The Center on Rural Innovation is significantly expanding our reach and offerings, and embarking on a comprehensive, multi-year approach to effectively leverage AI to grow rural economies, businesses, and careers.
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Sharing our latest blog posts, news stories, press releases and more.

Meadville, PA; Rutherford County, NC; Natchitoches, LA; and Danville, VA have joined CORI’s Rural Innovation Network, bringing vibrant community vision, leadership, and economic potential.
Discover how Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is turning brain drain into brain gain by leveraging the Global EIR program to attract international talent and fuel rural innovation.
Brewster County, Texas needed much faster internet service to match its people and talent with economic opportunity in the digital age. Big Bend Telephone, a third-generation family-owned provider, is stepping up to close that gap.
Recently, members of CORI’s Tech Talent Development team, Shaniqua Corley-Moore and Cameryn Mitchell, embarked on a roadshow across Vermont to visit three Rural Innovation Network (RIN) communities: Rutland, Springfield, and Windham County.
AI is changing the economic landscape at an unprecedented pace, and with it comes both opportunities and challenges for rural communities. In this next era, how can rural America harness transformative technology to lead and thrive?
Nearly fifty miles to the east of North Carolina’s Research Triangle, a town that has historically lagged the state’s metropolitan centers is working to bring about a brighter economic future.
Selma, Alabama, once a storied center of agriculture and the civil rights movement, faces economic stagnation in the wake of a decline in agricultural employment.
Entrepreneurs across rural America are increasingly recognizing that small towns offer distinct advantages for building successful startups. The CORI Entrepreneurship Team recently visited Independence, OR to study startup accelerator feasibility.
The new BEAD rules have caused fiber providers to take a second look at applying to BEAD. Fiber applicants need to reassess whether applying still makes strategic sense for their customers and their long-term business strategy.