ABSTRACTS

1.1  E-Business Applications of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Food Systems Web Site

Carl L. German, Richard VanVranken, and Kathleen Klotzbach Shimomura

Phone: (302) 831-1317
e-mail: clgerman@udel.edu

The term "food system" is used frequently in discussions about nutrition, food health, community economic development and agriculture. The food system involves all processes involved in getting food from the farm gate to the consumer: production, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consuming, and food disposal. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Food Systems Web Site was designed to provide a forum for assisting the food system with the dissemination of information that can enhance individual players in the system. The web site is now available on an experimental basis to provide producers and consumers with education and user friendly information pertaining to a safe and nutritious local food supply and consumption.

1.2  Using E-Commerce in the Forest Products Industry

David Damery

Phone: (413) 545-1770
e-mail: ddamery@forwild.umass.edu

The forest products industry is rapidly adopting e-commerce solutions as it advances in the information age. In this chapter, the unique e-commerce needs of this sector's small businesses are discussed. Current experience and specific examples of e-commerce usage are given. A strategic e-commerce planning methodology is provided and links to support e-commerce education for forest products businesses are given.

1.3  Exporting and International Marketing On the Web

Linda D. Aines

Phone: (802) 773-3349
e-mail: linda.aines@uvm.edu

Recent advances in telecommunications have placed the very small business and the individual in a playing field where they can compete neck and neck with large corporations in reaching a very large audience. This presents opportunities for extension and outreach programs to retrieve, and manage such International Marketing information, and to offer training or technical assistance to agricultural businesses. An active and effective method of marketing on the Web is to use the thousands of websites with bulletin boards containing lists of importers, manufacturers, distributors, buy/sell offers, or foreign traders. Products requested or offered through these websites range from raw material or industrial goods to cosmetics, herbal teas, foods, or household items-anything goes!

1.4  Barriers and Opportunities for Growth in Business-to-Consumer Electronic Commerce

Brenda J. Cude

Phone: (706) 542-4867
e-mail: bcude@arches.uga.edu

Most online sales are business-to-business, not business-to-consumer. Access issues, sales taxes, the possibility of fraud, and privacy and security concerns limit B2C commerce. Many consumers are not online because of costs: the average monthly cost for telecommunication subscriptions was $122 in 2000 and rising. While states want online vendors to collect sales taxes, some analysts predict that fewer consumers may buy online as a result. Extension can potentially address many consumer concerns through education. While 12 states have 4-H Technology teams, only a few have educational materials for adult online consumers at this time. This chapter addresses barriers and opportunities for growth in B2C e-commerce, and presents consumer-related resource.

2.1  Online Business Alliances: Net Gain @ Speed of Thought!

Bruce DeYoung

Phone: (541) 737-0695
e-mail: deyoungb@bus.orst.edu

Small enterprises have powered much of the nation's economic growth during the last decade. Managerial time constraints often limit leaders' ability to personally attend professional meetings. The consequence is reduced peer networking and information sharing opportunities critical to enlightened decision-making. To empower small enterprise leaders to gain timely specialized information from peers without attending distant meetings, Oregon State University initiated an "Online Business Alliance" demonstration project. This article describes the demonstration project, its outcomes and provides information for Extension professionals considering the formation of virtual networks for business, community and/or governmental leaders.

2.2  A Strategy for Developing an Extension E-Commerce Education Program
for Rural Small Businesses

Beth Duncan

Phone: (662) 325-2160
e-mail: bethd@ext.msstate.edu

The Internet is a new way to expand business opportunities. It does more than simply provide alternative shopping sites to brick and mortar stores; it can also expand existing markets and even create new ones providing the smallest of businesses, and those in rural locations new growth possibilities. However, many small businesses face barriers to adopting e-commerce. There is a critical need for unbiased e-commerce educational and technical expertise to assist these businesses. The Mississippi State University Extension Service (MSU-ES), through the Food & Fiber Center, is currently addressing many of the e-commerce needs of rural small businesses. This chapter provides an overview of the process that evolved into Extension e-commerce programs for small businesses in Mississippi, and examples of these programs.

2.3  Business Use of Information Technology in Nebraska

Connie Hancock, John C. Allen, and Rebecca Vogt

Phone: (402) 472-1772
e-mail: chancock1@unl.edu

The rapid development and diffusion of information technology has important implications for rural communities. Businesses in rural communities can use information technology to increase their productivity and expand their markets. To help businesses explore the possibilities information technology holds for them, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Applied Rural Innovation developed the Nebraska Electronic Main Street Program. This innovative, community-based program is managed by a team of University Cooperative Extension Educators. This unique model of management has involved the reallocation of the educators' time from county programming responsibilities to regional and statewide efforts. A survey of rural Nebraska businesses was conducted to determine their current technology use as well as their future training needs. The results indicate business owners view information technology as key to their future development and growth. However, many require training on how to use some Internet applications. Extension can play an important role in educating business owners how to use these applications.

2.4  The Mainstreet Curriculum

William Bomash et al.

Phone: (612) 625-8776
e-mail: willie@umn.edu

3.1  4-H Web Wizards – Technology Bridges Cultural and Economic Divides
for Latino Youth

John Baggott, Lisa Conroy, Gregg F. Mitchell, Cecilia Giron and Emilio Canas

Phone: (503) 725-2111
e-mail: John.Baggott@oregonstate.edu

Latino youth in Washington County, Oregon, are poised for success as a result of the 4-H Web Wizards program. Prior to the inception of the program, the dropout rate for Latino youth topped 30%. A new and original program, 4-H Web Wizards enhances learning by providing the targeted student group with the trend-setting technology education that students requested and delivering that education in partnership with 4-H, private industry, schools, volunteers, libraries, non-profits, and other community partners.

3.2  Digital Inclusion or Exlusion? Examining Regional Variations in the
Use of Information Technology Among Metro/Nonmetro Residents

Lionel J. Beaulieu, Stephan Goetz, and Melissa Barfield

Phone: (662) 325-3207
e-mail: ljb@srdc.msstate.edu

This paper is designed to delve more deeply into the studies released by the Department of Commerce on its study of digital inclusion. While specific attributes of Internet users living in metro and nonmetro areas of the U.S. are given attention in its studies, it fails to consider how digital inclusion or exclusion varies across U.S. regions. The educational, economic, and demographic variations of residents residing in the Northeast, North Central, Southern, and Western regions of the country suggest a need to explore the nature and extent of digital inclusion among metro and nonmetro residents who are living in distinct regions of the country.

The data for this study will be drawn from the August 2000 Current Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. This study, involving a sample of approximately 48,000 households, included a series of questions regarding access and use of information technology by households and individuals. A near duplicate study undertaken by the Census Bureau in 1998 will also be examined, thus allowing us to assess the extent of changes in the use of information technology among metro/nonmetro residents of our nation's four regions.

4.1  Teleliteracy in the West: Developing Community Internet Activists
On the New Mexico Frontier

Robert O. Coppedge, Professor

Phone: (505) 646-4122
e-mail: rcoppedg@nmsu.edu

In developing the educational materials, New Mexico business people and community leaders in rural areas across the state were interviewed to provide examples of successful use of the Internet in e-commerce and e-government. Materials developed include promotional pieces, a web site, audience workbooks, DVD movies, videotapes, CD PowerPoint presentations with imbedded video clips and web sites, trainer notes, and speaker notes. Train the Trainer sessions were held with Small Business Development Centers and others to develop local non-Extension trainers.

Telecommunications infrastructure, high-speed Internet access, and related expertise are limited in rural areas. Local advocates are needed to convince local businesses and community leaders of the importance of working together to overcome these limitations. Active leadership at the local level is crucial to bringing about change in a timely manner.

4.2  Using Community Information Networks to Increase IT Capacity
and Use in Rural Areas

William J. Grigsby, William C. Shuffstall and Stephan J. Goetz

Phone: (814) 863-4656
e-mail: sgoetz@psu.edu

Growing personal computer ownership and Internet access alone will not reduce the digital divide that threatens to further marginalize rural areas. Recognizing that a community's ability to benefit from IT is more than a technical or supply-side problem, the extension curriculum described here presents an incremental process for building community IT capacity from the ground up, involving four key sectors of a community. The activity begins with a planning process that helps communities develop sustainable strategies for building local IT and networking capacity, and for integrating them into the community-building process through Community Information Networks.

4.3  Internet Solutions for Rural Communities: New Options for Outreach

Julie Fesenmaier

Phone: (217) 333-8232
e-mail: fesenmai@uiuc.edu

5.1  Providing Community Economic Analysis via Dynamic Web Pages:
The Georgia Statistics System

Warren R. Kriesel

Phone: (706) 542-0748
e-mail: wkriesel@agecon.uga.edu

This chapter documents the development, operation and client impact of an interactive web site, The Georgia Statistics System.  The site employs software that dynamically generates web pages in responses to a client's requests.  Websites with this capability may attract Extension clientele into a richer educational experience covering topics such as community economic analysis.