WSU Extension

WSU Wahkiakum County Extension: A 21st century approach to rural economic development

From WSU's president Elson Floyd: "Every county in the state has an Extension office, and we're going to use that the best way we can. The land-grant university has a responsibility to do everything possible to improve the quality of life for Washingtonians."

WSU Extension is committed to improving the quality of life in Wahkiakum County. Watch us grow! We're growing leaders, we're growing thinkers and we're growing the county economy.

The Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee identified top sectors with the most potential for economic growth in Wahkiakum County. Top on the list are: 1) Value-added agriculture; 2) Value-added forest products; 3) Energy diversification; 4) Entrepreneurship Development.

Value-added agriculture

WSU Extension in Wahkiakum County is leading the region in its service to small farmers. In just two years time, Wahkiakum County has developed a farmers market with weekly revenues of more that $1,000, and more high-value pastured meat producers than any county in a 10 county region, according to Patrice Barrentine, small farms coordinator at WSDA. We coordinated the first regional joint marketing effort for small farms in Southwest Washington and have become the model for similar efforts in neighboring counties. We offer the only WSU course for small farms on business development in Southwest Washington. And this is just the beginning....

Value-added forest products

Value-added forest products have unbounded potential. The Wood Materials and Engineering Laboratory (WMEL) is a partnership among the College of Engineering and Architecture, WSU Extension and the Agricultural Research Center. The WMEL develops and applies new techniques to add value to wood fiber by using it in wood-plastic composite products and a host of other composite materials. These composites hold great promise in adding value to bioproducts and small diameter logs leading to increased profitability within the wood products sector. This will help retain critical industries in rural communities throughout Washington and create and sustain living wage jobs.

For example, wood shavings (valued at $20/ton) and wood chips (valued at $90-100/ton) can be converted into wood-plastic composite products valued at about $1,200 per ton.

Much of the harvestable timber in Washington State is in small tracts of privately owned land. Landowners often lack the skills to manage this resource in a sustainable manner. The WSU Extension Natural Resources Program works with individual landowners to help them better understand how to manage their properties to achieve ecological and economic goals. After participating in WSU Extension training, a landowner in Snohomish County applied acquired techniques and realized $177,000 in new income. Wahkiakum County Extension brings WSU initiatives like this one home to on-the-ground application in Wahkiakum County.

Energy diversification

The WSU Energy Program has a budget of around $6 million and a staff of 60 working at our downtown Olympia office, in Spokane and at other satellite locations. Our customers range from industrial plants, to private consulting firms, businesses, government agencies, and utilities. The WSU Energy program is interested in biofuels, biopower and bioproducts, which offset petroleum use. We assess sources of plant and animal biomatter to determine how much is available, how it can be converted to fuel, and at what price. Our alternative fuels experts work closely with the biofuels industry and state and local governments to promote the use and production of biodiesel and ethanol fuels in Washington State.

Entrepreneurship Development

WSU Extension's Rural Bridges Program helps rural communities identify, create and recruit industries that can leverage technology to help isolated rural communities more effectively compete in the modern economy. The Rural Bridges program has:

• Helped rural communities in 14 Washington counties to expand jobs and entrepreneurial businesses through innovative application of information technology.

• Created more than 200 new living-wage jobs in rural communities across the state between 2001 and 2007.

• Provided direct assistance to 36 innovative rural businesses to improve profitability through expanded use of information technology.

• Received the Washington Governor's Best Practice in Workforce Development Award in 2003.

• A strategy to create 5,000 new information driven jobs in rural Washington by the year 2013.

For more information on WSU Extension or to read more on President Floyd's address see http://ext.wsu.edu.