Nancy L. Arnold, Ph.D.
Tom Seekins, Ph.D.
email the Rural Institute

Craig Ravesloot, Ph.D.
Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities, The University of Montana Rural Institute, Missoula, Montana.

A version of this article was published in the Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin.

---

Estimates indicate that between 2.7 and 3.5 million people between the ages of 16 to 64 with a work disability live in rural areas of the United States (LaPlante, 1992; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1992). These people are more likely to be unemployed than their nondisabled counterparts (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1983). Approximately 26.2% of the people with disabilities living in nonmetropolitan areas are employed versus 67.8% without disabilities (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1983). Further, they are less likely to have jobs than their peers in metropolitan areas (26.2% vs. 27.4%) (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1983).

Unemployment rates are a direct result of an area's economy and the nonmetropolitan economy has always grown more slowly than expected, in spite of favorable economic factors (Parker, 1991). This slow growth can be attributed, in part, to variations in the industrial composition, regional factors, the cost of labor, educational level, demographic composition, and macro-level economic characteristics. Another contributor to the less-than-expected growth is the "rural factor." The rural factor is a composite of low population densities, small size, distance from metro business and finance centers, and a distinct rural culture (Parker, 1991). Since 1986 these factors combined have resulted in nonmetropolitan general population unemployment rates (this rate includes discouraged workers and half the workers employed part time for economic reasons) that are higher than metropolitan unemployment rates (Dagata, 1992/93).

Besides fewer jobs, wages are lower in nonmetropolitan areas. According to the 1983 Census the average metropolitan wage for a person without a disability was $13,896. In a nonmetropolitan area the average wage was $10,899. For people with a work disability the average metropolitan wage was $11,044 and the average nonmetropolitan wage was about two-thirds that at $7,649 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1983).

The slower economic growth, higher unemployment rate, and lower wages found in nonmetropolitan areas present challenges to vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors trying to help people with disabilities find suitable jobs. A slow growth economy results in fewer employers, fewer job opportunities, and higher unemployment. This increases the competition for each job which reduces the odds of a person with a disability securing employment. Further, if working results in a loss of disability benefits, a person with a disability is generally not likely to work because a paycheck and job benefits do not usually compensate for these lost benefits. As a result of these challenges vocational rehabilitation counselors working in rural locations may find that self-employment, rather than no placement or placement in a marginal competitive employment situation, is a viable solution.

Self-employment is an option used at a higher rate in rural areas (self- employment rates: 12.7% rural, 7.2% urban) (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1983). Although a number of state VR counselors who participated in the telephone-based survey discussed in this article view self-employment as too difficult for a person with a disability because of the person's decreased physical capacity and the demands of running a business, the U.S. Bureau of the Census (1983) data show a different picture. According to these data, people who report a work disability are twice as likely to report being self-employed (14.7%) as people without a disability (8.0%) (Seekins, 1992).

Based on the above data, researchers at the Montana University Affiliated Rural Institute on Disabilities speculated that self-employment may be an important Vocational Rehabilitation option in rural areas.¹ However, before recommending it be used more regularly in rural areas, a better understanding of its current use was needed. To find out about its use, three studies were conducted. The first study examined national employment outcomes. The second surveyed rural and urban counselors. The third examined the range of self-employment businesses pursued by vocational rehabilitation consumers. Results of these studies are presented below.

Study 1: The use of self-employment in rural and urban states

Self-employment is a legitimate vocational rehabilitation employment outcome. Given that in the general population self-employment is more prevalent in rural than in urban areas, it was hypothesized that vocational rehabilitation employment outcomes to self-employment would occur at a higher rate in rural states than in urban ones.

Method

To test this initial hypothesis that VR counselors in rural states were more likely to use self-employment as a VR employment outcome than were VR counselors in urban states, first we examined the 1988 closure rates to self-employment for each state (Rehabilitation Services Administration, 1988). To do this, a ruralness index (Jackson & Seekins, 1989) was calculated for each state by combining measures of population density and percentage of population living in urban areas. Table 1 presents the percent of closures to self-employment reported by each state as well as the ruralness ranking of each state using this method. Next we calculated the Spearman Rho Rank-Order Correlation between each state's rural ranking and each state's ranking with regard to VR self-employment closures.

Table 1 Description

States' Rural Rank & 1988 Self-Employment Rate

State	Rank	'88 Self-Emp. Rate	State	Rank	'88 Self-Emp. Rate
Vermont	13	7.34	Minnesota	22	2.42
New Mexico	8	6.83	Oklahoma	20	2.27
Iowa	21	6.41	Virginia	35	2.20
Mississippi	18	5.31	Missouri	27	2.15
Montana	2	5.17	Michigan	37	2.15
North Dakota	5	4.92	Nevada	7	1.11
Kentucky	26	4.88	Oregon	12	1.98
Wisconsin	29	4.50	Maryland	46	1.96
Wyoming	3	4.45	Utah	10	1.89
Arkansas	17	4.02	Alabama	25	1.87
Alaska	1	3.92	Indiana	36	1.87
Tennessee	34	3.69	Arizona	15	1.80
Florida	40	3.35	Rhode Island	49	1.76
Colorado	16	3.30	Illinois	41	1.68
Texas	23	3.08	Pennsylvania	42	1.55
Hawaii	38	3.07	New Hampshire	28	1.54
North Carolina	31	2.94	Nebraska	9	1.38
West Virginia	19	2.87	New York	45	1.38
Kansas	14	2.73	Georgia	32	1.27
South Dakota	4	2.71	Massachusetts	48	1.17
Maine	11	2.71	Ohio	43	1.16
Washington	24	2.67	Connecticut	47	.65
South Carolina	30	2.60	Delaware	44	.64
Louisiana	33	2.45	California	39	.53
Idaho	6	2.42

Results

There were 214,229 VR employment outcomes reported nationwide in 1988. Of these, 4,871 (2.27%) were to self-employment. The percentage of closures to self-employment ranged from .53 to 7.34% across all states. Results of the rank order correlation indicated that self-employment outcomes were significantly more likely in rural than in urban states (r = .538; p < .000).

Discussion

Results suggest that the use of self-employment as a VR employment outcome is, indeed, more likely in rural states than in urban ones. Overall, the use of self-employment seems surprisingly low, however, given that the pattern of self-employment reported by people with a work disability is so much higher than that reported by the rest of the population. Clearly, VR services cannot account for this discrepancy. Rather, it is surprising that the rate of employment outcomes to self-employment do not more closely parallel the rate of self-employment in the general and rural population.

Study 2: Rural and Urban Counselor Attitudes About, and Use of, Self-Employment As an Employment Outcome

Our first study of the use of self-employment as a vocational rehabilitation employment outcome suggested that, while self-employment is used by VR at a lower rate than that found in the general population, it was more likely to be used in a rural than an urban state. As most states have both rural and urban areas, however, this level of analysis may obscure important differences or present a pattern where none exists. Using data available from RSA, it was not possible to explore self-employment in more detail. Therefore, in order to examine the use of self-employment more accurately, we conducted a survey of rural and urban state Vocational Rehabilitation counselors across the nation.

Method

Research Participants

Participants were a total of 95 state vocational rehabilitation counselors from 10 states. Five of the states had high self-employment rates (from 4.02% to 7.34%) and 5 had low self-employment rates (from 0.53% to 2.71%) during 1988. Participant selection was based on the number of self-employment outcomes during the period 10/1/89 through 9/30/90. In 9 states, 5 counselors with the most self-employment outcomes (ranging from 1 to 29 ) and 5 counselors with the least (all had no self-employment outcomes) were selected to participate. In one state only 5 counselors participated, 2 with high and 3 with low self- employment outcomes. If a state had more than 5 counselors with high or low self-employment outcomes, participants were randomly selected from the two groups; otherwise all counselors within the group were selected.

Procedures

Data were collected using two survey instruments. The primary consumers of this study were defined as rehabilitation administrators and counselors. We took several steps to involve them in this project. First, to begin to develop these survey instruments, state directors of Vocational Rehabilitation in eight states were asked to nominate one counselor, located in a rural area with a history of closures to self-employment, to be interviewed for our project. A total of nine counselors were interviewed either in person or on the telephone. The interview was guided by a series of predominately open-ended questions that were developed from discussions with the local Missoula, Montana Vocational Rehabilitation office staff.

Table 2 Description

Classifications and Description Used on Mail-Based Questionnairep

Classification	Description
Remote	Remote areas with a population of 2,500 or less
Rural	Towns with a population of 2,501 to 25,000
Nonmetropolitan	Towns with a population of 25,001 to 49,999
Metropolitan	Cities with a population of 50,000 or more

Two survey instruments resulted from these interviews; one mail-based and one telephone-based. The mail-based instrument primarily addressed counselor attitudes and beliefs on the use of self-employment (Ravesloot & Seekins, in press). All items on the survey used a 9-point Likert-type scale anchored at each end with positive or negative adjectives. Questions asked by telephone were dichotomous (e.g., requiring yes or no answers, or estimates of frequency), open-ended, or used a rating scale. They addressed definitions, caseload, consumer interest in self-employment, agency policy and procedures, counselor procedures, consumer characteristics, and training available and needed.

Data Analysis

Rural/urban classification. Counselors were asked to indicate the percentage of consumers they served in each of four demographic areas, including remote, rural, nonmetropolitan, and metropolitan. Table 2 presents the four classifications and their definition, as presented on the questionnaire.

A counselor was considered rural if 50% or more of his or her cases for the year prior to the survey were from remote or rural areas and if 25% or less were from metropolitan areas. Conversely, a counselor was considered urban if 50% or more of his or her cases were from urban areas and 25% or less came from remote or rural areas. Counselors who did not meet these criteria were excluded from data analysis. This reduced the sample from 78 to 60 participants (41 rural and 19 urban).

Statistical analysis

Group differences were tested using t-tests for means and chi-square tests for frequencies. Alpha level was set at .05.

Table 3 Description

Rural and Urban Counselor Demographics

	Location	n	mean	t	d.f.	p
Average of total self-employment outcomes	Rural Urban	27 15	17.7 5.9	2.07	33	.046*
Number of years as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor	Rural Urban	41 19	11.1 11.4	(.13)	58	.900
Average number of self-employment outcomes/year	Rural Urban	27 15	1.6 .7	1.54	40	.131
Total number on active caseload during a typical year	Rural Urban	27 13	138.5 142.7	(.20)	38	.842

significant at the 0.5 level

Results

Seventy-eight of the 95 counselors (82%) contacted returned completed mail surveys; 58 (61%) participated in the telephone survey. All the people who participated in the telephone survey also returned their mail questionnaire. Mail-based surveys were used to determine if a counselor served primarily a rural or an urban area. Forty-one (52.6%) respondents were classified as serving rural areas and 19 (24.4%) as serving urban areas. Eighteen (23.1%) respondents fell between our rural/urban classification criteria so their responses were not used in the following analyses.

As Table 3 shows, at the time of this survey, both rural and urban counselors indicated they had been VR counselors for an average of 11 years. Both also averaged about the same number of people on their active caseload. Rural counselors averaged 17.7 self-employment outcomes during their entire career, ranging from a low of 0 to a high of 100. Urban counselors averaged 5.9 self-employment outcomes during their entire career with a range of 0 to 28. Although rural counselors reported averaging a higher number of self-employment outcomes per year (1.6) than urban counselors (.7), the difference was not statistically significant.

Table 4 presents a comparison of ratings assigned by counselors when asked to rate how they usually viewed self-employment. To assign a rating, counselors used a scale that ranged from 1 to 9. The scale was anchored on each end with opposite adjective pairs. The positive qualities were at the 9 end of the scale. Rural counselors rated 8 of the 11 items higher than urban counselors, with 4 of these differences reaching statistical significance (successful, promising, realistic, and familiarity).

Table 4 Description

Rural and Urban Counselor Views of Self-Employment "Use the following adjective pairs and scale to describe how you usually view self-employment."

Adjectives/Scale	Location	n	mean	t	d.f.	p
Inefficient = 1 Efficient = 9	Rural Urban	40 18	5.0 4.3	1.32	56	.529
Usuccessful = 1 Successful = 9	Rural Urban	40 18	5.0 3.7	2.39	27	.024*
Inflexible = 1 Flexible = 9	Rural Urban	40 18	5.8 5.4	.73	56	.469
Risky = 1 Promising = 9	Rural Urban	40 19	3.9 2.6	2.42	57	.019*
Unrealistic = 1 Realistic = 9	Rural Urban	40 18	5.5 3.7	3.97	56	.000*
Difficult = 1 Easy = 9	Rural Urban	40 18	3.4 2.6	1.46	56	.15
Unfamiliar = 1 Familiar = 9	Rural Urban	40 17	4.8 3.1	3.07	55	.003*
Confusing = 1 Clear = 9	Rural Urban	40 18	4.8 4.4	.69	56	.495
Complex = 1 Simple = 9	Rural Urban	40 19	3.5 3.5	(.05)	57	.964
Slow = 1 Quick = 9	Rural Urban	40 19	3.3 3.4	(.15)	56	.884
Expensive = 1 Inexpensive = 9	Rural Urban	40 19	3.3 3.3	(.08)	57	9.39

*significant at the .05 level

Table 5 presents ratings by counselors of consumer characteristics relevant to self-employment. In general, rural and urban counselors rated the characteristics similarly. Rural and urban counselors differed significantly in their views on how important they thought it was for the consumer to have past experience in the type of business being considered, however. Although both rural and urban counselors considered past experience as important, rural counselors considered it less important. Further, although all characteristics were considered important by both groups, rural counselors rated 7 of the 11 characteristics as slightly less important.

Table 5 Description

Rural and Urban Counselor Ratings of Consumer Characteristics Relevant to Self-Employment

Ratings of consumer characteristics: Not Important = 1 Very Important = 9	Location	n	mean	t	d.f.	p
Past experience with type of business considering	Rural Urban	41 19	6.7 7.7	(2.21)	58	.031*
Is enthusiastic	Rural Urban	41 19	8.5 8.3	.97	58	.334
Has business planning ability	Rural Urban	41 19	8.2 8.1	.33	58	.745
Has a pleasing personality	Rural Urban	41 19	6.8 6.7	.03	58	.974
Is accustomed to taking risks	Rural Urban	41 18	6.6 6.7	(.21)	57	.831
Has good organizational skills	Rural Urban	41 19	8.2 8.2	(.04)	58	.966
Has demonstrated persistence	Rural Urban	41 19	8.1 8.3	(.66)	58	.512
Is intelligent	Rural Urban	41 19	6.8 7.3	(1.08)	58	.285
Has good social skills	Rural Urban	41 19	6.9 7.3	(.61)	58	.547
Has his or her own financial backing	Rural Urban	41 19	7.0 7.4	(.79)	58	.430

*significant at the .05 level

The groups differed significantly on their use of a standardized assessment to determine the feasibility of a self-employment closure. Sixty-three percent of the rural counselors and 100% of the urban counselors reported using no standardized assessment (chi-square = 5.1, p = .02). Further, although both groups agreed that the decision to pursue self-employment was the consumers, rural counselors were significantly less likely to agree with the statement (t = - 2.31, p =. 025).

No significant differences were found between rural and urban counselors in their reaction to a consumer's inquiry about self-employment; if the states investment in self-employment should be "protected"; if they required that consumers develop a business plan; about their attitudes towards policies, office atmosphere, agency goals, consumer and reactions; in having a unique approach or method for self-employment; about their experiences; about their use of outside resources to evaluate a proposed business; and about relevant community attributes.

Discussion

Results of this analysis are somewhat difficult to assess due to the small sample sizes. Because of the small number of participants, the samples may not reflect accurately the populations they represent. The small sample sizes also affect the power of the statistics, in this case t-tests and chi-square tests, to detect differences between the sample groups even if differences exist (Cohen, 1988). Remembering this was an exploratory project and based on a limited budget, it was decided prior to conducting the research that the counselors selected to participate would provide the researchers with the most insight into both sides of the use of self-employment by VR counselors.

Results of the surveys support the findings from Study 1 showing a greater use of self-employment as a vocational rehabilitation employment outcome by counselors serving rural areas. Rural counselors report closing more cases to self-employment annually and throughout their careers than urban counselors. In general, rural counselors also appear to view the self-employment option more favorably than their urban counterparts.

The counselors in this sample do not appear to differ significantly in their views of the characteristics consumers should have in order to be successful in self-employment, except that urban counselors thought that past experience with the type of business being considered was significantly more important than rural counselors. Although both groups said a consumer should possess all the personal characteristics we asked about, they thought that enthusiasm, business planning ability, good organizational skills, and persistence were more important than other characteristics.

Urban counselors viewed the self-employment process they went through as less successful than rural counselors. Although both groups rated the process as risky, the difference between rural and urban responses was significant. Urban counselors viewed the process as unrealistic while rural counselors viewed the process as significantly more realistic. Both groups viewed self-employment as difficult, however, urban counselors thought it significantly more difficult than rural counselors.

Neither group thought that people with certain disabilities are more appropriate candidates for self-employment. Both groups thought that self-employment should be as available to a consumer as any other rehabilitation option.

The counselors in the sample thought it quite important to use outside resources for evaluating the consumer's proposed business. However, a larger percentage of urban counselors said they actually used external consulting services. This may reflect both less access to such resources and less time to use them for rural counselors. On the whole, counselors tend not to use a standardized assessment to determine the feasibility of a self-employment closure. In this sample, rural and urban counselors differed significantly in their use of standardized assessments, however. No urban counselors responding to this question used a standardized assessment. As such, it appears that rural counselors may compensate for lack of access to consultants by using standardized assessments.

In summary, rural counselors may tend to use self-employment more often because they have a more positive view of it, because they are more willing to work with consumers to establish businesses in areas where the consumers have had no previous experience, and because they view the process as more realistic and less difficult than urban counselors. Rural counselors in this study tended not to use external consulting services--probably because they are not available to them--and so may rely more on standardized assessments than urban counselors.

Study 3: Employment Categories of Self-Employment Closures

One concern about the use of self-employment voiced by VR counselors is that consumers often have an unrealistic view of businesses that may succeed. Counselors in our initial qualitative study suggested that many consumers interested in pursuing self-employment have unrealistic hopes of turning a hobby into a profitable business. This study was conducted to examine the range of self-employment businesses pursued by VR consumers.

Method

As part of the telephone-based survey described above, counselors were asked to report the types of businesses VR had helped start. These reports were grouped into similar classifications and tallied.

Table 6 Description

Types of Businesses VR Has Helped Establish

AGRICULTURE	CLOTHING	HUNTING & FISHING	PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Bird farmer	Clothing store  owner	Bait/tackle shop owner	Architect
Farmer	Shoe/leather repair	Boat maker	Counselor
Embryo transfers	Tailor/sewer	Commercial fisher	Insurance salesperson
Fish farmer	Used clothing store owner	Fishing lure/siner manufacturer	Real estate agent & broker
Greenhouse operator		Gunsmith	Solar design firm owner
Harness sales/repair	ENTERTAINMENT	Marine engine repair	Stockbroker
Horseshoer	Musician	Taxidermist
Rabbitry	Professional singer	Trapper	REPAIR
Rancher	Satellite dish sales		Air conditioner repair
Tree farmer		LANDSCAPING & YARD CARE	Appliance repair
Worm farmer	FOOD & BEVERAGE SERVICES	Lawncare	Jewelry repair
	Baker	Nursery & landscape	Motor repair
ARTIST, CRAFTSPERSON	Bar owner	Pool maintenance	Radiator repair
Artist	Butcher	Spray pilot	Small engine repair
General crafts	Caterer	Weed abator	TV repair
Photographer	Chef/Cook
Sculptor	Liquor store owner	OFFICE SERVICES	MISCELLANEOUS
Writer	Restaurant owner	Accountant	Auctioneer
	Grocery store owner	Answering services	Collectible item store owner
AUTOMOTIVE	Vending machine operator	Bookkeeper	Dart maker
Autobody repair		Computer operator	Gold miner
Auto sales lot owner	FURNITURE	Desk-top publisher	Janitor/maintenance
Mechanic	Furniture refinisher	Medical transcriptionist	Jewelry maker
	Piano refinisher	Typist	Machinist
BUILDING TRADES	Upholsterer	Word processor	Printer/publisher
Cabinetmaker			Bicycle shop owner
Carpenter	PERSONAL SERVICES	HEALTH	Sign painter
Carpentry shop owner	Beautician/barber/cosmetologist	Attendant care	Truck driver
Contractor	Childcare/babysitter	Chiropractor	Welder
Handyman	Locksmith	Hearing aid sales	Woodcutter
Home renovation	Scissor sharpener	Massage therapist	Woodshop/woodworker
House painter		Optician
Plumber	PETS	Physical therapist
Security system installer	Dog groomer	Recreation center owner
	Pet sitter
	Veterinarian supply store owner

Results

Table 6 lists the types of businesses that VR has helped to establish. One hundred eighteen different businesses were reported. Rural counselors tended to close more people to be mechanics (nine), farmers (six), small engine repairers (five), carpenters (four), and woodshop/woodworkers (four).

Discussion

VR consumers appear to enter a wide variety of business ventures with the assistance of VR services. Some, but not all, of the types of businesses people entered were specific to their local area (e.g., boat maker, marine engine repair, taxidermist, trapper)--something to keep in mind when looking for business opportunities. Far from being unrealistic dreams, these businesses appear to be part of the mainstream economy. Anecdotally, one counselor reported that a consumer's business produced more income in fewer hours than counseling, tempting the counselor to follow the consumer into that type of business.

Conclusion

These studies suggest that self-employment should be more carefully considered as a vocational rehabilitation employment outcome and may be more applicable to rural counselors. Rural counselors view self-employment more favorably and use it more often than their urban counterparts. It may also be an adaptive response to rural economic conditions.

Results from these studies suggest that one important procedural development needed to promote the effective use of self-employment as a rehabilitation option --especially in rural areas--is to develop formalized assessment devices to help consumers and counselors with the self-employment process. Another approach may be to develop mechanisms to link rural counselors with outside resources that typically are not available to their consumers. A third approach may involve profiling the current practices of rural counselors who believe they have unique approaches to the use of self-employment.

One obstacle faced in studying these rural vocational rehabilitation practices and outcomes involved the lack of centrally reported geographic data on the VR forms. The addition of county of residence data would permit rigorous examination of these and other issues important to rural rehabilitation.

The long-running rural economic stagnation may also suggest that a review of the use of self-employment as a vocational rehabilitation employment outcome is in order. By using self-employment as an option, VR counselors can contribute to the economic development efforts of the rural areas they serve by helping to create new businesses. Similarly, VR administrators might consider allocating staff time to participating directly in rural economic development, thereby creating more opportunities for VR consumers by helping to improve the local economy of the areas they serve. Such a linkage between rural VR and rural economic development agencies may represent the emergence of a true rural vocational rehabilitation model.

References

Arnold, N. L. and Seekins, T. (1994). Self-employment as a vocational rehabilitation closure: An examination of state policies. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 5(2).

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd Ed). Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Dagata, E. M. (1992/93). Rural unemployment continues to rise in the third quarter of 1992. Rural conditions and trends, 3(4), 10-11.

Jackson, K., and Seekins, T. (1989). Construction of a ruralness index. Unpublished raw data. Missoula, MT: Montana University Affiliated Rural Institute on Disabilities, The University of Montana.

LaPlante, M. P. (1992). State estimates of disability in America. Disability statistics report 3. Washington, DC: National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education.

Parker, T. S. (1991). Nonmetro job growth lags its apparent potential. Rural development perspectives, 7(1), 15-19.

U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1992). Table 29: Urban and rural population--states: 1990. Statistical abstract of the United States: 1992 (112th edition). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

U.S. Bureau of the Census (1983). Labor force status and other characteristics of persons with a work disability: 1982. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Ravesloot, C., and Seekins, T. Vocational rehabilitation counselors attitudes toward self-employment: Attitudes and their effects on the use of self-employment as an employment option. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin.

Rehabilitation Services Administration. (1988). [Information on self-employment closures]. Unpublished raw data requested by the Montana University Affiliated Rural Institute on Disabilities, The University of Montana.

Seekins, T. (1992). Rural and urban employment patterns: Self-employment as a metaphor for rural vocational rehabilitation. Missoula, MT: Rural Institute on Disabilities, The University of Montana.

Silvestri, G.T. (1991). Who are the self-employed? Employment profiles and recent trends. Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Spring, 26-36.

---

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grant #G0087C0228. This study is part of a larger effort supported by NIDRR to develop effective strategies for providing rehabilitation services in rural areas.

The opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal government.  The authors wish to acknowledge the work of their colleagues Peg Plimpton and Cheryl Vandenberg on this project.

Questions? Would you like to receive periodic updates about our research and training activities? Do you have comments or suggestions about this site? E-mail your requests, comments and suggestions to Diana Spas or call 888-268-2743 and ask for the Information Coordinator.