Summary

Speakers: Chris Archer
Panelists: Matthew Glassman, Melissa Richmond
Sponsors: Putnam Foundation
The emerging field of creative place-making unites the arts with community initiatives that increase the well-being of a place. Serving any “place”, from a neighborhood to an entire region, creative place-making utilizes creative projects to foster economic development, civic engagement, community pride, and education. Many funders are supporting initiatives to create meaningful art and help communities thrive.

Speakers: Rich Grogan
Panelists: Tedd Benson, Kim E. Bergeron, Tracy Ostler, Marty Parichand, Peter Robinson, Emily Schwerin-Whyte
Sponsors: TD Bank Charitable Foundation
Crazy Good business practices aggregate into a Crazy Good community – a community with a competitive edge. Small communities are filled with entrepreneurs that care deeply about their communities and their businesses.  This session will outline a framework that views the distinctive economic activity of rural communities in three categories:  those that bring activity to a community, those that create distinctive activity in a region and export it, and those who work to keep economic activity and everyday life in a community finely tuned.  This will be followed by a panel that Crazy Good people that have gained an edge for their businesses and their community.

Speakers: Deb Brown
Sponsors: Monadnock Food Co-op, Prime Roast Coffee Company
In this engaging session Deb will illustrate how other communities are using Innovative Rural Business Models to bring more businesses to their community. She will share about the Empty Building Tour and how one town used The Tour to fill 10 of 12 empty buildings.  You’ll learn how to gather your crowd, to build connections and take small steps to implement your big ideas in your small towns.  This session with national small town and rural  expert Deb Brown, will energize you to go home and get right to work!

Speakers: Kathrine Aydelott, Kathy Kiely
Panelists: Ben Boyington, James Rousmaniere Jr., Paul Miller, Kristen Nevious
Sponsors: Filtrine
President Donald Trump’s labeling of certain news as fake and journalists as the enemy of the people has raised doubts about the veracity and accuracy of news reporting. This has created a national narrative. How is journalism perceived in rural America? Are levels of trust higher or lower? What can local journalists and small-town community leaders do to maintain integrity and build trust in local journalism?

Speakers: Joe Short
Sponsors: Badger
Across the Northern Forest of northern New England and New York, economic transition is well underway. Traditional uses of forests—pulp and paper production—have largely given way to outdoor recreation, biomass energy production, and small-scale manufacturing. While significant challenges exist, the Northern Forest Center is an innovation and investment partner that is advancing the transformative potential of our most abundant resource—forests—to spur a new era of opportunity across the region. This session will highlight trends, opportunities, and case studies of communities on the rise.

Speakers: Sarah Benning
Panelists: Keith Stephens
Sponsors: Putnam Foundation
With so many pathways for developing revenue streams, sales, fundraising, communication, promotion, and scale, developing a business model these days is a dream and a nightmare. What direction is best for you? Hear from artists and organizations making new technology and trends work for them utilizing everything from maker-spaces, co-ops, and green energy, to online sales, public art, and beyond.

Speakers: Clay Adams
Panelists: Laurel Adams, Peter Hansel, Patrick Knittle, Andrea O’Brien, Jim Verzino
Sponsors: TD Bank Charitable Foundation
The Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship has offered a quarterly “PitchFork – Local Investing Monadnock Style” for two years.  PitchFork connects local investors with local entrepreneurs in a fun, informal networking pitch venue.  This Radically Rural PitchFork will offer a $10,000 cash prize for one talented entrepreneur as well as a $1,000 prize for a best idea.  Join in on the excitement and we will share the “operating manual” on how to run one in your community.  Winners will be announced at the CONNECT event in the evening.

Speakers: Jay Robert Allen
Panelists: Ron Redmond, Jen Risley, Paul Shea
Sponsors: Monadnock Food Co-op, Prime Roast Coffee Company
How can one event, one festival, create lasting positive effects on a town serving the larger rural community? In this session, panelists will discuss specific models proving the importance of community driven events that enhance a town far beyond a few days. Events and festivals discussed will provide ideas and inspiration to invigorate rural downtowns in your area and beyond. We are calling this the Main Street Renaissance!

Speakers: Al Cross, Kevin Slimp
Panelists: Keith Gentili, Mark Guerringue, Phil Kincade
Sponsors: Filtrine
Small town newspapers, challenged by evaporating advertising revenues, mergers and declining circulation, struggle to sustain themselves. What can be done to keep local journalism strong, relevant, necessary and avoid news deserts?

Speakers: Richard Berkfield
Panelists: Nicole Carrier, Leigh Harding, Rob Hausslein, Courtney Hodge
Sponsors: Badger
Farm and forest entrepreneurs are at the heart of rural landscape and an integral part of what makes those regions a quality place to live. The panelists include farmers and food and beverage entrepreneurs who are growing to scale to expand their markets, utilizing the natural resource base of our region to serve local markets as well as urban markets where there is a greater population and potential for customers. Radically Rural communities require pushing the envelope of exporting food and importing dollars to grow our region’s farm economy while remaining committed to the land and the community. The innovative entrepreneurs on this panel will share how they have identified opportunities and overcome challenges to grow their businesses and expand their markets.

Sponsors: Badger, Eversource, Filtrine, Mascoma Bank, Prime Roast Coffee Company, Harvey Construction, Monadnock Economic Development Corporation, Putnam Foundation, TD Bank Charitable Foundation, Better Homes and Gardens, C&S Wholesale Grocer, SBW Wealth Management, Courtyard Marriott, Yankee Publishing, Douglas Cuddle Toys, Franklin Pierce University
Put aside everything you know about typical networking events and join us on September 27th for CONNECT 2018: The Rural Advantage! from 5 pm – 7 pm in the Mable Brown Room at Keene State College.

This year CONNECT will showcase 14 local artists with a sculpture garden curated by Machina Arts!  This is an event you do not want to miss!

Panelists: Paul Miller, Terrence Williams
Sponsors: Filtrine
You may be surprised to learn that newspaper audiences are larger today than ever due to myriad platforms on which news is published – print, websites, online newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, video and more. What would you do as an editor for a day? What would your coverage and story assignments be? What would you publish in print, online and in social media? What would your front page look like? An engaging interactive event with live video and a press run.

Speakers: Arlene Goldbard
Sponsors: Putnam Foundation
Since the dawn of human history, the arts have been used to excite, engage, educate, advocate, and move communities forward. How will you contribute? What will our give-back be? This session will feature the stories of two artists utilizing their work for social change in their communities. We’ll also feature a discussion on the tools and processes for effective art for social change.

Speakers: Roberto Gallardo
Sponsors: TD Bank Charitable Foundation
The digital age can eliminate density and geographic proximity requirements that were so critical during the industrial age.  The digital age will make it possible for a rural community to maintain its “rural” feel and continue to leverage its natural amenities while taking advantage of what only dense urban areas enjoyed last century. Things like access to funding (crowdfunding), worldwide markets (e-commerce), savvy employees (teleworkers) and real-time information; collaboration and innovation (videoconferencing and soon mixed reality); certain level of healthcare (telehealth); and educational opportunities (massive open online courses, online certifications).  So, what is in our way to achieve #Rural2.0?  Ultra-fast internet connectivity and digital skills quickly come to mind, but the most serious challenge is that the traditional 20th century mindset still exists in rural communities. This session will help you better understand the implications of the digital age and help your rural community transition to, plan for and prosper in the digital age.

Speakers: Paul Bruhn
Sponsors: Monadnock Food Co-op, Prime Roast Coffee Company
Why is it so important to save and use historical buildings in rural downtown/ village centers?  Attendees in this session will learn from real life examples of rural communities that have taken historical buildings that act as the brand and foundation of their community’s economic well-being, having spent the time and energy to save, help, and or use their historic buildings to bring vibrancy and character to their town.  Paul Bruhn will share the importance of determining what is right for your community while maintaining a vibrant downtown and intentionally securing places that serve the entire population.  There is no one size fits all – bring your downtown building problems to this session!

Speakers: Molly Anderson
Sponsors: Badger
Molly Anderson, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Food Studies at Middlebury College in Vermont, will tell us about “A New England Food Vision”, which details how the region can feasibly provide half of its food needs by the year 2060 while also preserving forested land and our oceans, improving the environmental footprint of agriculture, restoring rural communities, and ensuring that everyone has plenty of healthy food to eat.  Molly was a member of the writing team and works on food system planning from the local to the international scales.

Speakers: Whitney Kimball Coe
The National Rural Assembly is a movement of people and organizations devoted to building a stronger, more vibrant rural America for children, families, and communities. Participants include more than 500 local, regional, and national organizations based in 47 states and the District of Columbia. The goal of the National Rural Assembly is to make the country stronger by improving the outlook for rural communities.

The guiding principle is that an inclusive, prospering, and sustainable rural America improves prospects for us all.

Speakers: Arlene Goldbard, Sarah Stewart
*** Register for this extra session here; 30 seats only***

Agenda:
Arlene will teach and facilitate the “Story Circle” exercise. This has two great outcomes – Attendees will learn a great new model to collect feedback and develop vision with their communities. Attendees will share stories and reflections on those stories with the Commissioner to enhance her ability to represent our sector and understand our challenges and successes.
After the story circle exercise, Commissioner Stewart will have the opportunity to respond and share her thoughts and vision for her role as the leader of Natural and Cultural resources in the state.