Rural America Works (RAW) mobilizes The Internship Institute’s model for rural entrepreneurship. The initiative began with research on broadband-enabled experiential education and service learning opportunities for virtual interns living in rural America. RAW has evolved to become a comprehensive tactical and strategic approach to asset-based community economic development through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). RAW provides a collaborative platform for business, civic and social entrepreneurs to address and overcome the ARRA sustainability challenges confronting rural non-profit organizations and institutions.

RAW focuses solely on the education, human resource, workforce and community economic development programs of ARRA. RAW fosters economic revitalization by empowering the non-profit sector to more effectively respond to the needs of rural citizens, businesses and communities. An employer coalition, composed largely of rural cooperatives and other energy industry stakeholders, along with the information and communications technology, geospatial, advanced manufacturing and other high-growth industries and sectors, will provide insight and support to the RAW initiative.

The process assists in the establishment of a large-scale and sustainable transformation of the public workforce investment system, which is a primary expectation for ARRA outcomes, while advancing sustainability strategies for diverse, yet closely associated, ARRA initiatives. RAW mobilizes ARRA investment leveraging opportunities that involve the education technology E-Rate program, the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development initiative (WIRED), the National Fund for Workforce Solutions and other strategies and sources of funding.