The purpose of this project is to provide the Southwest Missouri Council of Governments (SMCOG) with technical assistance to support its multimodal transportation and economic development planning efforts. It will offer recommendations and training to support access to opportunities (including economic participation as well as recreation and tourism) via active transportation (primarily in the form of bicycling) in Dade County, MO.

This project is an opportunity to share resources on the connections between the rural wealth-creation framework, active transportation and bicycle tourism, which may be helpful for rural communities throughout the U.S.

The primary motivation for this project was a growing interest in active transportation improvements in Dade County, MO. This project was also motivated by SMCOG’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (SMCOG, 2017), including goals to:

• Market/attract new businesses to the SMCOG region
• Support existing business growth and expansion of businesses
• Assist new business creation and entrepreneurship in the SMCOG region
• Improve the connectedness and maintenance of the region’s multi-modal transportation network