North Campus to Host Rural Development Leadership Conference

Pennsylvania College of Technology's North Campus will serve as a regional host site for the statewide Pennsylvania Rural Development Council videoconference on Leadership Development on Friday, Sept. 14.

The conference will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the videoconferencing center at the North Campus, located on Route 6 east of Wellsboro. Sign-ins and light refreshments start at 9 a.m. A catered lunch is available following the meeting for purposes of follow-up and networking.

There will be presentations on leadership development, an update on the state's "Stay Invent the Future" initiative and an overview of the state's Tobacco Settlement Act. Conference speakers include Pennsylvania Rural Development Council officials; representatives from community leadership programs across the state; Kim Coon, president of the Education Resource Group/State System of Higher Education; Mike Gildea, Brain Gain manager for the state Department of Community and Economic Development; and W. Russell McDaid, senior policy manager for the Governor's Policy Office.

Rural Development Council meetings offer participants the opportunity to hear directly from senior-level government officials and meet with others across the state to discuss issues of importance to rural Pennsylvania through the use of live, interactive videoconferencing technology. Participants may ask questions, offer comments and participate directly with those in other locations.

The Pennsylvania Rural Development Council is a nonpartisan, nonpolitical association addressing the concerns of rural Pennsylvania. Working committees focus on issues such as community and economic development (including tourism); education, training and workforce development; health; housing; telecommunications-information technology; transportation; infrastructure; and forest-based development.

Although participants may attend at any host location statewide, the North Campus offers its videoconference facilities for Rural Development Council meetings as a convenient service to residents and business-and-industry representatives in Northcentral Pennsylvania.

The meeting and lunch are free and open to the public; however, seating is limited, and registration is encouraged. To register or receive more information, contact the North Campus at (570) 724-7703, or the Pennsylvania Rural Development Council at (717) 772-9030. You may also visit the PRDC or North Campus on the Web.