U.S. rural policy should encourage more regional partnering among rural businesses, communities and governments. That was the conclusion reached by policy experts and rural leaders attending the third annual rural policy conference "The New Power of Regions: A Policy Focus for Rural America," which was held in Kansas City earlier this year.

A conference summary, prepared by Mark Drabenstott, vice president and director of the Center for the Study of Rural America at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and Katharine H. Sheaff, research associate with the Center, is included in the second quarter 2002 edition of the Economic Review.

Participants agreed that rural America has some competitive advantages, such as low land costs, but rural areas also have a low population density that may hamper growth. Regional partnerships, however, can help create the critical mass necessary to create and attract new economic opportunities.

After discussing two regional case studies, including one examining the development of pharmaceutical crops in rural Iowa, conference participants agreed that regional partnerships are a crucial focal point for rural policies that now focus on individual communities or firms.

Achieving regional partnerships, conference participants said, requires cooperation across levels of government and reshaping legislative agendas. It also requires the private sector and public institutions to play key roles in the development of new rural strategies.

The conference summary is available on the Bank’s Web site at www.kansascityfed.org.

# # #