Dear Rural Supporter
We are pleased to report that the Arizona Rural Development Council has merged with the Local First Arizona Foundation, and organization equally committed to rural community and economic development. Local First Arizona Foundation (LFAF) has worked with rural small businesses for the past 4 years and has helped shape a tourism campaign aimed at in-state travel.
LFAF will acquire several members of the AZRDC Board of Directors and will also work to create a Rural Leadership Council. The goal will be to continue to be the voice of small town, rural and tribal Arizona.
The first item up will be the Rural Policy Forum, which will be August 8th and 9th this year. We will continue to host the event here in Phoenix because it is geographically centrally located. Registration for the Forum will open June 1st, as it has in years past.
A committee has formed with members of the boards of both organizations to make plans for the Rural Policy Forum, including topics for the breakout sessions, speakers, and group workshops. We know we can create a 2-day Forum that brings meaningful, useful, and timely opportunities into the hands of rural non-profits and small business alike.
This will be an event focused on community and economic development designed to strengthen rural communities across Arizona.
Please email kimber@localfirstaz.com if you have any suggestions for topics for us to consider.
Thank you and we look forward to seeing you in August!
Kimber Lanning, Director of LFAF
and Angie Harmon, Board Chair, AZRDC
