(1) The Legislative Assembly finds that:
(a) The rural communities of Oregon need assistance in assessing their economic opportunities, planning for long-term economic development and participating effectively in state economic development programs;
(b) Strong community leaders are essential to the ability of a rural community to identify economic opportunities and problems, build a consensus on community development issues and coordinate the development and implementation of plans to address those issues;
(c) Rural areas of Oregon, more than the urban areas of this state, suffer from significantly higher levels of unemployment, lower average wages and high levels of worker displacement due to advances in technology and natural resource supply shortages;
(d) These distressed rural communities in particular need strong, visionary leadership to guide them through the economic changes of the next decade, which may be a period of growing global competition, severe natural resource shortages and declining employment in rural areas;
(e) Rural areas have limited resources with which to acquire the technical assistance and leadership necessary to adequately respond to economic change; and
(f) Federal and state investment in community and leadership development in rural areas is insufficient.
(2) The Legislative Assembly therefore declares that it is the policy of the State of Oregon to promote economic stability and development in rural areas of this state.
(3) The Legislative Assembly further declares that the rural revitalization and leadership development program established by ORS 285A.483 to 285A.495 is intended to promote such state policy by providing rural communities with technical assistance for the assessment of their economic opportunities and the development of strategic plans for immediate and long-term economic development and by improving the leadership skills of individuals likely to become leaders in rural communities. [Formerly 285.672; 1999 c.509 §17]
Section: Previous 285A.446 285A.449 285A.452 285A.455 285A.458 285A.461 285A.480 285A.483 285A.486 285A.489 285A.492 285A.495 285A.510 285A.513 285A.516 NextLast modified: August 7, 2008