Edd A. Jeffords directed the Conference on Ozark In-Migration in Eureka Springs in May, 1976, which led to the establishment of the Ozark Institute. Jeffords, who was executive director from 1977 until 1982, helped to establish the Ozark Institute as a resource center to address the needs of the rural low-income and elderly in the areas of food, energy, and shelter. The Institute sponsored Futures Forums in several county seats in Arkansas and provided job training and resources to rural people through programs such as the Ozark Producer-Consumer Alliance, the Family Farm Development Service, and publications and seminars on solar energy, energy conservation, forest preservation, the small farmer, and appropriate technology. Jeffords and others also incorporated the Ozark Public Broadcasting Company, which operated Eureka Springs Radio Station KESP from 1979 until 1981. The Ozark Institute is associated with the Ozarks "back to the land" movement of the 1970s. The controversy surrounding public funding of the Institute played a role in Governor Bill Clinton's first electoral defeat.