Rural communities, big and small, benefit from collaboration. Jamie Bright, Rural Prosperity Nebraska Extension Educator in the Southern Panhandle, knows the importance of small towns and how they can flourish by working together.
“I grew up in rural Nebraska in Sheridan County, about 15 miles from town. My grandparents had an elk ranch and a cattle ranch,” said Jamie Bright, Rural Prosperity Nebraska Extension Educator in the Southern Panhandle. “I moved away for college but always missed small towns.” She moved back to rural Nebraska to own her own business in Bushnell for several years. An interest in business and community found her taking classes offered by Rural Prosperity Nebraska. “I did 4-H as a kid, but I didn’t realize everything else Extension did, and I was really interested in the small business side.” Bright joined the Kimball-Banner and Cheyenne County Extension Board, building her community skills. As part of the board, she decided to pursue her Master’s.
In 2021, Bright joined the Nebraska Extension as its Rural Prosperity Nebraska (RPN) Extension Educator in the Southern Panhandle. RPN collaborates on statewide work. One of Bright’s first ongoing projects is hosting Rural Rendezvous, a statewide webinar where economic developers, chamber of commerce, city administrators, and others can learn about the state's programs, federal grants, and extension resources and see what other communities across the state are doing. The group meets once a month for discussion and a speaker.
RPN also hosts the walking tour event Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities Conference "Moving Forward, Working Together," each year. This year, the event will be in North Platte from April 23-24. “We hold things in downtown businesses, and participants are able to see the business and just see how they thrive. We're really looking forward to seeing some of the work they've been doing over the past few years.” Bright said.
Bright has also been involved in rural communities' creative districts. She helped Sidney and Scottsbluff become certified and is currently working with Oshkosh and Gering on the certification process.
She has several ongoing projects in Kimball, including the active living committee. “We helped with the trail outside of town, so there's a walking and biking trail, and we've also been working on some sidewalk projects, trying to get better sidewalk connectivity to the schools. We also painted creative crosswalks to brighten up the community and make walking a little safer next to the schools and downtown,” she said.
Bright visits and attends county commission and regional meetings in the panhandle. “Extension is really county-based. I think we're pretty collaborative, and all of the counties and the communities get together and realize that they work better when they are together rather than just one-on-one.”
For more information on how Nebraska Extension Rural Prosperity Nebraska can assist you or your community, visit ruralprosperityne.unl.edu or contact Jamie Bright at 308–254-4455.
