Jack Gellor is the Director of the Center for Rural Policy and Development located in St. Peter, Minnesota. He can be reached at jack.geller@mnsu.edu

Nancy Miller Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in Textiles Clothing and Design at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Her research interest is in international apparel marketing and rural community development. Dr. Miller is also a collaborator in a study of rural Iowa businesses. The study is planned to explore the challenges facing rural businesses, their strategies for success, and their relationships with their communities. This research has expanded into to a large national sample of rural and urban small businesses. Nancy can be reached at nmiller3@unl.edu

Lars Peterson is the Director of the Iowa Small Business Development Centers, in Des Moines, Iowa. Lars can be reached at larsp@iastate.edu

Jeff Sharp Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor and a Rural Sociology/Extension Specialist at Ohio State University. He will be the project collaborator in Ohio. Sharp's research and extension efforts at Ohio State University focus on community and agricultural change at the rural-urban interface. His proposal is to develop a network among agricultural producers in an ex-urban region to improve their capacity to market to consumers, restaurants, and retail outlets in the nearby urban area. Sharp will assist with identifying networks and achieving the educational objectives, besides also creating a new network. Jeff can be reached at sharp.123@osu.edu

Frank Spillers. is the director of Cass County Iowa Community Development Corporation. He is starting an entrepreneurs club and a home based business network in Cass County. Frank can be reached at cado@a-m-u.net

Carol Thayer Ph.D. is a Professor/Extension Specialist of Textiles, Clothing and Design University of Nebraska Lincoln. She is the Small Business and Small Scale Entrepreneur Extension Specialist at the University of Nebraska. She has been the past-chair of the National Home-Based and Micro Business Design Team for the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CREES). Thayer will help identify and gain access to community and industry based networks in Nebraska in addition to assisting in preparation and dissemination of educational materials and co-sponsoring workshops. Carol can be reached at cthayer@unlnotes.unl.edu

Diane Vigna Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor/Extension Specialist of Textiles, Clothing and Design at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Prior to this project, Dr. Vigna operated a small business and currently, as an Extension specialist, works with small business owners in rural communities throughout Nebraska. Diane can be reached at dvigna@unlnotes.unl.edu