Dr. Jim Beddow hired to direct the Rural Learning Center

Contact Person: Tami Schwader – 772-5139 schwadert@alliancecom.net

James B. Beddow has been hired as the new Executive Director for the Rural Learning Center. Beddow has most recently served as the Vice President of Learning for the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society from 1995-2002 and as the President of Dakota Wesleyan University from 1981-1993.

Beddow, a Woonsocket, South Dakota native, has worked in many capacities with various communities in the Midwest. The new Center he has been hired to develop and seek funding for will serve as a resource to these communities.

The RLC is a new not-for-profit corporation formed by the Miner County Community Revitalization, Inc. Miner County, through a partnership with the Northwest Area Foundation, has gained national recognition for its efforts in rural revitalization. The Center is a product of this partnership and earlier involvement of the Howard School District in the Annenburg Rural Challenge.

The Center will be located in Howard and serve small communities across South Dakota and eventually the Great Plains region. Programming sponsored by the Center will focus on helping small communities develop grassroots leadership and planning skills to help them create viable and vital futures.

In addition to working with communities, the Center will sponsor special events and seminars on topics of interest and importance for rural South Dakota and the region.

The plan for the Center calls for construction of a new facility if funding becomes available in Howard in the next several years. The Weishaar family has made a gift of a 16-acre parcel of land for the Center and Splitrock Properties, Inc. have laid fiber optic lines to provide state-of-the-art telecommunications for the Center.