Distilling a Brighter Future in Rural America! 

NREDA is Louisville bound for the annual conference this year. At the Galt House, you will have the opportunity to network with professionals, learn from guest speakers, experience the museum district, business community, The Urban Bourbon Trail, and much more!

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

4:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
Keynote: We are a Small Nation: How to Supercharge your Downtown in a Post-Covid Economy
Jason Duff, Founder at Small Nation

Keynote Speaker, Jason Duff, Founder and CEO of Small Nation, will share How to Supercharge your Downtown in a Post-COVID Economy. Pre-Covid, rural areas across the country were hurting – brain drain, lack of investment, and no vibrancy. But pockets of revitalization were out there, including in Bellefontaine, OH. Small Nation founder and CEO Jason Duff will tell you how he took a rural town of 13,000 people with an 80% vacancy rate downtown nearly ten years ago to over thirty revitalized buildings, twenty-eight loft apartments, and over fifty new small businesses in less than a decade. Now looking post-Covid, small towns are in the best position they’ve been this century, and you can duplicate this success in your town.

Thursday, November 11, 2021

2:20 p.m.–3:20 p.m.
Breakout B: Workforce Development: How Local Solutions Can Attract Employees to Your Companies
Jason Duff, Founder at Small Nation

Workforce development is one of the most common issues among communities and economic developers today. Learn how a hyperlocal solution that is controlled and maintained by your community can help you control the narrative, and how building amenities in your community can help attract employees looking for a big-city lifestyle in a small town.