Idaho

These days the fastest growing group of business owners is women who use their entrepreneur spirits, leadership and creativity to start businesses. According  Luz Robles, director of the Zions Business Resource Center http://www.utahpolicy.com/brc/DirectorLuzRobles.jpg  to the Center for Women’s Business Research, in 2006, 7.7 million firms were either woman-owned or women held the majority share. Women account for 29.7 percent of all businesses in the U.S., a 42.3 percent increase since 1997. Women are having a direct impact in our national and state economy.

 Zions Bank is committed to working with women to make their dreams a reality by offering a series of micro-grants for women. The 2008 Zions Bank Smart Women Grant enables deserving women with hopes of starting a community-oriented business or project to have access to funding to make this a reality.

 Grants are open to female residents in both Utah and Idaho and are awarded in six different areas including small business start-up and expansion; child and elder care; community development; continuing education and teacher support; health and human services; and arts and culture. Community review panels will select the grant recipients.

Applications are available online at www.smartwomen.zionsbank.com and are due by July 31, 2008.

The USDA’s Economic Research Service provides access to reports on a variety of rural development strategies. Reports include Education as a Rural Development Strategy; Recreation, Tourism and Rural Well-Being and Farm-Based Recreation. Check out other research available from their Rural Development Strategies Briefing Room.

From the newly published toolkit, Homes Within Reach: “This toolkit was created as a place to begin a dialogue between stakeholders, and more  specifically, developers and municipal officials—two of the main players in the creation of affordable housing. It offers information about who lives in affordable housing, what developers see as some of the barriers to building it, and ideas for land use planning that encourage its creation. The design portfolio provides examples that range from multi-family development to mixed-use communities to single-family developments that match the surrounding rural landscape.” Follow this link to download the free pdf.

According to analysis of data by USA Today, Idaho remains in the top 5 states people are moving in to. Others in the top 5 include Washington DC, Nevada, Alaska & Wyoming. Are we prepared for this? Do we welcome newcomers to our towns? How will this change the realities of day to day life?

Inspired by the successful and innovative Handmade in America collaboration in the Blue Mountains of North Carolina, Two Degrees Northwest is about creating a place-based economy, where dollars are firmly tied to heritage, landscape and community. Moreover, it fosters regional thinking, entrepreneurism, and community and resource stewardship.

Uniquely Idaho is a collaborative effort of… University of Idaho Extension — Idaho Dept. of Commerce — USDA Rural Development — Idaho Rural Partnership — Idaho Transportation Department — Idaho Commission on the Arts — Idaho Department of Agriculture — Idaho State Historical Society — Idaho Parks and Recreation — And countless local and regional partners!

Click here to read the first issue of the Uniquely Idaho Newsletter and see what’s going on in YOUR community.

For more information, please contact Lorie Higgins, University of Idaho Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology (higgins@uidaho.edu; 208-885-9717)