Register Now for the Rural Housing Development Summit
September 10, 2025 | On the Hill Events | Shelbyville, IN
The goal of the Summit is to provide multiple solutions to meet the challenges of rural housing development. The Summit will strengthen the ability of rural communities to increase the quality and quantity of attainable units through zoning, community engagement, developer incentives, and development partnership strategies.
Session Description
Rural communities have unique challenges in developing housing. From a lack of infrastructure to limited or antiquated zoning ordinances, rural areas are often overlooked or hindered in developing attainable, accessible, and safe housing for community residents.
After leaving the Summit, you will have a deeper understanding of five strategies you can use to increase housing in rural communities:
- Countering common objections to rural housing development.
- Creating or revising zoning ordinances.
- Attracting developers and professional service providers for projects.
- Expanding the number of developers undertaking projects in rural areas.
- Developing partnerships and leveraging resources for project funding.
Session Outline
8:30 a.m. Registration
9:00 a.m. Introductions/Welcoming Remarks
9:15 a.m. Overcoming Objections and Finding Win-Wins for Development
Kwame Christian | Founder & CEO | American Negotiation Institute
10:45 a.m. Break
11:00 a.m. Concurrent Sessions #1
Creating or Revising Local Ordinances
This panel will explore how local ordinances can either support or obstruct rural housing construction or redevelopment. Panelists will share regulatory barriers as well as ideas on establishing zoning ordinances where none currently exist and modernizing outdated regulations to better support rural housing needs.
Attracting Developers & Professional Service Providers
Finding rural developers and development-adjacent professional service providers (architects, attorneys) can be a challenge. The primary focus of this session is to understand these challenges and implement solutions to create a development ecosystem conducive to meeting the housing needs of your community.
11:45 a.m. Break
12:00 p.m. Lunch and Panel Discussion: Partnerships that Work
This panel discussion will outline how to leverage partnerships with businesses, housing stability service providers, and community residents to increase the quality and quantity of homes in rural areas. (Lunch provided)
1:00 p.m. Concurrent Session #2
Realistically Planning for The Cost of and Timeline For Rural Development
The cost and timeline for a development project can vary, particularly in rural areas. This session is specifically designed to address how incremental, large-scale, and non-traditional developers can approach a project with their “eyes wide open.”
Roles for Local Government in Rural Development
This session will highlight how counties and municipalities can support infrastructure needs, counteract a “business-as-usual” approach to housing construction/redevelopment, or sustain rural development across administrations.
2:00 Closing Session
Funding the Work
This panel will provide innovative methods of financing and funding projects through both public and private means to get rural development off the ground.
3:00 p.m. Adjourn
Keynote Speaker
Kwame Christian, Esq., MA
Founder & CEO | International Keynote Speaker | Podcast Host
Kwame Christian, Esq., M.A. is an attorney, bestselling author, professor, CEO of the American Negotiation Institute (ANI) and host of the #1 negotiation podcast in the world, Negotiate Anything. Following the viral success of his 2016 TED Talk Finding Confidence in Conflict, Kwame has lent his expertise to dozens of media outlets, C-suite leadership for Fortune 500 companies like NASA, Target and Apple and millions of people across the globe.
