Community Economic Development

RWHC Community Economic
Development Program

The RWHC Community Economic Development (CED) Program was started in 2021 to help Members address issues surrounding social determinants of health in their community including but not limited to housing, childcare, broadband, economic opportunity, education, transportation, etc. The CED program has 4 pillars that guide its work:

  • Increasing rural hospital engagement with local community economic development efforts 
  • Increasing the efficacy of rural hospital engagement with community economic development efforts 
  • Bringing a rural health perspective into local, regional and statewide community economic development conversations
  • Bringing a community economic development perspective into rural health conversations

The program will be offering professional development opportunities for RWHC Members, partnering with UW-Extension to complete Community Economic Analyses of willing Members’ communities, compiling and disseminating relevant local economic data for RWHC Members, developing a toolkit of effective CED strategies for Member use, serving as a liaison to Wisconsin’s existing network of economic development professionals and resources, and generally acting as an accessible resource for members on community economic development issues as they organically arise. 

The Community Economic Development Program offerings include:

  • Professional development trainings for RWHC Members focused on CED topics

  • Community Economic Analyses of interested Members’ communities through a partnership with UW Extension for facilitation
  • Compiling and disseminating relevant local economic data for RWHC Members
  • Developing a toolkit of effective CED strategies for Member use
  • Serving as a liaison to Wisconsin’s existing network of economic development professionals and resources
  • Acting as an accessible resource for Members on community economic development issues as they organically arise
Contact

Marie Barry, Director of Community Economic Development

mbarry@rwhc.com