It's in a rural town so I'm also worried that demand might not be as high as in more densely populated areas.I'm planning to call local banks this week to understand financing options and contact some contractors who might be interested in building additional units. 

It would seem the only contact they are able to make is between their bank and my credit card.Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated  

Have her call a few churches or similar organizations to get contact info for who to talk to.

We meet every month, and are in constant contact with these individuals, in business relationships going a lot deeper than that.The second way is to contact a large group of people with the understanding that only a few will result in “deals”.  

@Patrick Pan, if I was operating in a state where that was a concern I would just contact their current landlord for a reference.

I recommend that you contact a lawyer to setup this process for you.  

Quote from @Keith Miller: Hello,My partner and I, @Brent Maier, are looking to find and contact multifamily owners.

Happy to share some contacts with you if this is something that interests you. 

I contacted Zillow about this issue but received no response.

Does that mean the actual manager or a local contact.