**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE ECONOMIES OF RURAL AMERICA CONTINUE TO LAG THOSE IN METROPOLITAN AREAS AND SOME RURAL REGIONS ARE EXPERIENCING SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC HARDSHIP. IT IS INCREASINGLY RECOGNIZED THAT IDENTIFYING THE ATTRIBUTES OF RURAL ECONOMIES THAT EXPLAIN WHY THEY LAG THEIR URBAN COUNTERPARTS AND THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT CAUSE SOME RURAL AREAS TO FLOURISH WHILE OTHERS FLOUNDER ARE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT LINES OF INQUIRY IN PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH. WHILE SOCIAL SCIENCE SCHOLARS HAVE BEGUN TO EXAMINE THESE ISSUES, IT IS WIDELY RECOGNIZED THAT EXISTING URBAN-RURAL PLACE TYPOLOGIES DO NOT ADEQUATELY CAPTURE THE PROFUSE ECONOMIC, SOCIOLOGICAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC HETEROGENEITY AMONG NON-METROPOLITAN AREAS OF THE COUNTRY. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO USE INFOGROUP DATA TO GENERATE A NEW PLACE TYPOLOGY THAT WILL COMPLEMENT EXISTING PLACE TYPOLOGIES CURRENTLY PUBLISHED BY USDA ERS BY INCORPORATING SUPPLY-CHAIN CONNECTEDNESS IN A SPATIAL GRAVITY MODEL. THESE WILL GENERATE A HIERARCHY OF ECONOMIC CATCHMENT AREAS (ECAS). ONCE DEFINED, WE WILL CONSTRUCT STANDARD MEASURES OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AND ECONOMIC DYNAMISM BY AGGREGATING INFOGROUP ESTABLISHMENT DATA TO THE ECA-LEVEL. WE WILL THEN USE THESE MEASURES FOR TWO PURPOSES. FIRST, WE WILL ESTIMATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMIC GROWTH AND SUPPLY-CHAIN CONNECTEDNESS WITH PARTICULARLY EMPHASIS ON THE ROLE OF ESTABLISHMENTS IN FOOD-AND-AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES. WE WILL ALSO DEVELOP A WEB-BASED PLATFORM THAT WILL ALLOW USERS TO SELECT THE GRAVITY MODEL PARAMETERS THAT DEFINE THE ECA HIERARCHY, VISUALIZE THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF ECAS THROUGH A MAPPING TOOL, AND DOWNLOAD DATA VIA AN EXTRACT FUNCTION FOR THEIR OWN RESEARCH OR POLICY EVALUATION NEEDS.