The Aspen Institute

Rooting Wealth that Sticks is a regional forum that aims to highlight what’s working in rural America that fuels regional prosperity. Practitioners from across the country will profile a range of sector-specific stories about current and emerging economic development partnerships that:

• Increase regional wealth and self-reliance

• Build jobs and business success

• Strengthen key sectors – existing and emerging

• Produce better livelihoods and upward mobility

• Benefit low-income rural people, places and firms

The one-day forum offers participants the opportunity to learn about the principles and approaches used to build these “wealth-creation value chain” partnerships — and to engage in constructive conversations about applying them to their own work in other sectors or regions. Forum participants will also identify changes in local, state, and federal policy that can help advance more wealth-creation partnerships. The ideas will be shared with the White House Rural Council and Congress.

Featured Speakers:

• Keynote speaker Thomas J. Vilsack, Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture and White House Rural Council chair (Invited)

• Session Leaders from a broad range of sectors and regions, including Christopher Masingill, Delta Regional Authority Federal Co-Chairman, Senchel Matthews, Delta Regional Director of Seeds of Change for Heifer International, and Ines Polonius, Executive Director of alt.Consulting.

• Welcome Remarks by Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe

Who should attend?

YOU! The Forum is open to anyone, from anywhere ,who holds a stake in advancing regional and rural economies. That includes regional, state, and rural economic development practitioners, private sector business owners and finance leaders, federal, state and local policymakers, regional educational institutions, organizations that are addressing or researching economic development innovations, local and national foundations, next-generation entrepreneurs and interested students, and media.