Typical Community Development Services in the Field

At the local level Community Development staff assist communities to create self-sustaining, long-term economic development in areas of pervasive poverty, unemployment, and general distress, and demonstrate how distressed communities can achieve self-sufficiency through innovative and comprehensive strategic plans developed and implemented by alliances among private, public, and nonprofit entities.

Typically, state office Community Development personnel:

• Provide technical assistance to local communities and citizen groups in strategic plan development, partnership building, and leadership development.
• Implement programs that demonstrate effective methods of building vital rural communities.
• Disseminate information about effective rural community and economic development strategies and methods.
• Promote networking among rural communities and rural development practitioners.
• Promote all USDA Rural Development programs as well as encouraging cooperation and networking with local, state and other federal agency programs
• Provide a "hands on" approach to rural communities by providing the technical assistance needed to enhance the overall quality and quantity of life within a specified rural community.
• Promote development tools and techniques for rural communities.
• Provide training, team building and capacity building to rural communities. Help remove barriers to development within a community by acting as a facilitator and providing training and guidance regarding strategic planning, benchmarking and funding issues.
• Facilitate the leveraging of resources for community development and technical assistance.
• Facilitate capacity building within the public/private sectors to assure that the socially disadvantaged are provided the sustainable support necessary for them to improve their quality of life.
• Technical assistance in bringing together local, regional, state, and national teams of development and environmental professionals to work with local communities on sustainable development issues. For more information about community development technical assistance please contact your state office.