Year: 2019

EXCERPT: “Happy days are here again for small cities that rely on state aid to help pay for essential services such as police and fire protection, and to keep local property taxes down. That’s because the state Legislature approved a bill, expected to be signed as soon as this week by Gov. Tim Walz, that ...

EXCERPT: “By spring 2020, if all goes according to plan, Granite Falls, Minnesota, pop. 2,800, will have something no other city its size can boast of: an artist-in-residence, embedded within local government. The program will be supported in part by a $50,000 Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The artist will live in ...

EXCERPT: “All of greater Minnesota is facing a childcare shortage. In our area, several communities are getting the help they need to continue providing child care around Blue Earth County. Lack of child care has been an issue for years, preventing families from moving to small towns, stifling growth. Thanks to recent assistance, communities can ...

EXCERPT: “The Minnesota Legislature during its special session last Friday agreed to increase Local Government Aid (LGA) by $26 million in 2020 and $4 million in 2021. For the City of Crookston, which is considered a low property tax wealth city and is perhaps more reliant on LGA funds each year than any other city in ...

By Julie Tesch I recently read an article about Willmar in, of all places, the New York Times, and I was surprised and amazed (I’m a bit sad to say) at its positive view of rural Minnesota. I’m a bit sad at my level of surprise not because it was an article on Willmar, but ...

EXCERPT: “Polling by NPR finds that while rural Americans are mostly satisfied with life, there is a strong undercurrent of financial insecurity that can create very serious problems for many people living in rural communities. The findings come from two surveys NPR has done with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School ...

EXCERPT: “Greater Minnesota could see expanded access to broadband, more money for public schools and a tax cut for some as part of a budget framework put forth in the state Capitol. Legislative leaders and the governor late Sunday, May 19, announced their framework for a two-year $48 billion spending plan, which was set to ...

EXCERPT: “Economists say the answer is more immigrants — while at the same time President Donald Trump is trying to restrict them. Think of it as Minnesota posting a ‘Help Wanted’ notice. There are more jobs available in the next five years than workers to fill them. And state officials say that’s a major threat ...

  By: Kelly Asche, Research Associate The most recent report in our Finding Work or Finding Workers series shed light on what it takes to train and help keep employed that percentage of the population that seems to have the hardest time getting and holding jobs: people with high barriers to employment. With the extremely ...