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Ab Basu, Executive Director

ab@ruraljobscoalition.com

As rural Louisiana areas 'die before our very eyes,' here's how it's impacting the entire state too - The Advocate
Rural Jobs Coalition names State Rep. Chris Paddie 'legislator of the year' - The Marshall News Messenger
Mackenzie Ledet Elected to Board of State Agriculture and Rural Leaders - Stonehenge Capital
Grow Rural Texas Jobs Launches Digital Advocacy Initiative - Grow Rural TX Jobs
Rural Jobs Coalition Applauds HB203 Moving Forward on Strong Committee Vote - RJC
Letter: Give Mass. farmers more access to growth capital - The Berkshire Eagle
Columnists Adam Hinds and Stephen Kulik: A rural strategy for economic growth - Daily Hampshire Gazette
Banks Shutter 1,700 Branches in Fastest Decline on Record - WSJ
Rex Martin represents the Rural Jobs Coalition in Topeka, Kansas - RJC
Why Is Pay Lagging? Maybe Too Many Mergers in the Heartland - NYT
North Carolina Struggles to Draw Businesses to Countryside - WSJ
Goodbye, George Bailey: Decline of Rural Lending Crimps Small-Town Business - The Wall Street Journal
New equity funds ignite rural renaissance and some renewables - Agri Pulse
As Silicon Valley Gets ‘Crazy,’ Midwest Beckons Tech Investors - NY Times
VC investment in US agtech keeps growing [datagraphic] - Pitchbook
Rural Economy Population Migration - United States Department of Agriculture
VCs see fertile ground in agtech - techcrunch.com
Rural Jobs: Make a Living in Your Rural Community or from a Homestead Business - Mother Earth News
Rural Business Leader Points to Rural-Urban Interdependence - Kiowa County Press
The Real Way to "Bring Jobs Back" to Rural America - Paste Magazine
Restoring rural America: community building in the modern era - Farm and Dairy
First chapter in comeback story for rural Maine? - Maine Biz
Rural America Is Back in Business - Medium.com
A very bad sign for all but America’s biggest cities - The Washington Post
Investments in small business revive whole neighborhoods - San Francisco Chronicle
A Rebounding Economy Remains Fragile for Many - New York Times
Rural Jobs Coalition Applauds Kentucky State Rep. Blanton for Legislation to Unlock $150M for Rural Small Businesses - Business Wire
State Rep. Chris Paddie files rural jobs bill aimed at helping small businesses - News Journal
Utah Shows How Labor-Force Growth Fuels Economic Growth - WSJ
Senators Hinds, Gobi, Humason, Lesser and Welch: The Choice for Western Mass: Lead or Lose - Berkshire Eagle
Big Banks Cut Back on Loans to Small Business - WSJ
Here's how small-town America is primed to beat Silicon Valley in innovation - Medium
A map of where U.S. job growth is spiking - MarketWatch
"Silicon Prairie," America's new entrepreneurial frontier - CBS News

Rural Jobs Coalition Legislator of the Year Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles in Conjunction with the 2018 States Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures

Giving a voice to rural entrepreneurs.

We are the Rural Jobs Coalition (RJC), a nonpartisan organization formed for small businesses by small businesses to highlight to lawmakers the message that the rural economy matters. With no one better to tell our story, we are the voice of rural America and its entrepreneurs.

Join the Coalition

Since 2000, only one percent of capital invested in American small businesses has gone to rural America. Learn about this inequality in your state, and join us to help fix this crippling issue in your area

Alabama Only 1.8% of the $2.4 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 has been in rural communities. Alaska No rural small businesses have received any of the $57 million invested since 2000. Arizona Just 3% of the nearly $8.2 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 has occurred in rural communities. Arkansas The concentration of risk capital in coastal states has accelerated in the past 15 years. California Rural companies have received only 0.02% of the capital invested in small businesses since 2000. Colorado Less than 1% of the $35 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 went to rural areas. Connecticut Rural small businesses received only $11 million, 0.1%, of capital invested since 2000. Deleware Only 0.2%, or $5 million, of the capital invested in small businesses since 2000 went to rural areas. Florida Rural small businesses have received just 0.1% of the more than $36 billion invested in small businesses since 2000. Georgia Half of one percent of the $23 billion in investments since 2000 has been made in rural small businesses. Hawaii Just 8.3% of investments since 2000 have been made in rural small businesses. Idaho Rural small businesses received only $87 million, 11%, of capital invested since 2000. Illinois Only 1.4% of the $29 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 went to rural areas. Indiana Less than $500 million, 8.6%, of investments since 2000 have been made in rural small businesses. Iowa Less than 3% of the $1.3 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 went to rural areas. Kansas Just 10% of the $2.5 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 has occurred in rural communities. Kentucky Only 4.8% of the $1.7 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 went to rural areas. Louisianna Rural companies received only 11.3% of the capital invested in small businesses since 2000. Maine Less than 22%, $211 million, of capital invested in small businesses since 2000 went to rural areas. Maryland Less than 1% of the $21 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 went to rural areas. Massachusetts No rural small businesses have received any of the $81 billion invested since 2000. Michigan Michigan Rural companies received just 5% of the $12 billion invested in small businesses since 2000. Minnesota Just 6.2% of the nearly $14.5 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 has occurred in rural communities. Mississippi Since 2011, metro employment has rebounded, while national rural employment continues at near-recessionary levels. Missouri Rural companies received just 3% of the nearly $7.5 billion invested in small businesses since 2000. Montana The concentration of risk capital in coastal states has accelerated in the past 15 years. Nebraska Only 7.1% of the $788 million invested in small businesses since 2000 went to rural areas. Nevada Only 0.004%, or $150,000, of the $3.9 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 went to rural areas. New Hampshire Just 6.8% of the nearly $3.3 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 has occurred in rural communities. New Jersey Since 2011, metro employment has rebounded, while national rural employment continues at near-recessionary levels. New Mexico Rural companies received just 2% of the $1 billion invested in small businesses since 2000. New York Rural companies received just 1% of the nearly $85 billion invested in small businesses since 2000. North Carolina Only 4.4% of the $14.8 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 went to rural areas. North Dakota Just $49 million of the capital invested in small businesses since 2000 has gone to rural areas. Ohio Just 4.2% of the $13.3 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 has occurred in rural communities. Oklahoma Less than 4% of the $13 billion in capital invested since 2000 has been made in rural small businesses. Oregon Only 0.3% of the $4.5 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 has occurred in rural communities. Pennsylvania Only 0.3% of the nearly $35 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 has occurred in rural communities. Puerto Rico Since Dodd-Frank and the 2008 crisis, many small businesses in rural areas can't access the growth capital they need. Rhode Island Since Dodd-Frank and the 2008 crisis, many small businesses in rural areas can't access the growth capital they need. South Carolina Rural companies received just 13% of the nearly $3.3 billion invested in small businesses since 2000. South Dakota Less than 10% of the $224 million in capital invested since 2000 has gone to rural small businesses. Tennessee Less than 1% of the $8.5 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 has occurred in rural communities. Texas Rural companies received only 0.6% of the capital invested in small businesses since 2000. Utah Just 1.1% of the $7.4 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 has occurred in rural communities. Vermont Between 2010 and 2014, nearly two-thirds of rural U.S. counties lost businesses, on net. Virginia Less than 1% of the $18.7 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 has gone in rural communities. Washington Half of one percent of the $25.5 billion in investments since 2000 has been made in rural small businesses. West Virginia Just 2% of the $168 million invested in small businesses since 2000 has gone to rural communities. Wisconsin Only 2.9% of the more than $8.8 billion invested in small businesses since 2000 went to rural areas. Wyoming Just 9%, or $80 million, of capital invested in small businesses since 2000 has occurred in rural communities.

Rural Jobs Coalition News

As rural Louisiana areas 'die before our very eyes,' here's how it's impacting the entire state too

The Advocate
Mark Ballard
February 2, 2020

Rural Jobs Coalition names State Rep. Chris Paddie 'legislator of the year'

The Marshall News Messenger
November 12, 2019

Mackenzie Ledet Elected to Board of State Agriculture and Rural Leaders

Stonehenge Capital
Stonehenge Capital
August 23, 2019

Grow Rural Texas Jobs Launches Digital Advocacy Initiative

Grow Rural TX Jobs
April 23, 2019

Rural Jobs Coalition Applauds HB203 Moving Forward on Strong Committee Vote

RJC
February 28, 2019

Letter: Give Mass. farmers more access to growth capital

The Berkshire Eagle
Mark Amato, President of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation
July 14, 2018

Columnists Adam Hinds and Stephen Kulik: A rural strategy for economic growth

Daily Hampshire Gazette
July 11, 2018

Banks Shutter 1,700 Branches in Fastest Decline on Record

WSJ
February 12, 2018

Rex Martin represents the Rural Jobs Coalition in Topeka, Kansas

RJC
February 6, 2018

Why Is Pay Lagging? Maybe Too Many Mergers in the Heartland

NYT
NOAM SCHEIBER and BEN CASSELMAN
January 25, 2018

North Carolina Struggles to Draw Businesses to Countryside

WSJ
Valerie Bauerlein
January 22, 2018

Goodbye, George Bailey: Decline of Rural Lending Crimps Small-Town Business

The Wall Street Journal
Ruth Simon and Coulter Jones
December 25, 2017

New equity funds ignite rural renaissance and some renewables

Agri Pulse
Jonathan H. Harsch
December 12, 2017

As Silicon Valley Gets ‘Crazy,’ Midwest Beckons Tech Investors

NY Times
Steve Lohr
November 19, 2017

VC investment in US agtech keeps growing [datagraphic]

Pitchbook
Dana Olsen, Reilly Hammond
August 8, 2017

Rural Economy Population Migration

United States Department of Agriculture
June 15, 2017

VCs see fertile ground in agtech

techcrunch.com
Joanna Glasner
May 13, 2017

Rural Jobs: Make a Living in Your Rural Community or from a Homestead Business

Mother Earth News
Ann Larkin Hansen
March 1, 2017

Rural Business Leader Points to Rural-Urban Interdependence

Kiowa County Press
Ben Rowley
February 14, 2017

The Real Way to "Bring Jobs Back" to Rural America

Paste Magazine
Ben Gran
January 27, 2017

Restoring rural America: community building in the modern era

Farm and Dairy
Ivory Harlow
January 27, 2017

First chapter in comeback story for rural Maine?

Maine Biz
Staff
January 19, 2017

Rural America Is Back in Business

Medium.com
Tom Vilsack
September 1, 2016

A very bad sign for all but America’s biggest cities

The Washington Post
Jim Tankersley
May 22, 2016

Investments in small business revive whole neighborhoods

San Francisco Chronicle
Maurice Jones and Joseph Horiye
February 17, 2016

A Rebounding Economy Remains Fragile for Many

New York Times
Binyamin Appelbaum, Patricia Cohen and Jack Healy
September 15, 2016

Rural Jobs Coalition Applauds Kentucky State Rep. Blanton for Legislation to Unlock $150M for Rural Small Businesses

Business Wire
February 14, 2019

State Rep. Chris Paddie files rural jobs bill aimed at helping small businesses

News Journal
Robin Y. Richardson
February 7, 2019

Utah Shows How Labor-Force Growth Fuels Economic Growth

WSJ
Sarah Chaney and Biography @sechaney sarah.chaney@wsj.com Sharon Nunn
January 18, 2019

Senators Hinds, Gobi, Humason, Lesser and Welch: The Choice for Western Mass: Lead or Lose

Berkshire Eagle
Sens. Adam Hinds, Anne Gobi, Don Humason, Eric Lesser and James Welch
May 28, 2018

Big Banks Cut Back on Loans to Small Business

WSJ
Ruth Simon
November 26, 2015

Here's how small-town America is primed to beat Silicon Valley in innovation

Medium
Robert Scoble
January 27, 2016

A map of where U.S. job growth is spiking

MarketWatch
Sean Langlois
February 23, 2016

"Silicon Prairie," America's new entrepreneurial frontier

CBS News
February 25, 2016