Community philanthropy is a growing opportunity for rural areas to maintain and grow local wealth and to put that wealth to use in enhancing the local economy.

Join Wisconsin Rural Partners for this informative conference! 

Sponsorship Opportunities Available

Hotel Mead
451 E. Grand Ave.
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin

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Registration is now open for the 6th Annual Symposium on Small Towns "The Power of Small:  Building Solutions for Energy Self-Reliance" held June 3rd and 4th at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Representatives from P-12 schools, higher education, and local units of government are the primary audience for this Symposium, which will focus on issues of food, fuel, and power in small communities.

....for the conference Growing Community Wealth – an economic development conference for rural community and philanthropic leaders.

June 5, 2008
The Mead Inn, Wisconsin Rapids

Wisconsin Rural Partners has a new Executive Director. Ricky Rolfsmeyer, a long-time member of the organization, has taken over E.D. duties from Kelly Haverkampf, as Kelly has taken a position as the UW-Extension Community, Natural Resources and Economic Development agent for Vilas County, Wisconsin. Along with the change in E.D., we have new contact information:

Wisconsin Rural Partners, Inc.
P.O. Box 27
7087 Highway 39
Hollandale, WI 53544-0027
Phone: (608) 237-6367
Fax: (608) 967-2322

Wisconsin Rural Partners presented the Top Rural Development Initiatives for 2007 to initiatives from Mineral Point and Reedsburg at the joint international conference of the Community Development Society and National Rural Development Partnership on June 17, 2007.

CDS Conference pictures are now online. Check them out here.

Welcome to Wisconsin Rural Partners' new home on the web. With members across the state of Wisconsin, we feel it's important to offer a complete web site with lots of details about our projects. We hope to continue providing the same great content you've been used to, in a new, easier-to-use format, while at the same time making it easier for us to make updates. Check back often, as we hope to be rolling out several new features on this site soon.

Wisconsin Rural Partners, Inc. (WRP) has been awarded a $100,000 participation grant and a position in the At-Large Network of the multi-year Rural People, Rural Policy Initiative of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, MI.

Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin

Local Food enthusiasts convened in Stevens Point on January 4, 2007 for the first-ever Wisconsin Local Food Summit. Highlights of the Summit include:

• Keynote address by Brain Halweil of the Worldwatch Institute on his book “Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket”
• Announcement of "Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin" legislation to develop a new statewide program by Sen. Julie Lassa
• Establishment of a Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin listserv and interest community.