Year: 2019

EXCERPT: “The Herberger’s department store in Willmar, Minnesota closed last August after four months of liquidation sales: Clearance. Store fixtures for sale. Everything must go. All the remaining Herberger’s and Younkers department stores across Minnesota closed last year as a result of their parent company, Bon-Ton Stores, filing for bankruptcy. In places like Roseville, Bloomington, Edina and Stillwater, ...

EXCERPT: “The Initiators Fellowship, launched by the Initiative Foundation of Little Falls in 2016, is expanding to include the regions of Southwest Initiative Foundation and West Central Initiative, covering a total of 41 counties in Greater Minnesota . . . Applications for the 2020-21 cohort open May 15 and close July 15. The two-year Fellowship will ...

EXCERPT: “The Master’s Coffee Shop in Olivia is a standard gathering place for the business owners, teachers and retirees who live in this small Renville County town. On a late morning in April, a half-dozen people sat around tables drinking coffee while the staff readied the day’s lunch special: a grilled Reuben sandwich and potato ...

EXCERPT: “The University of Minnesota has established a new rural stress task force to address a wide range of socioeconomic issues. University of Minnesota Extension Dean Bev Durgan said the effort comes in response to the stress on farm families and rural communities brought on by several years of low farm income. ‘We’re losing farms. Main ...

By Syd Briggs, General Manager, Steele-Waseca Cooperative Electric The famous Roman orator and statesman Cicero once said, “Not for ourselves alone are we born.” This leads us into two of the seven principles of the cooperative structure: cooperation among cooperatives and community involvement. There are many efforts, I’m glad to say, by various organizations designed ...

EXCERPT: “Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue today unveiled a groundbreaking report, A Case for Rural Broadband: Insights on Rural Broadband Infrastructure and Next Generation Precision Agriculture Technologies. The report finds that deployment of both broadband e-Connectivity and Next Generation Precision Agriculture Technology on farms and ranches throughout the U.S. could result in at least $47 billion in ...

As employers hit the end of what’s known as the “slack in the labor force”—that percentage of the population ages 18–64 not participating in the workforce—they are running up against something new: engaging with and recruiting workers from groups of people living in particular circumstances that make it difficult for them to hold jobs. It ...

EXCERPT: “Supporters of small-town Minnesota grocery stores are hoping for new funding to continue the Good Food Access program. They say the state grants help bring quality nutrition to areas that would otherwise be ‘food deserts,’ and that helps rural communities. Corey Christianson took over one KC’s Country Market several years ago, and another location ...

EXCERPT: “Minnesota’s worker shortage continues to grow more severe. State economic officials report the number of job openings in the fourth quarter of last year rose 20 percent over the same period the year before. The semi-annual tally found 137,000 job vacancies. Greater Minnesota saw a 34 percent increase in openings over the year. The jump ...