals through seminars, the project web site, compact discs, and professional meetings describe a forum for interaction and the conduction of business that does not hinge on geographic location. Adoption of e-commerce capabilities by rural businesses will help bridge the geographic gap between rural communities and urban business centers that drive the economy.
Publications
- Watson, S., Nwoha, O., Kennedy, G., and Rea, K. 2005. Willingness to pay for information programs about e-commerce: results from a convenience sample of rural Louisiana businesses. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics. 37:3(December):673-683.
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Progress 10/01/03 to 09/30/04
Outputs
This project seeks to create diversified economic opportunities for agricultural and other rural, small businesses in the Lower Mississippi Delta by assisting in e-commerce business development. The project has developed and provided multimedia e-commerce training to rural businesses through a series of educational seminars. In addition, technical support in web site development, developing an Internet marketing strategy, electronic retailing services, and space on a secure server are being provided to participating businesses. Seminar modules have been distributed to e-commerce educators at other institutions as downloadable files from the project web site, www.deltaecom.latech.edu. In the third year of the four-year project, seven e-commerce seminars were delivered (six in Louisiana; one in Arkansas), exposing 130 rural businesses to e-commerce concepts. Although the project originally projected conducting 16 seminars in the second year, the exposure of rural
businesses (130) was more than four times the original goal of 30 businesses. More than 47 of these businesses applied for technical assistance, with 35 being provided assistance. The original project goal was to provide at least 12 businesses with assistance. E-commerce capabilities developed for these businesses ranged from business advertising and marketing to fully-integrated, transactional outlets. These businesses can be viewed at the following url: www.deltaecom.latech.edu/sponsored.html. The project has also presented a selected poster entitled, Characteristics of Rural E-commerce Adopters in the South, at the annual meetings of the American Agricultural Economics Association, Denver, Colorado, August 1-4, 2004 (Third Place Award) and at the annual meetings of the Rural Sociological Society, Sacramento, California, August 12-15, 2004 (Best Poster Award). In addition, a selected paper entitled, Determinants of Success in E-commerce Adoption by Rural Businesses in Louisiana: A
Case Study Approach, was presented at the annual meetings of the Southern Rural Sociological Association, Tulsa, Oklahoma, February 14-18, 2004.
Impacts
The educational materials that have been developed and made available to rural businesses and rural development professionals through seminars, the project web site, and compact discs describe a forum for interaction and the conduction of business that does not hinge on geographic location. Adoption of e-commerce capabilities by rural businesses will help bridge the geographic gap between rural communities and urban business centers that drive the economy.
Publications
- Watson, S., Nwoha, O., Kennedy, G., and Rea, K. 2004. Willingness to pay for an e-commerce presence: business profiles. The Rural Sociologist. 24:2(June):10.
- Nwoha, O., Watson, S., Kennedy, G. and Rea, K. 2004. Characteristics of rural e-commerce adopters in the south. The Rural Sociologist. 24:2(June):11.
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Progress 10/01/02 to 09/30/03
Outputs
This project seeks to create diversified economic opportunities for agricultural and other rural, small businesses in the Lower Mississippi Delta by assisting in e-commerce business development. The project has developed and provided multimedia e-commerce training to rural businesses through a series of educational seminars. In addition, technical support in web site development, developing an Internet marketing strategy, electronic retailing services, and space on a secure server are being provided to participating businesses. Seminar modules have been distributed to e-commerce educators at other institutions as downloadable files from the project web site (www.deltaecom.latech.edu). In the second year of the four-year project, seven e-commerce seminars were delivered in Louisiana, exposing 138 rural businesses to e-commerce concepts. Although the project originally projected conducting 12 seminars in the second year, the exposure of rural businesses (138) was more
than five times the original goal of 25 businesses. More than 60 of these businesses applied for technical assistance, with 25 being provided assistance. The original project goal was to provide at least nine businesses with assistance. E-commerce capabilities developed for these businesses ranged from business advertising and marketing to fully-integrated, transactional outlets. These businesses can be viewed at the following url: www.deltaecom.latech.edu/sponsored.html. The project has also supported rural development efforts of other organizations by conducting invited mini-seminars at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center Producer to Profits program in West Monroe, Louisiana and at a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) workshop at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. E-commerce educational compact discs (CDs) were disseminated at the North Louisiana Agribusiness Council AG Expo farm show, January 17-18, 2003, and the Teaching in Higher Education Form at
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, April 27-29, 2003. A paper entitled A University Model of Rural Business E-Commerce Education and Adoption and a poster entitled Plugging Rural America into E-commerce Technologies were presented at the Southern Rural Sociological Association annual meetings and the Southern Agricultural Economics Association annual meetings, respectively, Mobile, Alabama, February 1-5, 2003.
Impacts
The educational materials developed under this project and made available to rural businesses and rural development professionals through seminars, the project web site, and compact discs describe a forum for interaction and the conduction of business that does not hinge on geographic location. Adoption of e-commerce capabilities by rural businesses will help bridge the geographic gap between rural communities and urban business centers that drive the economy.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 10/01/01 to 09/30/02
Outputs
This project seeks to create diversified economic opportunities for agricultural and other rural, small businesses in the Lower Mississippi Delta by assisting in e-commerce business development. The project has developed and provided multimedia e-commerce training to rural businesses through a series of educational seminars. In addition, technical support in web site development, developing an Internet marketing strategy, electronic retailing services, and space on a secure server are being provided to participating businesses. Four educational modules were developed and are being used in e-commerce seminars designed to educate rural businesses about developing an e-commerce capability. In addition, the modules have been distributed to e-commerce educators at other institutions as downloadable files from the project web site (www.deltaecom.latech.edu). The project delivered two e-commerce seminars in Northern Louisiana and distributed e-commerce educational materials
to collaborators for additional e-commerce seminars. BellSouth Business Systems won a competitive bid to provide web hosting for the businesses supported by the grant. Due to a reduction in the cost of web hosting, the project will be able to provide technical support over the project period to a total of 90 businesses, as opposed to 40 businesses as stipulated in the proposal. Selection criteria for technical assistance applicants were developed. Program participants are derived from a pool of applicants who attend an e-commerce educational seminar. An application form has been developed to assist in selecting businesses to be sponsored by the project. Ten businesses meeting the grant profile applied and were selected for technical assistance from 28 first seminar participants. From the second seminar, seven applicants made application and were selected for technical assistance from 30 seminar participants. E-commerce web site design is either complete or in progress for these
selected businesses. The project is also collaborating with other local initiatives such as the Macon Ridge Economic Development Region, Inc. and the Renewal Louisiana projects to provide additional resources to agricultural and rural businesses. A poster presentation, entitled Plugging Rural America into E-Commerce Technologies, was developed to highlight the project rational, objectives, implementation strategies, and preliminary outcomes of the project. This poster won first place out of 44 poster entries in the poster competition of the annual meetings of the American Agricultural Economics Association, Long Beach, California, July 27-31, 2002. At this poster session, the principal investigators distributed 85 compact discs (CDs) containing e-commerce educational modules to rural development professionals, rural economists, and extension agents. From a list of 63 poster session attendees who signed their names, 52 institutions in nine different countries acquired a copy of the
CD.
Impacts
E-commerce education and technical assistance provided under this project seek to bridge the geographic gap between rural communities and urban business centers that drive the economy. The electronic economy and community provide a forum for interaction and the conduction of business that does not hinge on geographic location. Adopting e-commerce capabilities will allow both agricultural and non-agricultural stakeholders to benefit from web-based marketing strategies developed and generated under this project.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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