Rural and business leaders are holding major talks on understanding the full impact of the recession on rural communities and ways of driving business investment right to the heart of rural England.

Over 60 delegates will assemble at a special rural Investment Summit organised by the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC), Advantage West Midlands and East Midlands Development Agency that aims to push rural economies higher up decision makers' agendas. It is the third in a series of events following a report last year to the Prime Minister from Dr. Stuart Burgess the Chairman of the CRC and the Government's Rural Advocate on releasing the potential of England's rural economies, and the Government's response.

Dr. Burgess said: "Rural businesses and employees are a vital part of the nation's and regions' economies yet they can be overlooked in government support packages and policies. We are aiming to tackle this head on by bringing together some of the most influential rural practitioners at one of four summits we are holding this year - on innovation, inspiration, investment and empowerment.

"We want these practitioners to take a key role today in developing a 'blueprint' for strengthening rural economies and preparing a path towards recovery from the recession by highlighting what kind of support businesses need, to grow into healthy enterprises with solid foundations offering secure employment."

Mark Pearce, Corporate Director for Economic Regeneration at Advantage West Midlands (AWM), said: "These are tough times. The West Midlands is suffering more than any other region in this recession. In some of our market towns unemployment has risen by 50 per cent.

"The West Midlands Taskforce, chaired by Regional Minister Ian Austin and co-ordinated by AWM, is focusing business support in market towns to help larger employers in market towns retain jobs and build resilience. In addition, £150,000 of extra support for advisory bodies, such as Citizens Advice, and a £250,000 package to support retailers is being rolled out.

"These measures are above and beyond Advantage West Midlands' current rural programme - but it's vital that we continue to listen to the businesses trading in the 'front line' of the recession and today's summit will be an opportunity to do that."

Andrew Morgan, Skills and Communities Director at East Midlands Development Agency(emda), said: "emda believes that the 'rural economy' is an integral part of our total regional economy and we have been working hard to ensure the grants and funding available reach rurally-based businesses in all sectors. Our contract with East Midlands Business Link has assisted 23,000 rural businesses over the past 12 months and the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) has also provided new opportunities with over 40 projects for land-based businesses approved to date, ranging from diversification, collaboration and innovation to vocational training and skills, resource efficiency and renewable energy."

The summit being held in Dunchurch, Warwickshire will include presentations from business leaders including Mark Tinsley, director of PC Tinsley and Chairman of the Lincolnshire Forum for Agriculture and Horticulture and Heather Gorringe, Managing Director of Wiggly Wigglers in Herefordshire, the global winner of the Dell Small Business Excellence Award in 2008.

Later this year, on 24 and 25 November, the CRC will draw together the findings from the series of summits and examine ways of empowering rural communities to tackle environmental and economic shocks at a fourth, national, summit to be held in Somerset.