Kansas Rural Development Council
About Us
The Kansas Rural Development Council (KRDC) is an organization created to strengthen the economy and enhance quality of life for rural Kansans. The membership is comprised of heads of Federal agencies in Kansas, State agency heads, local and tribal government leaders and private sector representatives.
KRDC was organized
in November 1990 as part of the White House Rural Development Initiative
Program. Kansas is one of eight states chosen to pilot the program. Currently
forty states are participating in the program. The overall mission of
the White House Program is to: Improve the economic and social well-being
of the nation's rural people by strengthening the capacity of rural America
to be competitive in a global economy.
The mission of the Kansas Rural Development Council is to bring together the resources of the private sector, local and tribal governments and the state and federal governments to promote, more effectively, grassroots rural development through collaboration and support of its membership.
The Council provides:
- A framework for public and private resources to promote rural development;
- A forum for effective collaboration between the various entities to identify rural issues and to meet the needs;
- Leadership in making strategic use of available resources and
- A focal point for identifying and addressing interdepartmental and intergovernmental barriers to implementing a long term development strategy.
We strive to achieve the following goals:
- Increase the availability of affordable housing in rural communities
- Preserve the heritage and culture of our rural communities so that the quality of life, as determined by the community, can be maintained.
- Help facilitate greater educational opportunities for the rural population so that the entire state can compete in a global economy.
- Assure that all Kansans have quality drinking water.
- Encourage and support efforts to better provide adequate health care for all rural Kansans.
- Decrease
barriers affecting growth and stability of rural communities.
Increase awareness of available resources for rural areas.
- Increase awareness of Kansas Rural Development Council's role as a liaison.
- Increase accessibility to resources needed by those wanting to enter the profession of farming.
- Promote
and support efforts to provide equal access to telecommunication for
rural areas.