Concord, NH – Sept. 2, 2025 – The Education Alliance for New Hampshire is thrilled to announce New Hampshire’s participation in the inaugural cohort of the Rural Talent Development and Attraction Lab (“Rural Talent Lab”). The Rural Talent Lab is a collaboration between the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC), the State Higher Education Officers Association (SHEEO), and HMC Strategies. This project will direct roughly one million dollars of supports to carry out the Lab’s work here in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire will join Kansas, Montana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia to establish middle-skill credential pathways over the next four years. Through listening sessions, rural public-opinion surveys, and other research activities, the team will better understand the local workforce needs that inform the pathways implemented in this project. The Rural Talent Lab selected the five states because of their variation in geography, politics, rural demographics, state team structure, and workforce needs.
“Our commitment to rural communities is central to our mission. Many of the students, families, and schools we serve are in rural parts of New Hampshire, where access to resources can be more limited,” said Dr. Stephanie Lesperance, Chief Strategy Officer for the Education Alliance for New Hampshire. “This opportunity to participate in workforce development research allows us to think deeper about the work we do across the state and meet community needs.”
In June, the Education Alliance for New Hampshire hosted the Rural Talent Lab project leads, Dr. Andrew Koricich and Adam Ray, for a day-long site visit in Littleton. Education leaders and stakeholders from across the state came together to share about the opportunities here in NH, like the existence of tailored workforce development toolkits for specific in-demand industries within the state.
The work of the Rural Talent Lab will begin this fall. States will receive a range of supports through the Rural Talent Lab, including travel and technical-assistance funding, intensive pathway and policy advising, community listening tours, rural public-opinion polling, in-person professional development events, and a suite of research activities that help develop pathways that are sustainable and meet the needs of local learners and employers. The Education Alliance for New Hampshire will provide updates on the local progression of the Lab at www.edalliancenh.org. Overall project updates will be available at ARRC’s website (regionalcolleges.org), LinkedIn page (https://www.linkedin.com/company/arrcresearch), and Bluesky accounts (@arrc.bsky.social and @ruraltalentlabs.bsky.social).