Present:

Dana Glenn, West Virginia State College
Virgil Culver, Mississippi State University
Alan Barefield, University of Tennessee
Gae Broadwater, Kentucky State University
Bonnie Teater, Southern Rural Development Center
Hank Cothran, University of Florida
Rick Maurer, University of Kentucky
Larry Arrington, University of Florida
Chris Sieverdes, Clemson University
Ed Jones, University of North Carolina

Approval of minutes

Chris moved, someone seconded. Minutes were approved as submitted.

Federal update (Sally Maggard)

"I just got back from Arizona and a two-day meeting with county extension directors and Jim Christenson. They are working on developing a community and economic development program plan. Beth Tucker (who was sick and couldn't attend this meeting) is coming to Orlando - and we may have one or two other county directors come to Orlando. I urged them to register asap - as space is limited - if they want to attend."

Orlando Conference

241 registered, 49 from south. All materials will be posted on the website after the conference. Needs to be promoted locally and throughout the south. The CRD PLC will meet in conjunction with this meeting (02/24/02 from 1 to 4 p.m.) The north-central CRD PLC wants to meet jointly with southern PLC sometime during this week. There was a general discussion of the financial situation of the states and the impact of fund reductions on travel.

ECOP update (Rick Maurer)

Still a lot of discussion on what is base program. Chris - that the Leadership and Volunteer Development group met in Kansas City earlier this year and is busy updating the website, etc. Another thing related to CRD is update of the strategic plan. The revised plan will be available to program participants at the February meeting.

Administrative Advisor Report (Larry Arrington)

None

SRDC Update (Bonnie Teater)

Bonnie reported that a committee had been appointed to look into how the PLC can facilitate regional communication and multi-state actions. The SIRD conference was well received by those attending, but was not well attended by Extension. The majority of attendees were federal agency folks. The Health conference had 23 students from 9 states. There were participants from other regions. The Ecommerce conference was well attended. All southern region states except one had folks in attendance. Alan Barefield reported that extension agents from Tennessee reported that this was an excellent training conference for them. Bonnie reported that the materials from this conference are on the web.

Subcommittee Updates

Chris and Gae's group are moving ahead. Mike and Alan have submitted the economic development plan. Bonnie reported that several other groups are also making progress. The SRDC board will be meeting to review plans before the Orlando meeting.

Other Business

None

Meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.