Looking for the median age of residents where you live? Or are you interested in the availability of broadband in your area?
Maybe you want to dig deeper into the housing shortage, or you’re curious about the financial stability of your city and how it compares to other localities.
Perhaps you’re interested in health care and want to know the number of primary care physicians in your city or county.
You can quickly and easily find the answers to these and many other questions in one place: the new Rural Virginia Opportunity Dashboard, recently developed by the Virginia Rural Center.
The online tool was unveiled May 22 during the University of Virginia’s College at Wise’s 10th annual Southwest Virginia economic forum.
The innovative digital platform was designed to empower rural communities across the state by providing comprehensive, data-driven insights into demographics, housing, education, business and health. The platform also “features interactive asset maps that highlight essential infrastructure and community resources, helping local leaders visualize opportunities and challenges in their regions,” according to a news release.
The dashboard was largely developed by project coordinator Chandler Vaughan in collaboration with the Virginia Tech Center for Geospatial Information Technology.
The intended users are “rural leaders and folks that are involved in their community that want to make a difference, that know what the needs are but maybe can better understand what those needs are and the strengths of their community. … We think it also has an application for local governments, for nonprofits, for private business owners at the local level. There’s also a state resource here as well, almost up to the federal level,” Vaughan said.
Last summer, they came up with the concept for the platform, and work really started in October and November. Initially, the plan was to wrap it up this summer, but the project was accelerated because those involved wanted to debut it at the economic forum.
It offers the latest statistics and information for all 95 counties and 38 cities across the state. The information will be updated every six months, and new information will be added over time, according to Vaughan.
A key element of the dashboard is the Rural Resource Index, a searchable tool that identifies funding opportunities at the local, state and federal levels. The index makes it easier to secure resources for impactful community projects, he said.
Reports and data can also be downloaded for grant applications, planning efforts and long-term investment strategies. Its development was guided by a vision to bridge data gaps and enhance collaboration among rural stakeholders, the release states.
It could also prove to be a time saver for those looking to delve deep because it brings together information that might otherwise take hours to find elsewhere, said Kristie Proctor, the rural center’s executive director. That could prove to be particularly valuable to rural county and city officials who often have lean staff, tight budgets and end up doing a variety of jobs themselves, she added.
The dashboard will soon also offer some information that may be difficult to find, like the number and location of wells and septic systems, which are more prevalent in rural areas, she added.
So far, the response to the new tool has been enthusiastic, according to Vaughan and Proctor.
“Primarily, we want this to be a tool for folks on the ground so they can better understand what their communities are good at, what the opportunities are, and then tap into the funding opportunities that can help them address those things,” Vaughan said.
Proctor said the tool aligns well with the center’s mission, which is to make sure that rural Virginia “has a seat at the table.”
The Virginia Rural Center is a collaborative partnership of the Sen. Frank M. Ruff Jr. Center for Rural Virginia and the Council for Rural Virginia, which work with policymakers and stakeholders to create solutions and expand entrepreneurial opportunities to ensure economic prosperity for all regions, according to its website. It was created by the General Assembly in 2000.