Rural Fellows 2021 - Pierce and ECAP

Jenny Nixon Author

02/06/2025 Added

2 Plays

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Presentation from a Rural Fellow in Pierce. Recorded July 14, 2021.

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[00:00:00.560]- Let's go ahead and get started this morning.
[00:00:02.760]Actually, we're gonna talk with some other interns today.
[00:00:08.480]And so Jordan is gonna talk to us a little bit
[00:00:11.860]about the Rural Fellows interns that she is working with.
[00:00:15.360]And I'll just let you take it from here, Jordan,
[00:00:17.760]the projects they're working on.
[00:00:19.360]- Good morning, everyone.
[00:00:22.880]So actually, I'm probably gonna actually turn this over
[00:00:25.360]to Eleni to talk through some of these pieces.
[00:00:28.320]She's put together a great presentation.
[00:00:31.040]So in addition to working with Eleni,
[00:00:34.240]I've been helping with communities across the state
[00:00:37.820]and helping coordinate some of the behind the scenes pieces
[00:00:40.600]of the Rural Fellows Program over the last year.
[00:00:42.760]And so have got to see and understand the program
[00:00:45.880]in a different way through that work.
[00:00:48.260]But again, we've had great placements this year.
[00:00:52.500]Mike, I know in Valentine,
[00:00:53.800]it's been a great experience for you
[00:00:55.540]and just hearing some of the comments
[00:00:56.860]that you've shared
[00:00:57.700]about the gentlemen that are there working
[00:00:59.860]and living with you in Valentine.
[00:01:03.440]And just, it's been an interesting experience,
[00:01:07.520]a great experience.
[00:01:08.640]And I guess we'll probably just kick it over to Alenia
[00:01:12.540]to start her presentation,
[00:01:13.680]'cause I don't wanna interrupt what she has outlined.
[00:01:16.020]So we'll start there
[00:01:17.440]and then we'll answer questions along the way,
[00:01:19.300]if that works.
[00:01:20.260]- Great, so I'm gonna share
[00:01:27.260]my presentation.
[00:01:28.320]Can you guys see it well?
[00:01:30.460]Okay.
[00:01:31.300]- Yes.
[00:01:32.900]- So yeah, today we're going to talk
[00:01:34.580]about the Rural Fellows
[00:01:35.860]and how this experience has been for us,
[00:01:38.360]where it started,
[00:01:39.940]and maybe we can encourage you guys
[00:01:44.940]to host a fellow next year, if possible.
[00:01:49.640]Let's go ahead and get started with the introductions.
[00:01:53.140]I am Aline Rodrigues de Queiroz.
[00:01:55.180]I am originally from Brazil.
[00:01:57.260]And I moved to Nebraska in 2018, '19.
[00:02:02.260]And this is the end of my second year.
[00:02:09.340]I am pursuing my PhD in biochemistry
[00:02:12.360]in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:02:15.280]And I think it was last year,
[00:02:19.840]I received an email saying about the Rural Fellows Program,
[00:02:22.960]and I was looking for internship opportunities.
[00:02:26.860]So I saw this opportunity and I was like,
[00:02:29.300]"Oh my goodness, this is so nice."
[00:02:31.080]So I decided to apply because it was the perfect opportunity
[00:02:36.080]for me to get involved, to learn more about Nebraska,
[00:02:41.080]and to use my skills to give back to the community
[00:02:43.880]who was so welcoming to me.
[00:02:46.360]So since then, I'm having this great experience
[00:02:51.360]and I'm super excited to tell this experience for you guys.
[00:02:56.460]Jordan, do you want to introduce yourself
[00:02:59.260]and say why you decided to host a fellow this year?
[00:03:04.260]- Yes, absolutely.
[00:03:05.480]Thank you for that great introduction, Eleni.
[00:03:08.320]Yes, and so again, Jordan Rasmussen,
[00:03:11.120]I'm a Rural Prosperity Nebraska Extension Educator.
[00:03:13.480]I'm based in Burwell and have been working
[00:03:16.680]alongside the Rural Fellows program now
[00:03:18.980]for the last six, nine months as we've gotten started
[00:03:23.400]for the 2021 year.
[00:03:25.600]And so I guess,
[00:03:26.060]what really prompted me to host fellows
[00:03:31.060]and to become involved in this program,
[00:03:34.060]in my past role, I actually hired a former Rural Fellow.
[00:03:38.340]I saw the experience that he brought to his job
[00:03:42.840]and the lessons that he learned from being on the ground.
[00:03:47.580]And I was just really blown away by the,
[00:03:52.340]he was a very intelligent
[00:03:55.660]and very capable person
[00:03:57.160]but that Rural Fellow's experience really came through
[00:04:01.640]in his resume and in his approach
[00:04:05.540]of how to work with rural communities
[00:04:07.240]and how to have conversations with rural individuals
[00:04:11.480]and help move our communities forward.
[00:04:13.880]And so that's, I guess, what really prompted me
[00:04:15.880]to decide to become involved in the program
[00:04:19.320]and also to host a Rural Fellow this summer.
[00:04:22.260]I also believe passionately that
[00:04:25.260]our young people have such great ideas
[00:04:30.260]and ability to see opportunities
[00:04:32.940]and things that sometimes when you're in a rural community
[00:04:37.280]or any community often overlook some of those great assets
[00:04:40.740]that you have and kind of pass them by.
[00:04:44.540]I think that energy and that ability to see the opportunity
[00:04:49.180]is something that our Rural Fellows bring to the table
[00:04:52.560]every day in their work, you know, in working with Eleni,
[00:04:54.860]you know, so English is not her first language.
[00:05:00.060]So when we're working on some of the projects
[00:05:03.160]we've been working on, she's able to see, you know,
[00:05:06.880]what does this look like for a person that, you know,
[00:05:09.480]English is not their first language,
[00:05:10.840]or even just how do we make this more accessible?
[00:05:13.680]And so those are the things that really, I guess,
[00:05:17.620]inspire me to be a part of this program
[00:05:20.060]and to participate and work alongside Eleni and learn from
[00:05:24.460]her as much as she's learning from me.
[00:05:27.260]- Thank you, Jordan.
[00:05:30.040]So now let's talk about the Rural Fellows Program itself.
[00:05:34.500]It started in 2013.
[00:05:37.080]And all this information is in our website,
[00:05:40.480]but it is truly this, a unique program.
[00:05:43.920]I haven't seen other programs like that.
[00:05:46.340]And it kind of bridges the gap between the skills
[00:05:50.660]and the talents that college student has and put this
[00:05:54.060]into practice.
[00:05:56.700]And sometimes students work from their hometowns.
[00:06:02.600]So they have, their hometowns are in and around Nebraska,
[00:06:05.740]so they can go back to their communities and work there
[00:06:10.080]and solve the problems that they have.
[00:06:12.340]And if you are not from Nebraska,
[00:06:14.280]you can truly experience what it is to be in Nebraska.
[00:06:17.480]And this is what I, I work remotely,
[00:06:20.480]but even working remotely, I am getting this sense
[00:06:23.660]that, okay, so this is Nebraska and it has been great.
[00:06:28.660]And we truly strive for promoting meaningful changes.
[00:06:34.280]Right now, I am close to finishing my,
[00:06:38.440]my work with the Rural Fellows.
[00:06:42.880]So I am really focusing on, okay,
[00:06:45.780]so this is gonna be over soon.
[00:06:47.880]So I need to put everything in a Google Drive sheet.
[00:06:53.260]So when I'm gone,
[00:06:55.200]they can access this information that I gathered.
[00:06:57.940]So it's going to be something bigger than me, hopefully.
[00:07:01.980]So this is where I am right now.
[00:07:04.200]So the projects can be anything.
[00:07:07.180]Here are some of the things,
[00:07:13.040]the main things that the projects usually are,
[00:07:16.380]but it's so much more than that.
[00:07:18.740]There is a fellow this summer and he is an engineer major.
[00:07:22.860]And he is building like a big map of Nebraska.
[00:07:27.040]And so everything is accessible for us to understand
[00:07:32.040]where is rural prosperity in Nebraska
[00:07:36.160]impacting in all over the state.
[00:07:38.980]And it's super interactive, it's super nice.
[00:07:41.820]So those are the main projects,
[00:07:44.000]but it's so much more than that.
[00:07:46.180]And the project changes a lot.
[00:07:48.160]So when you start something, maybe this is not
[00:07:52.460]interesting anymore, or if you finish this project,
[00:07:56.640]there is also more that you can do.
[00:07:59.140]So it's really nice.
[00:08:00.580]So yeah, I was telling before,
[00:08:05.840]the rural fellows are all over the state this summer,
[00:08:09.380]and we went to expand that.
[00:08:12.220]And I believe that recruiting communities and fellows
[00:08:15.480]will happen the end of this year, right, Jordan?
[00:08:18.920]- Yes, yep, we will start,
[00:08:22.060]recruiting communities here at the beginning of August,
[00:08:25.100]and then that the student process,
[00:08:26.600]student recruitment process will follow late in the fall.
[00:08:30.440]- Yes, so now we can talk about our project
[00:08:36.480]more specifically, and I think I'll hand this to you,
[00:08:40.180]Jordan, if you want to tell us about ECAP.
[00:08:43.340]- Yeah, sure, thank you.
[00:08:44.880]So Eleni and I are working together, as she mentioned,
[00:08:48.560]she's working remotely, working from Lincoln,
[00:08:51.660]but we're working with our rural communities.
[00:08:54.200]And our rural fellowship is a little bit different
[00:08:58.200]'cause we are a community of practice,
[00:09:00.460]as opposed to being embedded within that community.
[00:09:03.640]We've been, and as an RPN educator,
[00:09:06.080]we've been working alongside communities
[00:09:10.020]on a number of different projects.
[00:09:11.580]So one of the things that we have focused on a lot
[00:09:14.180]this summer is our entrepreneurial
[00:09:15.980]community activation process.
[00:09:18.120]So this is a program that has been a part of extension
[00:09:21.260]for over a decade, we've applied this process
[00:09:25.000]in communities across the state.
[00:09:27.060]And it really is like outlined here,
[00:09:29.740]that holistic approach to helping communities
[00:09:32.080]support innovation and entrepreneurial thinking
[00:09:34.940]by digging down into what those assets
[00:09:38.180]and opportunities are.
[00:09:40.440]And so, and then we have a number of items outlined here,
[00:09:44.960]but it's kind of a two part process.
[00:09:46.660]So with ECAP, we do a, we will conduct
[00:09:50.860]a community survey.
[00:09:52.660]Some of those survey questions come
[00:09:54.100]from our rural poll questions,
[00:09:56.340]but we also tailor questions
[00:09:57.860]to be specific to that community.
[00:09:59.700]So we've been working, a lot of our project
[00:10:03.880]with Ferlini and I is based in Pierce
[00:10:05.880]and Madison counties at working
[00:10:08.040]with those communities directly.
[00:10:09.920]And so we've worked with, so say the community of Pierce,
[00:10:13.440]they had a questions about, they have a park there.
[00:10:16.060]How can we bring more people into town
[00:10:17.760]that visit the park?
[00:10:19.460]And so it's that,
[00:10:20.460]that survey is really tailored to those communities
[00:10:25.060]to understand community perception,
[00:10:27.560]get community feedback, whereas opportunities exist.
[00:10:31.240]So that is one part of that process.
[00:10:35.800]And it probably gets us to, let's see,
[00:10:38.400]to step two in the outline here.
[00:10:42.860]So following that survey process, we put together reports,
[00:10:46.500]combine all the information, collate the information
[00:10:48.460]and present that back to the community.
[00:10:50.060]Part of the work that, and we'll touch on this a little bit
[00:10:53.460]in more in a moment, part of the work
[00:10:55.400]that Eleni has been helping us with is to help us refine
[00:10:58.020]that survey process and also that the process of how we share
[00:11:02.360]that information with communities.
[00:11:05.000]Oftentimes it can be, I've seen the reports be
[00:11:08.460]up to 100 pages, that's not necessarily an effective way
[00:11:12.060]to share that information back to a community
[00:11:14.460]that is ready to activate.
[00:11:17.000]So we'll dive into that a little bit more.
[00:11:19.660]But to finish up what the ECAP process does,
[00:11:22.860]so we have our survey results,
[00:11:24.760]then we come back together via community meetings.
[00:11:27.260]We have three of those community meetings
[00:11:29.560]to help identify the characteristics,
[00:11:31.560]the ECAP characteristics that rise to the top
[00:11:34.360]and where there's opportunity and excitement and motivation
[00:11:39.060]to move forward on projects.
[00:11:40.960]And so we facilitate conversations.
[00:11:43.260]There are typically four of those meetings.
[00:11:44.960]And what comes out in the end is an action plan
[00:11:48.160]and action teams.
[00:11:49.260]And we have a number of community members
[00:11:50.660]that are ready to take on pieces that are projects
[00:11:55.160]that have been identified.
[00:11:56.160]And that can be a project as far as we need to work
[00:11:59.260]on a welcoming package or we need to work
[00:12:02.460]on creating rural leadership development,
[00:12:05.460]rural leadership opportunities.
[00:12:07.460]It could be supports for our Chamber of Commerce or kind
[00:12:11.460]of creating a culture of education around how businesses
[00:12:15.260]or culture can be a business network of things
[00:12:18.860]of that nature.
[00:12:19.660]It really is kind of like the Rural Fellows Program.
[00:12:23.260]It's choose your own adventure and define your own adventure
[00:12:26.260]because this is a process for communities and guided
[00:12:32.060]by communities.
[00:12:32.660]We're just there to help facilitate some conversation.
[00:12:35.460]So that is ECAP and a quick overview.
[00:12:40.460]We are in the process, like I said, we're working in Madison
[00:12:43.860]and Pierce Counties on a number of projects there.
[00:12:46.260]We also have ECAP going in.
[00:12:48.460]Atkinson, Auburn, just, and so it's an opportunity beyond the Rural Fellows Program.
[00:12:54.460]If your rural community is interested, we'd be glad to visit with you about that.
[00:12:59.460]I'll turn it back over to Eleni.
[00:13:02.460]Thank you, Jordan.
[00:13:04.460]This survey blows my mind because in my own work, I'm all about data.
[00:13:10.460]I am a scientist.
[00:13:12.460]So when I was working with this data that came back from Pierce, I was amazed on how
[00:13:18.060]this survey is empowering because some of the questions asked, oh, so what kind of amenities
[00:13:25.060]or what kind of businesses do you think that would improve your life in Pierce or something
[00:13:30.060]like that?
[00:13:32.060]And for instance, I learned that in Pierce, there is no grocery store.
[00:13:38.060]So I imagine the power that this information can -- the power that this information can
[00:13:47.660]help the community.
[00:13:49.260]So when we talk about these results of the surveys back to the community, they know that
[00:13:54.260]they don't have a grocery store and that they need to get one.
[00:13:59.260]But there are also hair salons that people might understand.
[00:14:03.260]So I was imagining that if someone in the community are thinking, oh, maybe I should
[00:14:08.260]start a business, maybe this is the little spark that is missing for them to go ahead
[00:14:15.260]and get started with their dreams.
[00:14:17.260]So I think this is amazing.
[00:14:18.860]So I think my main goal on my projects with the Rural Fellows this summer was to optimizing
[00:14:27.580]and to make this process easier for the CAP teams.
[00:14:34.280]So talking about the surveys, after everyone responded to the survey, we get an Excel sheet
[00:14:42.920]like this.
[00:14:46.860]So if you get a lot of responses, this Excel sheet will be huge.
[00:14:52.400]And what is the best way to treat this information and to transform this bunch of little letters
[00:15:00.240]that doesn't make any sense to something that is actually showing something, something that
[00:15:06.620]the communities can actually use?
[00:15:08.400]So you can feel, you can talk about more of this process, Jordan, but what she told me
[00:15:16.460]is that sometimes these reports can be long and huge, and it's not very easy to treat
[00:15:26.540]this amount of data.
[00:15:27.520]So what I did was ask questions around, so I asked my advisor, so my expertise is working
[00:15:35.980]with numbers, so it was a challenge for me here.
[00:15:38.560]So how can I change this information that is long and it can be tedious to read each
[00:15:46.060]one of those Excel cells right here that is not informative?
[00:15:50.640]How can I make this better?
[00:15:52.200]How can I make their jobs easier?
[00:15:54.860]So I talked to people, I read papers, I spent a lot of time trying to think, thinking about
[00:16:02.160]this project, and what I landed was this software that is called MaxQDA, and it is exactly what
[00:16:09.840]we were hoping for.
[00:16:10.960]So when your data is not a number, when it is...
[00:16:15.660]When it is text, you can basically treat it as it was number.
[00:16:20.740]So with this software, we can treat each question separately, or you can treat each respondent
[00:16:30.660]separately, so you can understand that this person, for instance, this person is interested
[00:16:37.080]in more daycare opportunities in town, and then you learn that they have kids, and they
[00:16:43.700]move to Pierce because they...
[00:16:45.260]They like the school system, so you learn a lot about this individual, but you also
[00:16:51.980]learn for this specific question, and this question was asking, "What do you like the
[00:16:59.540]most about town, or what makes Pierce a great place to live and work?"
[00:17:06.120]And as you can see here, many people like their school system, they like this small
[00:17:14.860]town feeling, and they absolutely love the sense of community.
[00:17:19.760]Many people write that you know your neighbors by name, they know you, when they go to the
[00:17:28.960]business of the city, they usually know what they want, what they're there for, and I am
[00:17:34.200]from a big city in Brazil, so I kind of don't understand so much, so it was great for me
[00:17:42.160]to read those comments and compile this figure.
[00:17:44.460]So now, maybe the reports can be smaller, because instead of having each one of the
[00:17:52.860]answers in a table or in a small text, you can have this figure that summarizes information,
[00:18:02.060]put it into numbers, so I'm happy because their numbers are here.
[00:18:06.560]And yeah, so my main goal was to make this more informative, more clear.
[00:18:14.060]More easier for the eCAP teams to work with this data.
[00:18:20.060]And my next goal will be to show the team how I made this figure.
[00:18:28.060]Maybe a workshop where I basically sit with the data and show them how to do this.
[00:18:33.060]It's very easy. And yeah, this is what I prepared for you today.
[00:18:38.060]So I think now we'll be happy to take questions if you have any.
[00:18:43.660]Yeah. And just as a little bit of context as to what prompted this.
[00:18:48.660]So we like I mentioned with Pierce, we had over 100 pages of those qualitative, those open ended responses that were that came through.
[00:18:59.660]And so we are trying to find ways to make this more accessible.
[00:19:03.660]And so I think Alini, one of the pieces that she she pointed out, she's like, how many ways can we talk about a swimming pool?
[00:19:10.660]Because it would come up. It came up time and time again.
[00:19:13.260]Again, as an interest, an interest point. But it it wasn't necessarily coming together in a way that was really effective and usable.
[00:19:20.760]And so that that is what prompted this. And because this is a tool designed to assist communities, we want to make it as user friendly as possible.
[00:19:30.760]And and Alini has really helped us enhance that and make and make that happen so that we can use that as we move forward.
[00:19:42.860]Jordan, do you know how many communities have gone through the ECAP process?
[00:19:50.860]That might be actually a question Jenny may know some of those historic numbers, but I want to say upwards 25, 30, I would say over the years.
[00:20:01.860]You're about right. I don't know exactly either, but it's been around for quite a while and it has just continually been refined to get better and better.
[00:20:09.860]And so it's been a very effective tool for us.
[00:20:12.460]And one of the ways the data is used most often, in addition to helping us guide the conversation and helping guide those identification of priorities, it's also been an effective tool for when it comes to grant writing.
[00:20:31.460]When you can say that 27% of your community, like that it's a small town, when you're working on a grant application, that's powerful.
[00:20:42.060]It's powerful information and so that too is kind of some of the impetus for why we're trying to refine this and make this accessible to as well.
[00:20:55.060]It remind me the name of the software you're using max QDA, I can type it on the chat.
[00:21:02.060]Yes.
[00:21:06.060]Is there a fee for that.
[00:21:08.060]I'm assuming there is. Yes.
[00:21:11.660]So, yes, there is a fee for the free license the free trial for 30 days. But I think it goes $100 per year. So, I feel like it's really cost effective.
[00:21:24.540]So did you have to really though go through the cells, each of the data cells, and quantify them
[00:21:31.660]in a way that you could group them into similar types of responses?
[00:21:38.300]More or less. So there is a protocol for researchers that deals with qualitative data.
[00:21:48.540]So you usually study case by case. So you, for instance, I think there were 200 people
[00:21:56.380]responding to the survey. So the first step is to select 10 percent of that,
[00:22:01.740]five to ten people, and reach each one of their answers. So you kind of get a feeling of what are
[00:22:11.340]the, what are those answers. And then you can also do a word cloud. I don't know if you are
[00:22:17.420]familiar with that.
[00:22:18.460]And so you basically see what are the most common answers for those questions. And then you can
[00:22:26.940]create your categories yourself. And you can do this totally automated. But I found that this is
[00:22:33.740]not the best practice. Because, for instance, if there was a spelling mistake, maybe the software
[00:22:41.260]won't catch this word. Maybe if there is a synonym for a word, the software won't count this as
[00:22:48.300]well. And because it was only 200, I did this manually. So, I first created the categories.
[00:22:54.220]And I was selecting each responses and assigning the categories for those answers.
[00:23:01.580]And you can change the categories as needed as well. So, I prefer to do this manually.
[00:23:11.180]But you can do this automatically as well. But after you have the categories for each answer,
[00:23:18.140]then the software will do all the math for you. So, you don't need to worry about that.
[00:23:24.540]And I will just say that while we had some loose goals that we had put in place, Eleni really has
[00:23:41.660]taken the lead and made this project her own. And so, I think that's one of the things about hosting
[00:23:47.980]a Rural Fellow, is giving those students that space to be creative and find the opportunities,
[00:23:57.020]make their own opportunities. And so, it's been great to see her grow and really take ownership of
[00:24:07.980]this project with some basic parameters, but just to make it her own. So, I think that's something
[00:24:17.820]I've seen and as I've heard from other communities that are hosting fellows, that too is something
[00:24:22.300]that is coming up. And again, it helps us see outside of the box. Yeah, it is a challenge
[00:24:33.180]for me too, because as I said before, I like making graphs out of numbers, but how do you
[00:24:39.500]make a graph out of people's idea? It's always interesting to see data because you have ideas
[00:24:47.660]and you have theories and you think you know what you know, and sometimes you find out
[00:24:52.700]you don't know what you think you know. So the data always is interesting to look at,
[00:24:58.860]to be able to substantiate what you're thinking. Yeah, and I thought that every response
[00:25:05.820]would be different, but it's actually not. Everybody wants a grocery store,
[00:25:11.580]everybody wants to see a new pool in town, so those categories are really great because you can
[00:25:17.500]compile things and put them in little boxes so it's easier to see that everybody needs a grocery
[00:25:26.380]store, everybody wants, everybody loves the school system. It's really interesting.
[00:25:32.620]So has this data then been presented to the community and what has come of it if it has?
[00:25:39.420]So it was, so we're using Pierce, we wrapped up the ECAP
[00:25:47.340]project in Pierce late last fall. And so we did present it to the community in that long format.
[00:25:53.500]However, we're working with them to come back and re-present that information so that they can kind
[00:25:58.460]of see that as a comparison point. And that's, that'll kind of, Alini's working on that report
[00:26:03.580]to be able to prepare and share back with them. And the other piece of that too is we're also
[00:26:08.700]hoping to do some assessment. We wrapped up with them about six months ago. How have things
[00:26:17.180]and do you feel differently from when that initial, we initially did the survey? So those
[00:26:23.180]are some of the pieces that we'll be wrapping up over the next couple of weeks and digging in deeper.
[00:26:28.860]Sounds like you guys had a good representation of, you said 200 plus survey responses. That's a
[00:26:39.900]pretty good survey response in small towns. So I applaud you on being able to get that kind of response
[00:26:47.020]because a lot of times people are like, oh, I don't have time to do that survey, but that's
[00:26:51.020]what makes this information valuable. Yeah, and actually in Pierce, we had over 400 responses,
[00:26:58.460]which was even, I think that one was kind of set the bar very high for a lot of our communities.
[00:27:04.540]It was about, I think it was like 20% or so of the population in the community
[00:27:10.000]specifically. But again, I mean, some of that was, or the vast majority of that was
[00:27:16.860]community initiative and how they were pushing that survey out there and making sure that it was
[00:27:21.720]on social media and some promotional activities. So, but yeah, it varies, but that's definitely,
[00:27:28.580]you're right, Mike, that's always the challenge is to get those responses
[00:27:34.080]so that you get a good variety of folks. Obviously it's not scientific data,
[00:27:40.700]but that variety of voices at the table is important.
[00:27:46.700]So other than social media, how did you promote it amongst the community then to get the word
[00:27:53.520]spread to anybody and everybody that might be willing to take it?
[00:27:57.700]Yeah, so we had in Pierce, we had flyers, we had it running on the bank marquee sign.
[00:28:06.360]One of the restaurant owners in town, she had it on her iPad. And so every time somebody came in
[00:28:13.120]for lunch, she'd say, hey, have you completed the survey? And she would
[00:28:16.540]hand over her iPad and let them complete it over the noon hour. It was just kind of all,
[00:28:22.680]we worked with the school. So working with those major employers to get a good population of people
[00:28:28.500]to take that survey. And I think I've been a part of a couple of ECAP processes, the more that
[00:28:36.100]early community buy-in, the better. And they feel like their voice is heard when they can see some
[00:28:46.380]data play out, too. Well, thank you, Jenny, for this opportunity. This has been great.
[00:28:59.800]Awesome. I thank you very much, both of you, for presenting. I had actually a different
[00:29:06.420]presenter fell through this morning, so we are kind of at our end of our program, per se. But
[00:29:16.220]just introduce him again, because we've had several people join, and then tell us what his
[00:29:20.680]role is as he moves forward in his job.
[00:29:24.380]Alan is our graduate assistant at SourceLink Nebraska. His focus will be on marketing. He's
[00:29:32.700]going to do our social media and put together a whole marketing plan for us. Also, he is going
[00:29:40.440]to be working a little bit with entrepreneurs who have Spanish as their first language,
[00:29:46.060]and he'll be focusing on that population and doing some outreach in those communities.
[00:29:51.560]Do you want to say anything, Alan? I mean, you pretty much said everything,
[00:29:58.260]but yeah. I'm going to focus on marketing. I would love to work with the Hispanic community
[00:30:06.880]just to, I don't know, have a connection with them, because I feel like many of them
[00:30:15.900]have ideas and they really want to open their business, but they either had a language barrier
[00:30:25.140]or a culture or, what is it, cultural barrier, and they cannot connect with the right people.
[00:30:31.920]So I want to be that bridge, that connection between the community and the resources, either,
[00:30:41.960]I don't know, whatever. But yeah, Spanish is my first language.
[00:30:45.740]So I would like to talk to them and, I don't know, make them confident about what they
[00:30:54.800]want to do. And then we can work, I don't know, with my team or team and, I don't know,
[00:31:02.800]have a good and positive impact in Nebraska. But yeah, I've been here for three weeks.
[00:31:10.540]It's still all new for me. But yeah, that's pretty much it.
[00:31:15.580]Have you met Sandra Barrera in Grand Island?
[00:31:18.940]Not yet. People have talked to me about her, but yeah, I haven't had the chance to
[00:31:25.020]talk to her. But yeah, I know she works for the Latino community, so it will be great
[00:31:30.660]to meet her. Yeah, I met a couple of guys yesterday. One of the EAs, his name is Luis.
[00:31:40.560]He also works for the Latino community and Juan Sandoval.
[00:31:45.420]So yeah, they have some projects. They're working on the Latino conference. So I may
[00:31:53.680]be part of that. And yeah, trying to find ways to connect with them. I mean, of course,
[00:32:01.700]I'll work for everyone, but I would like to use those skills or whatever in the language
[00:32:09.020]to be able to connect to them, especially because we share the same culture. And yeah,
[00:32:15.260]I just want, I don't want them to be scared because I, my last position was in sales and
[00:32:22.500]I used to work for, with the Hispanic community and most of them were afraid of calling because
[00:32:28.640]they didn't know they had someone who spoke Spanish. So I just, I don't know, I feel like
[00:32:35.840]it will be a good idea to connect with them.
[00:32:40.020]Especially in Western Nebraska. I know that we, we tend to be the
[00:32:45.100]last group that we get reached out to just because we're farther away. And so having
[00:32:49.560]you and are you in Kimball then? Maybe I should ask that or in Scottsbluff, where at?
[00:32:54.280]Actually, right now he is in Lincoln and then we'll be moving to Omaha before
[00:32:58.860]school starts. I know, but we're going to try to get him out across the state.
[00:33:04.420]Yeah, we'll see how you do it. I mean, next week, next week I'll start driving to Omaha
[00:33:14.940]three days per week to work there. So I'll get used to that. I don't mind driving somewhere else.
[00:33:23.440]I mean, I love it. So yeah. Alan, do you maybe want to mention the business that you and your dad
[00:33:30.540]had as well? So when I applied to this position, I was like, because Arsenal and Nebraska,
[00:33:39.240]I mean, for me, it will be a powerful tool for everyone. And
[00:33:44.780]what I told Jamie and Scott was that back when I was living in Mexico, my dad and I
[00:33:51.460]wanted to open a business. And so we had almost everything. We had the place, we had
[00:33:58.320]all two employees, we had all the inventory. But at some point, we were like, well, what's
[00:34:06.240]next? We were not experts. We didn't know about, I don't know, about all the
[00:34:14.620]legal stuff and all that. So now that I'm working with Toursling Nebraska, I feel like
[00:34:23.760]at some point I would like to take my knowledge and do something similar in Mexico so people
[00:34:32.020]like my dad and I can find those resources and keep their business going. Because yeah,
[00:34:39.060]ours was a mess at some point. I mean, we had to close it. We had something for two
[00:34:44.460]weeks. So yeah, because it was hard. It was tough and having control. And yeah, it was
[00:34:52.920]pretty hard. So I can't imagine if I had the access to those resources in Mexico. I mean,
[00:35:00.500]it will have been different. But yeah. So yeah, that's how I feel right now here. I
[00:35:07.900]mean, because even though this is not Mexico, I know a lot of Nebraskans do not know other
[00:35:14.300]resources that they have access to, and most of them are free. So yeah. So that's a goal.
[00:35:22.400]It's a mutual benefit. It's a benefit for everyone.
[00:35:27.820]Thanks, Alan. Some other quick SourceLink news. We finally got our contract signed between
[00:35:36.100]SourceLink and the university. So we are moving closer to launch. That is now planned for
[00:35:41.880]this fall. We don't have an exact date.
[00:35:44.140]We will have access to our new website and can start building that here pretty soon.
[00:35:50.000]Awesome. Awesome. That is great news. All right. Anybody else got any good news
[00:36:00.820]to share or great ideas? You're muted, Mike.
[00:36:09.020]I was concentrating. I was going to swat a fly.
[00:36:13.980]They named Trev Alberts as AD at the University of Nebraska this morning. That has some people
[00:36:20.860]upset, but it'll be interesting. I was getting dinged about it just a little
[00:36:27.900]while before we started on my texting. Connie's right up on that.
[00:36:31.820]I was just telling somebody else here at the radio station that there was talk
[00:36:35.980]that they were grooming him for that position when he took over at UNO and then he did away
[00:36:40.520]with the football and wrestling program and that caused a lot of heartache.
[00:36:43.820]For some folks there and then so that's what everybody's dinging him about now on
[00:36:47.440]social media apparently is.
[00:36:49.380]Anyway, hopefully that turns out good.
[00:36:52.260]We'll hope.
[00:36:54.420]Other than that, who is on the who's on NIDA board?
[00:37:01.260]Star, are you on there anymore?
[00:37:02.500]Nobody here on NIDA board?
[00:37:04.980]Chelsea is.
[00:37:05.740]Chelsea, did she?
[00:37:08.040]Oh, there she is.
[00:37:09.480]I thought you'd have a pitchfork and gloves and a hat and you'd be out.
[00:37:13.660]In the field today, Chelsea, how are you doing after the storm?
[00:37:17.000]Oh, just cleaning up a big mess.
[00:37:19.620]Making progress though?
[00:37:22.880]Yeah, little by little.
[00:37:25.160]We're going to rebuild the rodeo grounds tonight.
[00:37:27.700]Lotta, I had a news story that they had said that your new administrator or city manager
[00:37:36.480]was impressed with the people of Alliance of pitching in and helping.
[00:37:41.300]So that's good, even though it's a bad.
[00:37:43.580]Deal. It's good PR.
[00:37:47.420]So what can you tell us about NIDA in August?
[00:37:49.540]Because we're coming up on some deadlines, aren't we?
[00:37:51.980]Yeah, registration is open.
[00:37:54.340]So that's all been sent out.
[00:37:56.120]It's on the NIDA website.
[00:37:58.540]You can reserve your rooms professional of the year.
[00:38:03.780]I know that deadline is coming up quick for nomination.
[00:38:11.080]Yeah, I don't know what I'm.
[00:38:13.500]Am I missing something?
[00:38:17.260]Did you get koozies made that say Rural Rendezvous on them
[00:38:20.000]so we can pass those out?
[00:38:21.940]And then people will go, Rural Rendezvous?
[00:38:24.300]What is that?
[00:38:26.020]I have not done that yet.
[00:38:29.440]Great idea, though.
[00:38:31.280]And then we get more people participating
[00:38:33.480]in our Rural Rendezvous stuff.
[00:38:34.760]Now, I don't have anything else.
[00:38:40.340]I know Victor jumped off.
[00:38:41.620]Connor is still on.
[00:38:43.420]At the end of the year, we should
[00:38:44.660]have those guys do an update from as many interns
[00:38:48.640]as we have or fellows around.
[00:38:50.140]Because Connor went down the river
[00:38:51.860]last weekend on a busy July Saturday.
[00:38:55.240]Had a whole different experience than when Victor went down
[00:38:57.620]the river the Wednesday before, when it was nice and calm
[00:39:01.280]and not that many people on the river and stuff.
[00:39:03.460]So now they're going to have to flip-flop
[00:39:05.780]so they can experience the outside of the river.
[00:39:10.160]But otherwise, I don't have anything else to go.
[00:39:13.340]So they have a presentation to give,
[00:39:16.660]what, the last part of-- first part of August, I think.
[00:39:19.560]Is that right?
[00:39:21.280]The 6th, I believe, is when they do their finals.
[00:39:24.820]Yeah.
[00:39:25.820]We're going to have a Zoom presentation at 11 o'clock
[00:39:30.120]on August 6th.
[00:39:33.340]I think that's open, Connor, isn't it?
[00:39:35.080]The information that I had, Jordan would know for sure.
[00:39:37.720]But I think that's open.
[00:39:38.680]You can invite other people to it.
[00:39:40.200]So if somebody in Rural Rendezvous wants to--
[00:39:43.260]kind of see what everybody was doing,
[00:39:45.460]maybe they want to get a Rural Fellow next year or something.
[00:39:49.120]Yeah.
[00:39:50.200]And since there are so many Rural Fellows,
[00:39:52.500]what they're having us do is put together
[00:39:54.280]like a five-minute video that kind of explains what we did
[00:39:57.480]and kind of put some different videos, snippets together.
[00:40:00.240]So you're going to be able to see those videos
[00:40:02.220]from all the different Rural Fellows this summer.
[00:40:06.500]Well, we will send an invite then to that,
[00:40:09.480]to the whole Rural Rendezvous group.
[00:40:11.160]That would be great.
[00:40:12.000]We'll be meeting the fourth.
[00:40:13.180]It's our regular meeting day, I think.
[00:40:15.940]And I think that it's Friday, August 6th, I believe,
[00:40:19.160]is the final presentations on that.
[00:40:24.940]So is Connor going to lead us in singing happy birthday to Jamie
[00:40:27.940]then to wrap up today?
[00:40:30.480]There we go.
[00:40:31.960]I'm down.
[00:40:33.620]Jamie?
[00:40:34.600]Yeah, Jamie's birthday today.
[00:40:36.340]Happy birthday to you.
[00:40:40.600]Happy birthday.
[00:40:43.100]To you.
[00:40:45.180]Happy birthday dear Jamie.
[00:40:50.420]Happy birthday to you.
[00:40:54.380]There were a couple of people that did not unmute on that.
[00:41:02.700]So happy birthday, Jamie.
[00:41:07.300]Thank you.
[00:41:08.620]You're welcome, Jamie.
[00:41:09.540]I just wanted to make sure that you were fully and fully
[00:41:13.020]engaged.
[00:41:14.580]Now, when is Julia's birthday so we can prepare for that one?
[00:41:17.300]No, no, no.
[00:41:18.440]I don't give that information out.
[00:41:19.920]Well, thank you, everybody.
[00:41:26.180]We'll see you again in a couple of weeks.
[00:41:27.760]If you've got some other ideas for topics or anything,
[00:41:31.660]feel free.
[00:41:32.240]We could talk about balloon races and Scott's Bluff.
[00:41:36.120]Star could give us an update on--
[00:41:37.780]are you going to go up in a balloon, Star?
[00:41:40.280]No.
[00:41:42.140]I have a carnival.
[00:41:42.940]I have a carnival out my window right now.
[00:41:44.980]Oh, really?
[00:41:45.700]That's cool.
[00:41:46.420]Yeah, Heritage Days.
[00:41:47.600]It is celebration.
[00:41:51.220]We had Fur Trader Days.
[00:41:52.720]I didn't see Jenny's name in the Buffalo Chip Throwing
[00:41:55.320]Contest, though.
[00:41:57.220]Nope.
[00:41:58.220]Or Deb's.
[00:41:59.080]And Deb's not here today, so we can't bug her about that.
[00:42:01.720]No, but I met one of the champions.
[00:42:03.680]And he's been two years he's been the champion.
[00:42:06.700]One of the car tractors in the Shadron.
[00:42:09.700]He said he had a potential brother-in-law
[00:42:12.860]to stand with him.
[00:42:13.740]And they're just giving pointers, telling him how to do it.
[00:42:16.580]He said, I started making stuff up.
[00:42:18.780]Get the wetter ones because they go way more or whatever.
[00:42:22.480]The corn ones with corn in them.
[00:42:25.100]Oh, boy.
[00:42:27.680]You're a big help.
[00:42:28.940]Yeah.
[00:42:30.180]All right.
[00:42:30.800]Well, thanks, everybody.
[00:42:32.300]And we'll see you again in a couple of weeks.
[00:42:34.640]And don't forget to get registered for NIDA in Sydney.
[00:42:38.100]Awesome.
[00:42:42.780]Bye.
[00:42:44.980]Bye.
[00:42:45.480]Thank you.
[00:42:47.340]Thank you.

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Rural Fellows 2021 - Pierce and ECAP

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