 NEWS
Public TV examines crumbling water systems
Public television turns its attention this week to a topic familiar to rural North Carolina leaders: crumbling clean water infrastructure. The North Carolina Center for Public Television (Channel 4) will broadcast a one-and-a-half-hour national program titled "Liquid Assets: The Story of Our Water Infrastructure" Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 9:00 p.m. and will follow it at 10:30 p.m. with a half-hour panel discussion on the state of North Carolina's infrastructure. Patrick Woodie, the Rural Center's vice president of rural development programs, is among the panelists. Others are Nancy Gallinaro, chief operations officer for the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority; David Stike, vice president of Sanford Contractors; and David Whisnant of the UNC School of Government. For more information, visit the UNC-TV website.
Duplin children focus of national health study
Duplin County is one of the first two locations to begin enrolling participants in the largest ever long-term study of children's health and development in the United States. The other location: Queens, N.Y. The National Children's Study eventually will include 100,000 children, who will be followed from birth to age 21. UNC-Chapel Hill's Carolina Population Center is overseeing the study in North Carolina. For more, read the press release.
 MEETINGS AND EVENTS Feb. 9-10: Emerging Issues Forum
U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd and Ken Livingstone, former mayor of London, will kick off the 2009 Emerging Issues Forum on "Changing Landscapes: Building the Good Growth State?" Dodd will address national infrastructure issues. Other portions of the program will examine North Carolina's existing infrastructure, ways to finance improvements and design issues. Details and registration are available from the Institute for Emerging Issues.
Feb. 20: Public Policy Forum for North Carolina's Nonprofit Sector
The N.C. Center for Nonprofits sponsors this annual conference to help nonprofits focus and improve their efforts to influence public policy. Among the presenters this year are N.C. Speaker of the House Joe Hackney, N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Abby Levine of the Alliance for Justice in Washington, D.C. The conference will be held at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh. For more details, visit the Center for Nonprofits website.
Feb. 27-28: 2009 Hunger Crisis Conference
The Franciscan Coalition for Justice and Peace will sponsor Hunger No More: A Hunger Crisis Conference Feb. 27-28 at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Raleigh. The conference will focus on food insecurity issues around the world. The keynote speaker will be David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. Other speakers will include Jill Staton Bullard, executive director of the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle; Stephan Waldmann, executive director of the Society of St. Andrew; former Congresswoman Eva Clayton; Ray Buchanan, executive director of Stop Hunger Now; and Bill Chameides, dean of the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment. March 25-26: Nanotechnology Commercialization Conference The N.C. Nanotechnology Commercialization Conference will focus on encouraging innovative commercial applications of nanotechnology. Organized by the N.C. Office of Science and Technology, it is intended to bring together entrepreneurs, business leaders, researchers, investors and service providers. It will be held at the downtown Raleigh Convention Center. More details and registration are available from the conference website.  AT THE CENTER
Grant workshops coming up
The Rural Center will hold a workshop on how to apply for its water and sewer grants programs in March. The workshop will cover applications for the Clean Water Partners Infrastructure Program (for critical needs related to environmental or public health problems) and for the Water and Sewer Economic Infrastructure Program (for job-generating projects). The free, two-hour workshop will be offered twice on March 10, at 10:30 a.m. and at 1:30 p.m., in the Rural Center’s conference and training facility in Raleigh. More information on the programs may be found on the website. To register for the workshop, contact Dot Spence at 919-250-4314 or dspence@ncruralcenter.org.  FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES Tobacco Trust Fund applications due Feb. 16
The N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission has accelerated its grant cycle to address the ongoing recession. Applications for the new round will be due Feb. 16, with awards to be announced by May 29. Grant decisions will give priority to projects that address ways to stimulate the agricultural economy in local communities, decrease unemployment and implement workforce development programs. More information, including guidelines and applications, is available from the commission’s website. Z. Smith Reynolds offers streamlined grants process
The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation has established a streamlined process for grant requests of up to $35,000 a year for one to two years. Eligible applicants include small and grassroots nonprofits in North Carolina. The next deadline is Feb. 16. Guidelines and other information are available from the foundation's website.
 RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONSReport examines innovation in N.C.
In a new report, the N.C. Office of Science and Technology examines North Carolina's performance in scientific and economic innovation and outlines measures for strengthening that performance in the 21st century. It rates North Carolina below the national average on several innovation indicators and cites as a weakness the disparity in research and development activities across regions of the state. “Advancing Innovation in North Carolina: An Innovation Framework for Competing and Prospering in the Interconnected Global Economy” was released in December. An executive summary or the full report may be viewed online. The financial side of community development
The Carsey Institute of the University of New Hampshire this month released a compilation of reports from its Financial Innovations Roundtable. The roundtable, which includes conventional and alternative financial institutions, focuses on increasing the flow of capital and access to financial services in low-income communities. "Financial Innovations Roundtable: Developing Practical Solutions to Scale Up Integrated Community Development Strategies" includes chapters on 1) capital markets, 2) mission-related investing and targeted investing, and 3) resident-owned, manufactured home communities. The report is available online.
Aspen promotes broadband expansionThe Aspen Institute has released its report “ICT: The 21st Century Transitional Initiative.” ICT stands for information and communication technologies. The report calls on the federal government to take new measures to promote widespread diffusion and adoption of broadband communications, new communication applications in government and private industry, and the use of communication technology to save energy costs and reduce carbon emissions. You may choose to read the full report or an executive summary from www.aspeninstitute.org/c&s. Recommendations for microenterprise expansion
Researchers with the Aspen Institute and CFED are encouraging the new administration in Washington to invest in microenterprise development as one way to stimulate the economy. "Encouraging Entrepreneurship: A Microenterprise Development Policy Agenda" is included in the winter 2009 issue of Community Investments.
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