A mini-conference on rural schools and community development brought together experts in rural community, rural education, and economic development to brainstorm ideas for collaborative projects and produce a helpful conceptual design for use both by rural communities and their schools. This document offers a synthesis and overview of the experts' suggestions, provides background, and represents the end product of the conceptual design project: a set of suggestions to help rural communities and schools retain youth while encouraging their involvement in the community. Good leadership is critical to charting the future of a community. Community leadership must be identified and convened, and should work collaboratively to design and "sell" new educational programs. Education leaders could study ways of incorporating community affairs into the educational curriculum. Specifically, this guide recommends school-based enterprise as a good idea to help students develop their entrepreneurial skills. Suggestions for implementation include getting organized, generating enthusiasm, and winning financial support. Once the community and school leadership have targeted economic development as a priority and a study of community needs has been conducted, the next step is developing an attitude of entrepreneurship in the school setting. Ideas of community development and entrepreneurship should be integrated into the existing curriculum. The guide acknowledges that suggestions for school-based enterprise are time-consuming and require hard work, but it concludes that the idea of collaboration is both exciting and rewarding. (TES)