Addressing community and economic development pressures in rural and small town places often means accessing information and research capacity. Community-based research (CBR) depends on two im-portant variables: the capacity of CBR to generate good information, and the extent to which CBR is un-derstood and constructed as a two-way relationship that includes a set of responsibilities for both re-searchers and communities. In this webinar, we explore lessons for developing community-university part-nerships that can enhance the capacity of both researchers and community stakeholders and enable local groups to be better consumers of research. Critical policy issues at the community, university, and state level are also considered to better position stakeholders to engage in CBR initiatives.