Description :  In anticipation of strong e-commerce opportunities for small rural businesses and increased competition among broadband service providers offering improved access for rural communities, this project provides a university model of a vertically-integrated agricultural enterprise that markets value-added products directly to consumers via an e-commerce format. The goal of this project is to create sustainable development and diversified economic opportunities for agricultural and other rural businesses in the Lower Mississippi Delta by creating e-commerce businesses. Rural businesses are provided multimedia e-commerce training materials through a series of educational seminars developed by Louisiana Tech University, the Louisiana Small Business Development Center Network, and university sites in Mississippi and Arkansas. The Lower Mississippi Delta region represents one of the most economically depressed rural areas of the nation; therefore, this project gives rural businesses a much-needed chance to develop and/or redefine themselves to compete in the emerging electronic economy.

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Principal Investigator:  Rea, Kenneth  --  Academic Affairs

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Collaborators:  Elizabeth Higgins Director of the Center for Rural Development; Gary Kennedy, Ph.D., Head, Department of Agricultural Sciences

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Funding Agencies:  USDA

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Amount Awarded:   $539,680

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Start Period:  09/30/2005

End Period:  09/30/2006