A Catalog of Innovative Regional Partnerships, Part Two

rural countryside, taking a variety of forms and crossing many boundaries. The Tenth Federal Reserve District comprises a broad range of rural regions, from traditional agricultural areas in the Plains to highgrowth high-amenity rural areas in the Rocky Mountain West. The range of issues confronting these regions is as varied as the district’s topography. Some of its counties have enjoyed strong population gains, while others have suffered staggering losses (Map 1). A growing number of the district’s regional partnerships owe their success to the effective and innovative approaches that characterize partnerships in today’s global economy. Some rural partnerships create new networks across institutions or across space to foster local economic development. Some cross at least one county line. Some are launched with the active participation of at least two of the arrowhead institutions—public, private, and nonprofit. And some are created to address commonly shared issues, which include meeting the marketing challenges of rural entrepreneurs, addressing a new regulatory mandate, optimizing a new fiscal opportunity, and fostering a natural resource amenity. 2006