Category: Our Research Reports

2004 Rural Minnesota Internet Study: Monitoring the rise of broadband use in Greater Minnesota households

In 2004, growth in the overall number of rural households that reported owning a home computer or have Internet connectivity appears to be flat, while growth among those households switching from a dial-up Internet service to a broadband service seems to be quite robust. Based upon these findings we are now estimating that one third ...

Job Opportunity Building Zones: Constructing the Framework for Program Evaluation (2004)

One of the first bills introduced in the 2003 Minnesota Legislative session was H.F. 3, creating what is now known as rural Job Opportunity Building Zones, or JOBZ. Announced after its passage as Gov. Tim Pawlentyʼs “marquee” rural economic development initiative, the program partitioned most of the state outside of the seven-county metropolitan area into ...