CANTON -- U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today spoke at St. Lawrence University’s 17th Annual North Country Symposium and announced her legislation that would prioritize federal investment for rural communities and small towns across New York State.

The conference brought community members, businesses, and civic leaders together to discuss economic development initiatives in the region. The theme for this year’s conference was “Movement in the North Country” with a focus on rural migration patterns and how community development can help attract businesses and residents to the North Country.

Gillibrand’s legislation, the Rebuild Rural America Act, would improve the way that the federal government supports development projects in small towns and rural communities in order to better fit their specific needs.

“Rural communities are at the very heart of New York, and their development is key to helping our state, and our nation, succeed,” said Gillibrand, a New York Democrat. “These communities face complex challenges that demand comprehensive solutions and long-term planning, but the current federal grant system is too narrow and inflexible to truly address their specific needs.”

According to a press release from her office, Gillibrand’s legislation would:

• create a new $50 billion grant program, the Rural Future Partnership Fund, to provide non-competitive, five-year, renewable block grants to certified rural regions to implement locally-developed regional revitalization plans

• allocate funding proportionately based on the population of each region, with an increased allocation for regions that include areas that have a poverty rate greater than 20 percent

• encourage rural regions to develop comprehensive, collaborative, and locally driven community and economic development plans that revitalize infrastructure, provide support for public services and job training, and foster local entrepreneurship

• require interested rural regions to form a Regional Rural Partnership Council that brings together local leaders, elected officials, economic development organizations, cooperatives, higher education institutions, foundations, and other entities important to regional development

• empower rural community leaders by creating national capacity and training programs that will help connect the expertise and resources of the USDA and national and regional technical assistance providers with rural regions

• establish a State-by-State Rural Innovation and Partnership Administration to oversee the new program and offer hands-on help to local leaders

• launch a Rural Future Corps in coordination with AmeriCorps to assist rural communities with implementing Rural Partnership Plans and expanding critical services including childcare, health services, nutrition assistance, education, and job training.

Eligible regions include those with a central community of 10,000 to 50,000 people, collections of rural census tracts or counties outside of regions with a central community of 10,000 to 50,000 people, and Indian reservations. States, in coordination with USDA, will certify the regions’ participation in the program.

“We have to reimagine how the federal government partners with and invests in rural communities, which is why I am proud to unveil the Rebuild Rural America Act. My bill would encourage rural communities to come together as a region and rebuild their economies with the support and flexibility of a consistent federal funding source. I’m proud to lead the effort to deliver our rural communities the support they actually need, and this bill is a good place to start,” Gillibrand toldthe audience at St. Lawrence University.

“Senator Gillibrand has been a leader in her support of providing access to funding for rural communities like the North Country,” said St. Lawrence University President William L. Fox. “Her demonstrated leadership on rural issues at the federal level is a tremendous asset and advantage to St. Lawrence University students, faculty, and staff.”

Federal grant funding is often inaccessible to rural communities and too inflexible to fully meet local development needs, the press release from the senator’s office said.

“This makes it difficult for rural communities and small towns to plan and implement the comprehensive, long-term development projects required to address the complex challenges they face. The Rebuild Rural America Act would establish a dedicated stream of federal funding for rural communities and provide guaranteed, multi-year, flexible block grants to support regional economic growth. This would help rural communities better plan for and encourage economic growth across regions,” the statement said.