The Town of Spruce Pine is one of only nineteen rural communities from across the state that has been selected to participate in the Rural Community Capacity Program to increase their capacity to plan, implement, and manage economic development programs and opportunities.
The Rural Community Capacity program will provide educational programming, technical assistance, and focused guidance to local government staff in rural and distressed communities. Each of the nineteen jurisdictions can identify up to two representatives to participate in program activities, which include on-campus and virtual classes, community level engagement, and targeted training programs. The two representatives from Spruce Pine are Spruce Pine Main Street Executive Director Libby Phillips and Spruce Pine Town Manager Darlene Butler.
During a Rural Community Capacity engagement, communities have direct access to Commerce’s Rural Planning team, who offer additional training and technical assistance to program participants, including a strategic planning process focused on identifying economic development assets and priorities that are specific to each community.
Communities that successfully complete the program will then be eligible to apply for Community Implementation Grants. More information about the Rural Transformation Grant Fund and the Rural Community Capacity initiative is available at nccommerce.com/transform.
