MISSOURI RURAL DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS

The Missouri Rural Development Partners (MRDP) was formally organized in November 1992 and is one of nearly 40 state rural development councils comprising the National Rural Development Partnership (NRDP).  In 2004, MRDP received federal designation as Missouri’s official state rural development council.

The mission of MRDP is “to improve the quality of life, enhance opportunities, and help empower citizens and rural communities of Missouri by bringing together a coalition of public and private entities.”   To fulfill its mission, MRDP brings together partners who represent the Federal, State and Local governments, as well as private sector, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, to identify and assess rural Missouri’s developmental needs, develop strategies, and facilitate actions for solutions.  MRDP works on both programs and policies that remove barriers to rural development and bring about resources that assist citizens to help themselves in providing overall quality of life for all members of their communities.

Missouri’s rural conditions are ever changing. The MRDP collaborative framework is at the forefront of addressing these changing conditions, the diversity of rural areas, the complexity of its needs, and the fragmentation of rural resources throughout the public and private sectors.

MRDP’s goals are:

To identify/assess rural Missouri’s developmental needs, develop strategies, and facilitate actions for solution

To identify barriers which impede the solution of problems in rural areas

To assist in establishing strategies for interagency cooperation to deal with the problems facing rural areas in a coordinated fashion

To maximize the accessibility of resources and programs to rural Missouri

To motivate/assist rural communities and citizens to help themselves to stabilize, broaden, diversify, and invigorate their economic bases