Fostering State Leadership for Rural Talent Development - Rural Talent Development and Attraction Lab

Abstract Extreme poverty in rural America is rooted in a lack of access to markets, infrastructure, health care, and stable employment. Recent research from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce highlights a major issue: rural communities face a significant shortage of middle-skill credentials, which creates a misalignment between local labor markets and the available workforce. Across the country, nearly all of the areas with the highest levels of misalignment are rural, while many of the areas with the lowest levels of misalignment surround large cities. Expert partners propose a multi-year Rural Talent Development and Attraction Laboratory (The Lab) to address such issues.