Cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death in the United States (US), disproportionately burdens rural communities. CVD prevalence rates for residents of rural areas (13.1%) is higher compared to those in urban areas (11.2%) of the US.Geographic differences in heart disease mortality led Cosby et al. to describe the rural "mortality penalty" in the US. The proposed settings for this research report similar trends in CVD prevalence, where CVD and stroke are among the top three leading causes of death. In community health assessments conducted in the last three years CVD risk factors such as obesity and hypertension were among the top 10 health priorities in our target counties. Compared to residents of metropolitan areas, rural residents have higher rates of cigarette smoking, obesity, mortality from ischemic heart disease, and are physically inactive. These disparities are likely to widen; at the current rate, its estimated 50% of individuals in the US will have CVD by 2030.