Column: Rural Perspective, Infrastructure

Improving the infrastructure of rural America is vital to the integrity of these communities, as it ensures children and families have the opportunities to experience a certain quality of life rooted in access to clean drinking water, high-speed internet, and quality bridges, roads, and highways, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Throughout the United States, 19% of the population resides in rural America; however, this region accounts for nearly half of all roadway fatalities. Therefore, it is essential that resources are expended to improve the infrastructure throughout rural America.

In addition, building infrastructure includes maintenance and upkeep, and there is an enormous need to build and maintain a better rural America. For example, 35% of rural Americans and tribal communities lack broadband access, according to The White House’s “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Rural Playbook” published in 2022, and in a nation driven by increasing information and technocratic demands, giving these people access to high-speed internet is essential in the future prosperity of the nation.

The flow of resources in these communities will stimulate the economy by creating jobs and ensuring a level of equity among the citizens residing in these communities. Greater access to broadband and other infrastructure projects will improve rural America by improving the ability of citizens to better connect with the global economy, thereby allowing citizens to access jobs and resources beyond a few isolated communities.

Ultimately, as stated by the USDA Rural Development Innovation Center in their broadband guide, an improved infrastructure improves the ability of citizens to experience greater workforce productivity and quality of life. There is nothing better for unity within the community than when citizens come together and pool their talents to tackle shared problems and experience the collected benefits that come from the experience, such as good-paying jobs, prospering families and growing neighborhoods.

Improving our infrastructure also makes rural communities more attractive to investors who depend on strong community infrastructures to come to and invest in these communities, thereby creating greater job opportunities and adding to the growth of many rural communities.

Throughout the state of Missouri, resources are being allocated to improve essential community services and the infrastructure in several communities that directly affect rural Missourians. In many instances, partnerships are being fostered, and new collaborations are being facilitated to create these opportunities.

The government is also playing a critical role to help improve the competitiveness of many rural communities throughout the region; these resources are projected to directly benefit approximately 25,000 rural Missourians and many more indirectly, according to the USDA.

Examples of how these resources are being invested range from investment in equipment such as snowplows, dump trucks, law enforcement and maintenance vehicles to a variety of additional support resources such as asphalt for street repairs and ditching to assist with draining issues to maintain safety and update community services, according to the 2021 USDA press release “USDA Invests More Than $1 million in Rural Community Infrastructure to Improve Rural Missouri.”

Stimulating the economy and adding to the infrastructure efforts in these communities is vital to offsetting the diminishing outcomes in many rural communities that are challenged with low population density and few opportunities to thrive. In many instances, we are working together to return our communities from economic deserts to communities of prosperity. Our concerted efforts today are slowly positioning us to return to a nation of prosperity. Rural America is at the core of this improvement.

Dr. Victor Wilburn is a professor and the chairperson for Southeast Missouri State University. His emphasis is on improving emotional wellbeing of children.