Rural Infrastructure Improvements Going Beyond Roads

Rural infrastructure improvement discussions are starting to go beyond how to make better roads, accessibility to train and other transportation options.

Chris Schaffner with CoBank said, “That conversation has become a little more nuanced to expand to the broader picture which includes rural water infrastructure, expanding broadband and generally making sure we have the infrastructure to get reliable power out to the rural economy.”

It’s also spurring discussions between public and private stakeholders and sparking innovation in terms of regionalization and efficiency.

Schaffner said it’s important that incentives continue to be available to encourage private sector investment.

“We’ve got to continue talking to folks about how to design these solutions. These are problems we haven’t had to solve as a country before, certainly at this scale.”