Talent is Everywhere: Using Technology to Unlock Potential in Rural Communities

“Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not.” Within the TechSpark program, we use that phrase to emphasize the importance of having access to technology and the risk that happens when access is limited. The talent is still there, present in those communities, but without a link to opportunity, often facilitated through technology, the potential of that talent is lost. For rural communities and small towns, the risk is great – you can’t develop what you don’t know exists and opportunity can’t knock where there’s no door.

In a world that’s increasingly global, where communication to all corners of the world can happen virtually instantaneously, those of us who have access to high-speed internet and infrastructure, to current digital tools and to education about the latest technology can sometimes forget that some communities lack all three. They aren’t just underserved – they’re unserved. No internet means no digital businesses or jobs, no virtual education, no digital health, and no knowledge of how technology is evolving and what it makes possible.

In speaking with one of the TechSpark fellows – Ticia Cliff with Accelerate Montana – I asked her what would be possible if their community suddenly had access to the latest infrastructure and technology. Her answer was immediate – “the growth of economic development,” and everything that flourish of opportunity brings.?

Last week I shared some stories of our fellows working on challenges related to adult education; in those cases the focus was often on the individual learner and the transformative nature of access to technology-related knowledge. Here I’d like to share the stories of some more of our fellows, the Center on Rural Innovation (National), Educate Maine, and Accelerate Montana, who are working to open doors in rural communities and create in-roads to access technology.

Center on Rural Innovation

Based in Hartland, Vermont, the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) partners with rural leaders across the United States – a network of nearly 40 communities and growing – to build tech economies and ecosystems, support scalable entrepreneurship, and increase the number of tech jobs available to rural populations.

“12% of America’s workforce right now lives in rural America – but only 5% of the nation's tech employment is rural,” explains Mike Gutman, CORI’s workforce development manager. “We want to help to bridge that unequal distribution of tech jobs, because we believe that there's great talent, great ideas coming from these areas. They're just not equipped with the resources to be able to take advantage of them.”

Since 2017, CORI has worked to identify rural communities where tech skills could make the most impact. As Mike puts it, “Our hypothesis is that building a tech economy is the best way to build prosperity and a higher quality of living in these areas where we've seen a downturn in manufacturing and agricultural jobs.” Their approach to building that tech economy ecosystem focuses on developing five direct drivers to create economic transformation:

• Scalable tech entrepreneur support and incubation
• Tech workforce development and support
• Access to capital
• Inclusive tech culture building
• Access to tech jobs

Before any of that can happen, though, foundational elements – housing, public health, quality pre-K-12 education, accessible childcare, postsecondary education partnerships, private- and nonprofit-sector engagement – as well as necessary infrastructure pieces – broadband, local leadership capacity, coworking/entrepreneurship spaces – need to be in place.

“For you to be able to plant the seeds of what's possible, you have to be able to see it around you," Mike emphasizes. “If you cannot see a digital or tech job around you, how can you begin to imagine that for yourself?”

CORI works closely with local organizations and leaders to build each communities’ capacity for local tech employment, sharing tools, resources, and knowledge so they can truly envision the possibilities.

While CORI works with communities across the country, our next two organizations each are building tech ecosystems specifically in their own rural regions, exploring issues related to access and sharing glimpses into what technology could make possible. ?

Educate Maine

Educate Maine – founded in 2011 – advances technology education, offering programming for students from kindergarten through higher education and workers seeking to upskill in their careers, all while operating in rural areas with inconsistent access to technology and infrastructure.

“We champion college and career readiness, educational attainment, economic mobility – just overall preparing people for good citizenship, the workforce, and life,” remarked Angela Oechslie, “and as the director of my program, called Project>Login, I'm really focused on expanding computer science education to rural and underserved communities in Maine.” One program in particular – Girls Who Code – gets young women and girls excited about computer science and has resulted in the creation of at least 25 new clubs. In a similar vein, their most recent CS Summer of Fun – a professional development program for educators – had 137 attendees, which translated to about 2,760 students who would further benefit.

Being part of a rural community naturally adds layers of complexities, as access to broadband and digital tools may not be present in all areas. However, in leveraging community partnerships and working to listen and build trust, Educate Maine has found ways to be an educational and strategic intermediary, sharing what they’ve learned and facilitating connections between others. Their upcoming panel on AI and the Future of Internships is a clear example of the community collaboration they facilitate.

And for each person and organization they reach, more people become aware of the importance of broadband connectivity and the way technology can benefit individuals and the community. Without knowing what technology makes possible, it can be difficult to imagine what a career in technology could look like – but through programming, partnerships, and events, Educate Maine offers a peek into what’s achievable and the educational resources to get there.

Accelerate Montana

Based in Missoula, Accelerate Montana provides business skills programs and training, working with partners across the state to ensure Montanans have access to tools and training they need to upskill and thrive. While the organization serves many populations, TechSpark fellow Ticia Cliff, a workforce development program specialist at Accelerate Montana and a member of the Gros Ventre, or Aaniiih tribe, leads several initiatives that support Montana’s indigenous communities in the digital space.

The Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in North Central Montana encapsulates some of the challenges rural communities there face. The nearest grocery store is a 45-minute drive away, and “some houses don't have access to Wi Fi. If they do, it's very spotty Wi Fi – very poor internet access,” Ticia shares. All seven reservations in Montana fall into the top 10 for highest digital inequity. These areas aren’t just underserved – they’re often unserved – and lack of competition for internet providers can allow those that do exist to charge exorbitant rates.

As a result, Ticia took the lead on a Tribal Broadband Bootcamp, held in May 2024, that had more than 50 participants from across the United States. They explored all things broadband – from a general overview, to hands-on training in splicing fiber and cable – with the goal of making it more approachable and building community support.

“They don't know what they don't know,” Ticia remarked, “and there's not anybody going in and teaching them. So that's been my goal: spreading awareness on how to leverage, utilizing our technology.” Raising awareness about the need is often a big step in advocating for broadband, but some of the other barriers Accelerate Montana sees are related to funding and a lack of trust. In some cases that lack of trust is in the technology itself, but other times it’s in the people or organizations that claim they will provide technology resources.

In the future, Accelerate Montana looks to create the role of a digital navigator – a digital coach from the community who’s trained in technology and can help bridge the knowledge gap. In the meantime, the organization has been able to spark curiosity in digital topics, even AI, as Ticia and Accelerate Montana, through their programming, continue to share tools and resources that showcase what technology could do for their own rural communities.

The power of opportunity

What becomes clear through these TechSpark fellows, the Center on Rural Innovation, Educate Maine, and Accelerate Montana, who are working to bring technology education and infrastructure knowledge to these rural communities, is that they are often grappling with a complex task. They simultaneously need to work to advocate for infrastructure needs, like broadband, while also staying current on emergent technologies and ensuring that their communities don’t fall behind in learning about the latest tools.

“The big thing that we try to get out there into the world is that we think big ideas can come from anywhere, and how those big ideas have been nurtured has not been equitable throughout the U.S.,” Mike Gutman remarked. The risk for all of us, as stakeholders in a globalized world, is that we could lose some of those big ideas and never even know it. With access to technology, an understanding of what’s possible, and resources to grow, talent rests in each of those rural communities just waiting to flourish. Who knows what that impact could be for the future of our own global technology ecosystem – the power rests in the potential. After all, talent is everywhere. And opportunity could be, too.