JULY 11, 2022 — The UTSA Texas South-West Small Business Development Center (TXSW SBDC) Network will present Texas Rural Challenge (TRC) 2022 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 12 and 13.
This year’s event will be completely virtual to ensure the safety of all participants. But as in years past, the challenge will feature best practices, collaboration opportunities, and ‘how-to’ learning experiences aimed at putting big ideas for rural economic growth into practice.
This will be the 12th year of the TRC, an event dedicated to helping rural Texans grow their local economies. In line with this year’s theme, Making Connections to Grow Resilient Rural Communities, TRC 2022 will focus on providing the economic development resources and information that will empower rural economic development professionals and leaders to ensure the growth and success of their communities in any social, health and economic environment.
Thomas Tunstall, senior research director at the UTSA Institute for Economic Development, will be the keynote speaker. His presentation will center on the changing nature of supply chains and opportunities for rural communities in Texas that will result from those changes.
The TXSW SBDC will host 36 learning sessions by top rural advocates, federal and state agencies, academia and industry experts. TRC will feature advisor sessions on how to address the challenges of today’s workers, regional collaboration, strengthening state and regional partnerships and how to do business with federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management.
A series of “speed networking” sessions will offer opportunities for attendees to make beneficial economic development connections.
Registration is free, courtesy of Austin-based Capital CDC, a leading private, nonprofit small-business lender. Go to TexasRuralChallenge.org to register and for more information.
