Fed expands Investing in Rural America conference to national scope
All 12 Reserve Banks and the Board of Governors will co-host the conference starting this year, targeting rural workers and small businesses.
The Federal Reserve announced that the Investing in Rural America conference will be a national event, with all 12 Reserve Banks and the Board of Governors partnering to organize and present it for the first time. The change, effective for this year's conference, signals a system-wide commitment to rural communities.
Governor Cook noted that roughly 20 million workers in rural areas - about 1 in 8 American workers - have unemployment rates close to the national average, though labor-force participation is lower, especially among working-age men. He highlighted that job creation has tilted toward urban areas over the past four years, while inflation in rural locales rose faster than in cities during the early pandemic recovery, driven by higher energy costs and a 36 percent rise in home values in non-metro counties versus 21 percent in dense urban counties.
Small businesses remain the backbone of the rural economy, with 4.3 million firms accounting for more than 96 percent of all rural establishments and employing 7.4 million people. Thirty percent of these firms are less than three years old, and while new firms made up just 9 percent of all small businesses nationwide in 2023, they contributed 24 percent of job creation.
The Fed's role includes research and outreach, such as the Richmond Fed's joint study with Riverbird Research on post-storm small-business impacts, Minneapolis staff work on tribal CDFIs, and the Board's earlier publication Investing in Rural Prosperity. These efforts aim to inform policy and support rural vitality.
Cook also reaffirmed the Fed's monetary stance, noting his vote to raise rates by 25 basis points at the recent September meeting and his commitment to bring inflation back to the 2 percent target while preserving labor-market strength.
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