Skip to Main Content

The University of Tennessee

Tennessee Rural Economic Development




Tennessee Rural Economic Development

The Tennessee Rural EcoNomic Development (TREND) site aims to provide information about social, economic, and demographic issues in rural Tennessee with an emphasis on communities where agriculture is an important economic sector. The site will be of interest to students, researchers, policy makers, and those that advise them.

 

News, Events and Grants

National Reports The Southeast Struggles to Recover
January 2012
“Economic recovery in the Southeast in 2011 fell somewhere between sluggish and fitful. For every bright spot (Florida’s long-chilled housing market is showing signs of thawing), numerous drags on progress remain. In 2012, will the region begin to regain the dynamism that was once its economic hallmark?”
EconSouth, Fourth Quarter 2011, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

National Reports Cashing in on Business Opportunities
January 2012
From business plans to taxes to budgeting to inventory, Cashing in on Business Opportunities provides a complete manual for starting, maintaining, and growing a business. Comprised of over 20 lessons – with more to come – Cashing offers entrepreneurs and the educators who serve them the technical knowledge and skills needed to manage a business.

Trend Report Resolutions for Entrepreneurs in 2012
December 2011
University of Tennessee Extension rural business development specialist Michael Wilcox and his collaborator Elena Hacker, a small business owner from South Carolina, say entrepreneurs should take advantage of the favorable climate and combine 2012 resolutions with some well thought out reflections on 2011, especially regarding what worked and what didn’t in the business.
Michael Wilcox & Elena Hacker

Trend Report Small Business Seminars
December 2011
A new TREND publication promoting economic development through a community of support for small business
Amanda Mathenia, Dr. Michael Wilcox, Creig Kimbro, and Dr. Alan Barefield

National ReportsMarket Forces: Creating Jobs through Public Investment in Local and Regional Food Systems
Report details economic benefits of farmers markets and other local food outlets. According to the report, locally grown food is not only good for your taste buds—it creates jobs, keeps money in local economies, promotes community development, and can reduce the environmental and public health costs of the food we eat.
Union of Concerned Scientists

National ReportsYour Food and Environment Atlas
The Atlas assembles statistics on three broad categories of food environment factors: Indicators of the community's access to and acquisition of healthy, affordable food (Food Choices); indicators of the community’s success in maintaining healthy diets (Health & Well Being) and indicators of community characteristics that might influence the food environment (Community Characteristics).
USDA - Economic Research Service

Tennessee Report “Empowering Women in Agriculture and Small Business”
2011 Homefront to Heartland Conference Presentations and Videos
This conference strives to empower women to return to their farm, business, community and family with new confidence, ideas and techniques to help them better manage finances, communication, time and stress. Discussion topics include marketing, financial management, media and computer skills, government relations and nutrition, health and wellness.

Trend Report "Aligning Entrepreneurship Resources in the Rural South"
Alison Davis and Michael Wilcox
Presentation at the Tennessee Municipal League's 72nd Annual Conference June 13, 2011 Murfreesboro Convention Center Murfreesboro, TN

International Reports e-Atlas of Global Development Helps Visualize Data
The newly released e-Atlas of Global Development is a free, online, interactive tool, which maps and graphs more than 175 indicators from the World Bank’s database. Start here

National ReportsSTATE FACT SHEETS
The ERS State Fact Sheets provide information on population, income, poverty, education, employment, federal funds, organic agriculture, farm characteristics, farm financial indicators, top commodities, and exports, for each State in the United States. Links to county-level data are included when available. The State Fact Sheets now include 2010 Census State and county population counts.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011

National Reports Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America
Brand new - and free! - product from USDA's Economic Research Service. The Atlas provides information on people, jobs, agriculture and county classifications using the most current data.

Click here for a primer on the atlas.

National Reports2010 the Small Business Economy
This edition reviews the economic environment and, to the extent that data are available, how small firms fared in the economy and financial markets of 2009.
US Small Business Administration