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Rural Growth Initiative
Our work

Proof that rural America can grow.

From the coalfields of Appalachian Kentucky to South Carolina's historic Main Streets, every project here pairs rigorous analysis with on-the-ground partnership. Explore the work.

On set with the Cheraw Remote storytelling team
Remote Workforce

Cheraw, South Carolina

Cheraw Remote

RGI's flagship remote-worker attraction pilot — a digital storytelling and advertising campaign that drew more than 200 relocation leads to a historic South Carolina river town on a shoestring budget.

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Small-town storefronts across the Pee Dee and Lowcountry
Rural Revitalization

Hartsville, Cheraw & Walterboro, South Carolina

Project Hometown SC

A two-year, $400,000 federally funded initiative using authentic storytelling — not cash incentives — to help three rural South Carolina towns attract and keep the residents they need to thrive.

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The quality of life that draws remote workers to Botetourt County, VA
Remote Workforce

Botetourt County, Virginia

Digital Workforce 360° — Botetourt County

An economic-impact study that quantified a county's hidden remote workforce — revealing roughly 1,800 remote professionals contributing about $166 million in annual payroll, the kind of finding most rural communities never make.

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A GUIDE training session with Marion County educators
Rural Education

Marion County, South Carolina

Marion County GUIDE Program

Bringing a proven Appalachian whole-child turnaround model to rural South Carolina — and recruiting six retired educators in under three weeks with a marketing campaign borrowed from our remote-worker playbook.

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Backing Main Street small businesses across South Carolina
Small Business

Statewide, South Carolina

WeShopSC Small Business Support

Helping build and scale South Carolina's commission-free statewide e-commerce marketplace — co-authoring grants, integrating payments, and delivering hands-on training that grew the platform from dozens of businesses to more than 700.

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The 40th Anniversary Impact Report for Main Street South Carolina
Research & Publications

Statewide, South Carolina

Main Street SC 40th Anniversary Report

The publication that opened our partnership with Main Street South Carolina — a polished, board-ready report marking four decades of downtown revitalization across the state.

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Assessing local assets on the ground in McCreary County, Kentucky
Strategic Planning

McCreary County, Kentucky

McCreary County Strategic Planning

A self-funded on-site assessment of Kentucky's poorest county that grew into roughly $1 million in grant applications to fund a multi-year community strategic plan.

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On-site with Main Street leaders in the Tri-Cities of Harlan County
Downtown Revitalization

Lynch, Benham & Cumberland (Harlan County), Kentucky

Tri-Cities Main Street

Bringing a national Main Street expert to three historic Appalachian coal towns to map a roadmap of fundable downtown-revitalization, housing, and heritage-tourism initiatives.

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Inside the 1920s landmark, abandoned for nearly fifty years
Historic Preservation

Lynch (Harlan County), Kentucky

Lynch Grade School Adaptive Reuse

Advising on the adaptive reuse of a historic, U.S. Steel-built schoolhouse as a home for Kentucky's expanding bourbon industry — work that won the project Just Transition Fund support.

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Presenting the case for remote work to rural leaders in Corbin, Kentucky
Remote Workforce

Corbin, Kentucky

Remote-Work Sessions — Corbin, Kentucky

Early information sessions in Corbin, Kentucky making the case to rural leaders that attracting remote workers can help reverse population decline — a foundational effort that helped shape what became Project Hometown SC.

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Could your community be next?

Tell us about the challenges you're facing. We'll help you build a strategy — and find the funding to make it real.

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