An Iowa State University professor is with a team of researchers using “big data,” or extremely large data sets, to suit rural communities with companies that could have the top chance of success in specific geographic areas.
The multi-state project is considered to remain one of the initial available to evaluate huge amounts of data to disclose patterns and trends that may match rural communities with businesses, and eventually stimulate economic development.
Linda Niehm, a professor in apparel, events, and hospitality management in addition to a Dean’s Faculty Fellow while in the College of Human Sciences, is working together with Craig Carpenter and Rebekka Dudensing of Texas A&M University, and Scott Loveridge of Michigan State University about the four-year, USDA NIFA-funded project.
Niehm is well-known for research and understanding helping small rural, community-based, and family-owned businesses enhance competitive options and identify innovative suggestions in social networking.
“Linda has evolved a huge network with rural business people and community leaders through her community outreach and business consulting activities in Iowa, how the project team will depend on since we develop our focus group and modeling efforts,” said Carpenter, the key investigator of your project who’s a helper professor and extension specialist in agricultural economics. ?
USDA grant
The project received a $499,996 rural development grant that’s certainly one of 47 grants totaling $17.5 million awarded in May from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
The researchers are analyzing data through the U.S. Census, and federal employment and payroll statistics, in order to better estimate the sustainability of rural businesses. They’re examining socioeconomic, geographic, and industrial factors that influence business success inside a region.
“This new USDA NIFA grant project is quite exciting while it implements a mix off big data from both restricted-access government databases and publically available data to develop algorithms or predictive models,” Niehm said. “Instead of using a ‘try this’ and ‘try that’ approach, economic development specialists, community leaders, and businesses have a more accurate way to estimate what industries and types of businesses are most likely to reach your goals (or you cannot) inside of a given rural area.”
The team will build up a web-based modeling tool to identify potential economic development opportunities in rural communities. The tool will identify which industries are underrepresented from a county, and after that determine if a residential district could support a particular business, for instance a grocery store or barber shop.
The attempts are breaking new ground inside the usage of big data.
“Big data are continuing to build, but research and extension/outreach have a problem with guidelines for usage of that data, especially in the progression of practical uses,” Carpenter said. “In this, we understand that you have numerous factors that influence the survival and progress of rural businesses, but current efforts didn’t yet utilized big data to dig into your relative significance about those various factors. Our work are going to do this.”
Iowa, Texas, and Michigan include the states where pilot communities might be identified to your project. Researchers completed an airplane pilot focus group the 2009 summer, which sought feedback from home-based company owners for the forms of training and tools that you will find good for their job.
“Major needs of small rural businesses included usage of funding, desire for quality employees, and training concerning innovative marketing and technology applications for rural businesses,” Niehm said. “The Organization Development Centers are unable to serve the demand they’ve for business assistance, hence the community-business matching data could well be very helpful in user-friendly forms.”
After finishing of the four-year study, researchers arrange to extend the program nationally – which includes a product which would match virtually every county in the nation with industries that happen to be relatively gonna succeed there.
“Business needs and industrial composition can differ substantially by state,” Carpenter said. “This project is national in scope and, therefore, it’s helpful to have a wide array of perspectives and experiences from different states country wide. One more research product consists of data of all the county in Iowa.”
Iowa Retail Initiative
Economic development can be challenging in rural communities that not have the resources information which are often found in more towns. Compounding that difficulty are trends of declining population including a relative not enough diversity in industries and employment opportunity.
“All businesses everywhere face increased competition from the internet as well as other market forces,” Niehm said. “Small businesses in rural areas have greater challenges due to population decline and market change. Most rural businesses will not have ready use of business assistance that can help them reply to change effectively, and innovate regarding their offerings, strategies to marketing, and modes of distribution.”
Niehm isn’t stranger to Main Street. Since 2004, she and Ann Marie Fiore, a professor in apparel, events, and hospitality management, have led College of Human Sciences students and faculty members in performing “makeover marathons” more than 30 small Iowa businesses.
Four in the past, Iowa State took that outreach to a higher level. Making use of associate professor Jessica Hurst, Niehm had been a leader of the Iowa Retail Initiative?(IRI), which provides a single reason for contact for rural communities and retailers seeking help.
Niehm’s total small enterprise outreach efforts within the last few 13 years, along with the IRI, have served approximately 200 retailers in 50 communities round the state and provided more than 530 students with real-world learning experiences. The IRI project was funded from the vice chairman for ISU Extension and Outreach office, in collaboration with the College of Human Sciences and College of Design. This semester, Niehm and the IRI will work with another 30 students in Garner, where they are really conducting consulting projects for five small rural retailers.
“Rural firms that are successful and sustainable have determined ways to boost their consumer base through approaches just like creating a destination business, providing an unparalleled customer experience, and being multi-channel in the strategies they reach and serve their potential customers – waiting for you, online, through social networking, mobile product trucks, or pop-up shops,” Niehm said.
All of these experience gave Iowa State a seat while dining due to this “big data” project that’s got the possibility of setting up a significant impact to rural communities nationwide.
“Dr. Niehm’s community-based research experience, like both quantitative and qualitative modes of web data collection and analysis, fits well when using the aims as well as on this project, mainly the focus groups that we’re running this season, which make an effort to discover more about factors associated with business survival and growth,” Carpenter said.
Niehm is inside the second year of becoming a Dean’s Faculty Fellow, an honor made possible by an anonymous gift towards the College of Human Sciences. As part of the fellowship, Niehm gets $30,000 per year in fiscal years 2017 and 2018 to increase her well-known work in developing entrepreneurship programming and outreach unique to the College of Human Sciences. One particular funds will be useful to supplement Niehm’s travel and conference costs associated with this USDA grant. ?
