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Where is Rural Maryland?
See a list of Executive Board members
Read about RMC Milestones through the years 1994-2007
June 2007 - RMC Board Names New Director
Read the Rural Maryland Council's 2007 Annual Report
Read the Rural Maryland Council's 2006 Annual Report
RMC Chairman Charlie Ross was interviewed by Dr. Brad Gottfried, president of the College of Southern Maryland on the radio show, Southern Maryland Perspectives (February 2008). Listen to the Interview. (You will need Windows Media Player installed on your computer and a high speed internet connection. The interview is a half-hour long and the file is 25 Megs.)
Read the RMC brochure for general information about what Council does. (June 2008)
The Rural Maryland Council (RMC) brings together citizens, community-based organizations, federal, state, county and municipal government officials as well as representatives of the for-profit and nonprofit sectors to collectively address the needs of Rural Maryland communities. We provide a venue for members of agriculture and natural resource-based industries, health care facilities, educational institutions, economic and community development organizations, for-profit and nonprofit corporations, and government agencies to cross traditional boundaries, share information, and address in a more holistic way the special needs and opportunities in Rural Maryland.
Our goals are to:
As a collaborative partnership, the RMC operates in a nonpartisan and nondiscriminatory manner. Policy-makers and managers from stakeholder agencies and organizations at all levels of government and the private sector are valued participants. Where practical, the decision-making undertaken by the RMC is made by reaching consensus.
The vision for the RMC is the ultimate realization that citizens living in rural communities are achieving success in education and employment, have access to affordable, quality health care and other vital public services, and live in an environment where natural and cultural resources are being sustained for future generations.
Rural jurisdictions share common characteristics that set them apart from their suburban and urban counterparts, such as geographic isolation, lack of transportation, and lack of access to and availability of health care. The state definition of rural is articulated in the Annotated Code of Maryland and includes 18 of the 24 jurisdictions in Maryland. Each is represented on the Rural Maryland Council. The following counties constitute rural Maryland:
Federally-designated rural jurisdictions are:
(June 2007) - After a lengthy six-month search, the Rural Maryland Council Executive Board has named David Jenkins to be its new Executive Director.
Jenkins was the executive director of the Tri-County Council of Southern Maryland (TCCSMD) for six years where he supervised a staff of 12 and a budget of $800,000. David also holds a Master's degree in City and Regional Planning from Catholic University and a MBA from Loyola College in Baltimore. He is also a graduate of the Leadership Maryland Program (2002).
While with the TCCSMD, David worked with local elected and appointed officials from three counties, as well as local state representatives, to develop transportation plans and economic development policies while working to enhance intergovernmental cooperation between county governments and state agencies. There are five rural regional planning and economic development councils in Maryland, each serving three rural counties. The Southern Maryland council is the oldest in the state.
"David has been a friend to rural Maryland for many years and his experience and accomplishments with the Tri-County Council are well known to many of us who are concerned about the future of rural communities," said RMC Chairman Charlie Ross, who is also president and CEO of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce. "We are very pleased to have someone who understands the pressures and challenges before us and who has the hands-on experience and ideas to help us confront them. The future indeed looks bright for the RMC."
Prior to joining the Tri-County Council, David was a professional land use planner with extensive project management experience. He maintains his professional certification as a planner and is a member of the American Planning Association and American Institute of Certified Planners.
In addition, David is a current member of the National Guard since 1971 and holds the rank of Command Sergeant Major with the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade in Aberdeen. He was deployed to Bosnia in 2000 for eight months.
We welcome him aboard!