Year: 2018

EXCERPT: “Ted Matthews drove past acres of fields, racing to meet with a farmer who called threatening to kill himself. That’s when he got a call from another farmer in a different part of the state who was also threatening suicide. Since he couldn’t be in two places at once, he frantically got on his phone ...

EXCERPT: “Meeting the growing needs for public transit in Greater Minnesota over the next 20 years is the focus of a plan the Minnesota Department of Transportation released today. The Greater Minnesota Transit Investment Plan sets the 20-year strategic direction and investment priorities to increase mobility for transit users. It supports the state Legislature’s target of meeting 90 ...

EXCERPT: “Working parents in rural Minnesota are struggling to find day care. And the younger the child, the harder it is . . . Research from the Center for Rural Policy and Development shows a massive day care shortfall, especially in the northern and central parts of the state. In northwestern Minnesota alone, they estimate ...

EXCERPT: “The population of the Twin Cities and the state grew over the past year, but some rural Minnesota counties declined. The most recent census data covers July 2016 through July of last year. Minnesota’s population grew by just under one percent during that period, reaching about 5.6 million residents. The Twin Cities metropolitan area grew ...

  In the third and final installment of our talk with the Center’s Kelly Asche on the State of Rural Minnesota, we cover the economic picture. Most of Greater MN weathered the Great Recession well thanks to agriculture, which also bolstered the state as a whole. On the other hand, there’s the rise of job vacancies, ...

EXCERPT: “Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett today announced that USDA is accepting applications for grants to fund broadband infrastructure projects in unserved rural communities. ‘E-connectivity is essential to the economic vitality and quality of life in rural communities,’ Hazlett said. ‘Investing in broadband can strengthen rural economic growth and improve critical access ...

EXCERPT: “A group of statewide organizations have joined forces for a project they hope will increase the quality of life for rural Minnesotans. Growth and Justice, in a combined effort with the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, the Greater Minnesota Partnership and the Minnesota Asset Building Coalition, are pushing the Minnesota Rural Equity Project. The ...

EXCERPT: “A coalition of local agriculture and nonprofit interests want to know what small towns and rural communities can immediately do to attract and maintain large-scale businesses. To find out, Greenseam and the Center for Rural Policy and Development are asking lawmakers for $250,000 for an economic development study . . . Similar studies have been ...

With population growth expected to slow and workforce already short in many parts of Minnesota, population and population projections are worth paying attention to. The Center’s research associate Kelly Asche, author of this year’s State of Rural Minnesota report, breaks down the population change patterns across the state in this week’s RuralMN Radio. ...