Community Development

Community Development

The Extension Institute of Community Development provides educational programming to assist leaders, communities, and organizations realize their fullest potential. Community Development Educators work with communities to build vitality that enhances their quality of life and enriches the lives of their residents. We educate in leadership development, organizational development, food systems, community economic development, local government education, and much more.

Vernon County Community Development Educator (Educator) maintains a broader focus on a variety of challenges surrounding community economic development. The Educator helps residents and local government entities understand economic growth and development to help them make more informed decisions. The main goal of the Educator is to provide research, resources, and education that help build and support entrepreneurial capacity.

Programs

Cohort-Based Assistance

Maximizing Success

Wisconsin REV

Homegrown

Homegrown is a training focused on building and strengthening local entrepreneurial networks

Community Development Publications Relevant to You

“Vernon County Leaders Participate in UW Extension ‘Homegrown’ Training”
by  Maggie Cornelius

“In its service to rural communities, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Division of Extension offers a training called “Homegrown: Entrepreneurship in Your Community” for economic development leaders who want to learn how to build entrepreneurial ecosystems.”

“Rural Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Initiative Organizes First Rural Entrepreneurial Cohort”
by Maggie Cornelius

“A new program within the Community Development Institute, the Rural Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Initiative (RWEI) seeks to make business development services available to rural parts of the state not easily reached by pre-existing infrastructure. RWEI has committed to organizing 12-24 entrepreneurial cohorts in rural Wisconsin between 2024-2026.”

The Learning Store produces and distributes educational materials based on university research, extending knowledge to the statewide community.

Featured Publication

No-Box Thinking offers a framework for understanding the automatic and powerful resistance to change those engaged in community development often face. This book details how to convert the powerful sources of community change resistance—identity, emotion, and social connections—into powerful forces for transformational change (105 pages; 2018).

View Related Topics on the Learning Store

Staff

Community Development Educator, Hannah McKeever

Hannah Altimus

Extension Vernon County
UW-Madison Division of Extension
318 Fairlane Drive
Viroqua, WI 54665
Phone: 608-637-5281
Email: hannah.mckeever@wisc.edu

More in this Section

Support Extension