Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: “A shortage of child care spots is not a problem unique to Sleepy Eye. In fact, it is an issue throughout Minnesota. Sleepy Eye’s EDA Coordinator, Kurk Kramer, said it has been on the agenda at the Economic Development Association of Minnesota conferences for the past five years. The availability of child care is ...

EXCERPT: “Minnesota lawmakers are set to take the show on the road for a two-day session in Winona. Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, D-Brooklyn Park, in a letter to lawmakers last week called for a mini-session in October. Lawmakers will hold the brief session, which includes a series of committee hearings, for the first time ...

EXCERPT: “On Tuesday, July 23, Sue Purchase loaded up the trunk of her car outside her Duluth home and drove to the Fond du Lac Reservation to make a delivery. ‘I was making sure she had a sharps container, Narcan, (fentanyl) test strips, HIV information,’ Purchase said later. Born in Duluth, raised in Cloquet and ...

EXCERPT: “When it comes to state funding, Christmas comes early for cities and counties across the state of Minnesota. Checks for increased Local Government Aid and County Program Aid were mailed out this week. Returning to heights unseen since 2002, the state Legislature approved a tax bill in April that raised LGA and CPA funding ...

EXCERPT: “Minnesota is one of the most expensive states in the U.S. to pay for childcare, with the average annual cost of infant care standing at $16,087. That’s according to research by the Economic Policy Institute, which says the average weekly cost of infant childcare in the state is $1,341. That’s high enough for a ranking of 4th ...

EXCERPT: “Red Wing Ignite, a Red Wing economic development organization, was one of 44 organizations chosen to receive a grant through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s 2019 i6 Challenge and 2019 Seed Fund Support programs. On Tuesday, the DOC announced that a total of $23 million will be distributed to the organizations, with other private ...

EXCERPT: “City leaders from communities big and small outside Minnesota’s metro region will descend on Bemidji next week for an annual conference. On July 24-26, nearly 100 officials from the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities will meet in Bemidji’s Sanford Center for panel discussions, meetings and networking. Coalition President and Bemidji City Council member Ron ...

EXCERPT: “A pair of Minnesota business development leaders shared with members of Congress effective efforts they’d taken to boost broadband access in their communities and urged the panel build out the infrastructure that helps people connect to the internet. The comments came as the U.S. House Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit discussed broadband ...

EXCERPT: “In 2014, Minnesota was abuzz with broadband. The state’s newly created Office of Broadband Development had opened its doors, and the legislature was poised to give it an invaluable new tool to extend critical access: the Border to Border Broadband state grant fund. Five years later, the competitive matching grants have connected more than 40,000 ...