Steve Bullock

Guest columnist

We’ve all heard the reports about the decline of rural America – about how metropolitan centers of growth and innovation have reaped most of the benefits of the decade-long economic recovery while small towns are hopelessly left behind.

Dr. Marion Terenzio sees things differently.

The president of the State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill (SUNY Cobleskill), Terenzio is proud of her rural upstate New York community and the role her campus has played in its redevelopment.

Cobleskill, a town of 6,400 residents three hours north of Manhattan, is a growing hub for innovation in areas like food entrepreneurship, thanks to a partnership between the university and state and business leaders. Terenzio explained how these relationships have benefited longtime Cobleskill residents and SUNY students alike when she spoke at a recent National Governors Association (NGA) leadership workshop in Las Vegas dedicated to helping states prepare for changes in the workplace over the coming decades.

Through her work at SUNY Cobleskill, Terenzio has created programs that allow students, both traditional and nontraditional, to engage in internships, fellowships and other on-the-job training programs that connect them with employers in their community. Local high-school students can take courses on campus, earning college credit and getting a leg up as they enter the working world. SUNY Cobleskill’s programs are a prime example of how governors can partner with local institutions to support the potential of rural communities.

As the chair of NGA, I had the privilege of choosing an initiative to shape discussions and provide resources for governors and other policymakers. I selected Good Jobs for All Americans, a project in which we explore what we as state leaders can do to ensure our residents are getting the training and opportunities they need to succeed in the jobs of today and of the future.

I have been traveling the country, meeting with state officials, business leaders and experts, listening to and learning from each of them. At our first workshop in Pittsburgh, we talked about the future of work, how to incorporate automation into our workplaces while increasing job opportunities. In Las Vegas, I observed how displaced, mid-career workers are accessing cutting-edge training programs to develop new skills.

Coming from a rural state, it was already clear to me that rural Americans face unique barriers that require attention from governors and other state leaders. I will join leaders from the private sector and other states, including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, in Des Moines March 4 and 5 for the third and final regional Good Jobs for All Americans workshop.

While in Des Moines in March, I’m looking forward to hearing more about how Iowa has diversified its economy to claim the nation’s lowest unemployment rate. We’ll be learning more about programs like Revive. Rebuild. Restore (R3), whose goal is to bring higher-paying, high-tech jobs to rural Iowa. The program includes a partnership with Pillar Technology, a firm that creates training and apprenticeship opportunities for local students in Jefferson, Iowa. The founders of R3 use LinkedIn data to identify needed skills and work with local schools to provide training, with the opportunity for students to transition directly into high-paying jobs at Pillar. As a result of this program, bright minds have an incentive to pursue their dreams closer to home.

Parts of rural America have largely been left behind in the economic recovery of the last 10 years. This is not for a lack of hard-working, innovative people in the heart of our country, as I can personally attest to from our experience in Montana. Rather, it is often due to a growing infrastructure deficit, lack of access to capital, health care or education beyond high school, or the shuttering of manufacturing and natural resource operations.

Our rural communities are full of talent and it’s time for governors, industry, and education partners to work together to give them the tools they need to succeed. No American should have to leave their school, church or community to find opportunity – and preserving that opportunity is not only important to our rural areas, but to the success of our nation as a whole. Through state and local government partnerships with community assets, such as K-12 and post-secondary schools, we can create a web of education and training for people who are seeking opportunities leading to good jobs.

Steve Bullock is the governor of Montana and the chair of the National Governors Association.