Wisconsin Rural Partners, Inc.: Register now for Wisconsin Rural Summit 6

Wisconsin Rural Partners, Inc.

P.O. Box 27, Hollandale, WI 53544

608.237.6367 (ph) – 608.967.2322 (ph/fax)

Contact: Rick Rolfsmeyer, Executive Director, 608-967-2322 or ricky@wirural.org

Community leaders and organizers, local government officials, federal and state agency professionals, businesses, and community development specialists interested in strengthening Wisconsin’s rural communities are encouraged to attend Wisconsin Rural Summit 6 to be held Friday June 5, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The theme of this year’s Summit is: Rallying Communities: Re-frame, Re-build, Innovate!

Could your community use a renaissance? Small steps lead to big changes and a little entrepreneurship can go a long way! Participants will learn how collaboration, networking and entrepreneurial thinking can revitalize rural communities. Learn how to encourage success by harnessing local talents into collaborative networks for meaningful change. You’ll also learn processes for developing creativity, enhancing community and network building.

Best of all, participants will learn from each other in focused, facilitated, small group discussions and informal networking. And through “graphic recording” we will capture ideas from our conversations on the fly to enhance collaborative problem-solving and our ability to draw conclusions from our discussions.

This year the Summit will be facilitated by nationally-known experts Jack Ricchiuto and June Holley, of Ohio. The focus of Jack’s work is coaching and facilitating leaders, organizations, and communities in building their capacity for change. Over the past three decades, Jack continues to coach corporate executives, civic leaders, project teams, entrepreneurs, and physicians. He provides development for leaders across the US and globally and facilitates complex community engagement processes for economic and community development projects.

Holley has been weaving economic and community networks for almost 20 years. With others in Appalachian Ohio, June began a stream of experimentation to discover how to encourage many more people to start and then expand businesses. With these entrepreneurs, she mobilized dozens of area organizations to collaborate and create an environment that would help these businesses innovate and work together. Her recent Smart Networks projects have involved communities, regions, statewide collaborations, healthcare and hospital systems, national learning and innovation networks, and large corporations.

The mission of Wisconsin Rural Partners is to develop leadership, networks and voice for rural Wisconsin. WRP began hosting Wisconsin Rural Summits in 1996. In addition to many other efforts WRP presents Wisconsin Top Rural Development Initiative and Wisconsin Community Leadership Awards each year.

The registration fee is $59 for Wisconsin Rural Partners members or $79 for non-members. A registration form and Summit flyer are available online at http://www.wirural.org. For more information about the Summit, contact Rick Rolfsmeyer, Wisconsin Rural Partners, P.O. Box 27, Hollandale, WI, 53544, phone 608/967-2322, or ricky@wirural.org.