~ by Heather Strohm, Regional Extension Educator, Community Development – Purdue University As you reflect on 2020 and embark on 2021, consider how you relate to others. How often have you judged an experience or a situation only to arrive at the wrong conclusion or to learn that your opinion was way off? I would …

~by Tanya Hall, Purdue Extension Regional Community Development Educator On Dec. 2, 2020, the Orange County Service Council, in partnership with Purdue Extension, awarded 14 certificates of completion to leaders at the conclusion of the 2020 Community Leadership Program. Successful completion included attendance at nine sessions and a community project. The community project was a …

~ by Kara Salazar, AICP, Assistant Program Leader and Extension Specialist for Sustainable Communities, and Dan Walker, AICP, Community Planning Extension Specialist of Purdue Extension, Illinois – Indiana Sea Grant Online course certifies planning officials and interested residents as Master Citizen Planners Purdue Extension and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant will open registration for American Citizen Planner …

~by Michael Wilcox Assistant Director and Program Leader for Community Development / Purdue Extension Associate Director / North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) Community and Regional Economics Specialist / Dept. of Agricultural Economics / Purdue University Senior Associate / Purdue Center for Regional Development   The end of one year and the beginning …

~by Steve Yoder, Community Development Regional Educator, Purdue Extension As an instructor for the Beginner’s Guide to Grant Writing program, one of my favorite things to do is ask participants to share a memorable takeaway from the class. Often, what sticks with them are the various “insider tips” that they hear about during the two-day …

~by Bo Beaulieu, Ph.D. Professor of Rural & Regional Development Purdue Center for Regional Development & Department of Agricultural Economics As I write this brief column, I do so with some sadness since I will be officially retiring from Purdue on Feb. 1, 2021.  When I came to Purdue in 1973 to enter the MS/PhD program, …

~by Dr. Larry DeBoer, Purdue University Can it be, is it possible, that 2021 won’t be terrible? The state revenue forecast was released on December 16 to provide a starting point for the Indiana General Assembly to craft a new state budget. Might the coming biennium be OK? It didn’t look OK last June. State …

Kayla hails originally from Ft. Wayne, Ind. Her first official day (Monday, Dec. 7) as a Community Development Extension Educator happened to fall on the first day of Purdue Extension’s 2020 Professional Development Conference (PDC). Kayla spent one year as a law & society major at Purdue, and then transferred to Indiana University to complete …