In This Issue...

1. A Message from your President
   
   
   
2. 2018-19 Board
   
   
3. Journal of Extension
   
   
4. 2019 NACDEP Conference
   
   
5. Penn State Extension on Community Conflict
   
   
6. Southern Region Updates
   
   

7. Minnesota's BR

8. You Belong in NACDEP

NACDEP Mission and Vision

NACDEP is an organization dedicated to improving the visibility, coordination, professional status and resource base of community and economic development Extension programs and professionals.

Vision:
Advocating community and economic development programming, while educating and recognizing Extension professionals who develop successful programs and expand resources to strengthen communities.

Follow us on Twitter

@NACDEP

 A message from the President

Submitted by David Civittolo

We need your input!!!!!!

As I write this note with too much snow still on the ground and temperatures hovering around 15, I want to convince myself spring will soon be here. I hear birds chirping so I know (hope) winter will soon be a memory and folks in Ohio will then be complaining about the heat and humidity!!

Since the December newsletter, the NACDEP Board and Committees have been working to enhance member benefits for our organization- but we need your input, thoughts, and suggestions

On behalf of the Member Services Committee, and with thoughtful input from the Marketing and Communications Committee, a membership survey has been developed. The information you provide will be used by NACDEP Board members and committees to help guide future priorities for our organization to better serve you as a NACDEP member.

I want to thank the Membership Services Committee for all their hard work in developing the survey instrument.

Please take a few minutes to complete the survey. The survey will be open until March 22, 2019 Here is the link: https://uaex.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1B3VzgNoiMViKLH

The results will be shared at the business meeting in Asheville.

David Civittolo [email protected]

Meet the 2018-2019 NACDEP Board

Submitted by David Civittolo, NACDEP President

If you have any questions about NACDEP, please use the contact information below to reach any of the 2018-19 NACDEP Board members.

NACDEP Seeking a Representative for the Extension Journal

If you are interested in joining the Extension Journal Board of Directors as a NACDEP representative, please email me. In general, Board members are expected to:

• Attend and participate in Board meetings
  
  
• Participate on at least one Board subcommittee
  
  
• Read minutes and handouts prior to meetings and come to meetings prepared
  
  
• Suggest agenda items when appropriate
  
  
• Maintain communications between NACDEP and Extension Journal Board.
  
  
• Solicit input from NACDEP members and communicate their ideas, concerns and input back to the Board
  
  
• Recruit individuals office to be considered for appointment as peer reviewers of JOE articles

Submitted by David Civittolo

What you Need to Know About 2019 Annual Conference Registration

Penn State Extension on Community Conflict

Submitted by Judy Chambers
Economic and Community Development Educator
Energy, Business and Community Vitality Team
Penn State Extension, Adams County

Penn State Extension has developed a video series titled "Community Conflict: Finding Middle Ground" which is designed to help extension educators, community leaders, municipal officials and others who work in the public and nonprofit sector. The series offers practical strategies to facilitate and build trust in a community. The short videos are designed to be watched individually or as a series. Each video focuses on individual topics important in productive community conversations.

It is important for community leaders to create a civil environment to explore the issues at the heart of polarizing conversations, whether those difficult discussions focus on community planning, resource development, or other "hot button" topics, according to Walt Whitmer, senior extension educator with Penn State's Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education. He and other Penn State Extension educators are sensitive to the importance of effective engagement and earning the trust of stakeholders for optimal open conversation. Whitmer stresses the importance of fostering trust in all public interactions, and

the importance of effective community engagement strategies that ensure the interests and priorities of residents are reflected in the decisions that affect them. "The research and experience of countless practitioners makes this crystal clear," he said. "Without a purposeful and consistent effort to foster trust and build strong relationships at every opportunity, even the best-designed community engagement or conflict-management processes will fall short."

Tom Murphy, director of Penn State's Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research, highlights the importance of understanding risk from a community perspective. "Identifying these risks and assisting community members as they work through known facts and discover new information and benefits, will provide authenticity and transparency to a community leader's discussion," he said. "Sorting out 'possible' versus 'probable' risks is a key component of this transparent process." Determining the makeup of the audience and perceived risks will help a community leader or municipal official to understand their position on the subject. "Identifying and appreciating all the concerns, emotions, uncertainties and fears surrounding the subject prior to a meeting can provide the best frame for a productive discussion," Murphy said.

At times, dealing with a difficult audience or dealing with myths and inaccurate information may be necessary, pointed out extension educator Dan Brocket. Successful coping strategies can provide any leader with the tools to handle difficult audience members or protestors. "These strategies - along with sorting out fact versus fiction early in a discussion - can help a leader reduce negative impact and keep the dialogue focused on accurate details, likely leading to a better outcome," he said.

Lisa Hrabluk, a consultant and founder of Wicked Ideas, whose mission is to create safe and welcoming space for people to learn about complex issues and work together to develop solutions, worked with a team of Penn State Extension educators to develop the video series. She introduces the videos and then wraps them up with insights into building an effective network. "Over the past decade the rise of grassroots, community-based networks have been instrumental in driving economic, social and political change," Hrabluk said. "The hierarchical nature of corporations and governments do not easily adapt to the fluidity of movements, and I've had success helping institutions broaden their traditional stakeholder engagement process to make room at the table for community-based movements and treat them as partners in change."

Penn State Extension has made this video series available at no charge for all community leaders, officials, educators and facilitators. The series can be found on the Penn State Extension website at http://pages.extension.psu.edu/community-conflict-finding-middle-ground .

Topics include: "Intro to Community Conflict: Finding Middle Ground," "Effective Engagement," "Social License," "The Role and Importance of Trust," Public Meetings," "Understanding Risk," "Framing the Issue," "Anticipating Audience Response," "Difficult Audiences," "Myths and Misinformation," "Combatting Misinformation" and "Building a Network."

The video series is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Southern Region NACDEP Updates

Submitted by Amanda Perez, Southern Representative [email protected]

Authors: Linda Seals, UF/IFAS Extension Regional Specialized Agent, [email protected] Ramona Madhosingh-Hector, UF/IFAS Extension, Pinellas County, [email protected]

NACDEP State Chapter Development is Trending in the South

NACDEP is the organizational vehicle by which we in Extension can strengthen the community and economic development program. State chapters offer a vehicle for strengthening our individual work and collaborative projects within our state, as well as offering a continued path to gain recognition for our value within the land-grant system. The growth of community development work and the cross pollination of Community Development with other land-grant disciplines in Southern communities is truly exciting. Many Southern Region NACDEP members now recognize the value of creating State Chapters to provide a professional development pathway for Community Development professionals and those working in Community Development. Seven state chapters have organized since our national association's inception, but we have yet to initiate a Southern Chapter. This year we anticipate 2 - 3 chapters forming in the South. If you are interested in joining this Southern trend of creating a State Chapter, please contact Amanda Perez, University of Arkansas Extension and Southern Region Representative for more details at: [email protected]

Southern Success in Community Development: CIVIC- A Collaborative Community Project in Florida

CIVIC (Community Voices, Informed Choices) is a new community capacity building program in Florida. The cross-discipline program provides technical resources and professional development training to enable agents to effectively engage in community dialogue on public issues. The defining element of CIVIC is its focus on utilizing Extension agents to facilitate deliberative dialogue about complex issues that leads to social action, creates common citizen knowledge, and increases community capacity.

The CIVIC team is truly collaborative as it is comprised of Extension agents and specialists from both the 1862 and 1890 institutions in Florida. The mettle of CIVIC is also being tested internally as we manage our respective duties and navigate the differences between the two Extension systems. To date, Extension agents across the state have conducted at least eight forums on climate change, stormwater, plastic pollution and affordable housing demonstrating the value of CIVIC as a cross-discipline program. This innovative program recognizes that science and value driven judgements impact public issues and public policy development and

Extension can support this process with the right balance of technical and social skills. For more information about CIVIC, check out this video of our award-winning project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm7tKLYmtFA.

Minnesota offers in-person Business Retention & Expansion course - June 5-6 in Twin Cities

Submitted by Michael Darger & John Bennett, University of Minnesota Extension T

The University of Minnesota Extension's Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) Course teaches a community development methodology for BRE. There are online and in-person sections available. NACDEP'ers and other colleagues from New Hampshire, South Dakota, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Ontario, Oregon and elsewhere have joined us in the course in recent years. Who does that leave out? This summer we are hosting an in-person BRE course June 5-6th in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is the same course as the online edition. Once again we are offering a related, optional workshop on the morning of June 7th on Business Succession and Transition for community economic developers. Anyone who signs up for the BRE course can also attend the Business Succession and Transition workshop for no extra cost The BRE in-person course is ready to go but the details for the June 7th event are still coming together. Watch the website for further details.

We hope some NACDEP'ers can join us. The Twin Cities are very snowy right now but that will be gone in June (we hope). However, if your travel budget is reserved for the NACDEP conference in Asheville, then we have an online version of the course starting September 25th. Or another in-person course October 22-23, if we have enough registrants. Team discounts and third-party certification through BREI are available.

NACDEP | PO Box 866, Blairsville, GA. 30512 
706-400-0081  [email protected]