This week hear Kelly Asche discuss the rise in working from home, and what telecommuting can mean for rural Minnesota. Features special guests Xinyi Qian and Neil Linscheid of the University of Minnesota – Extension. 

EXCERPT: “When emergency strikes, you call 911 and wait for someone to show up, but how long you wait could mean the difference between life and death. Waiting is exactly what people in small communities are having to do more of. Cook, Minnesota, has a population of 562. Like many emergency medical services (EMS) in ...

EXCERPT: “First Lady Jill Biden traveled to the University of Minnesota’s Child Development Laboratory School Wednesday to showcase the funding childcare and early education institutions received from the American Rescue Plan. The roundtable event included Biden, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Rep. Ilhan Omar ...

EXCERPT: “The 2022 Minnesota Legislative session is underway, and Bradley Peterson, Executive Director of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, tells KNSI that his organization is ready to remind lawmakers that smaller communities in greater Minnesota have unmet needs as well. Peterson says the coalition’s biggest goal is an increase in Local Government Aid. ‘Our highest priority ...

On this episode, Marnie Werner discusses her newest research report coming out in February on the rising values of agriculture lands and the rising property taxes associated with these values. We discuss the disconnect between the value of ag land and farm profitability, the increasing role investors and non-farmers are having on the issue, and ...

  In 2007, Minnesota set a goal of reducing the state’s carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. Since then, electric utilities have been making significant progress, but not enough to meet the state’s interim carbon-reduction goals.   What does this shifting energy infrastructure mean for rural Minnesota? On Thursday, January 20, research associate, Whitney Oachs, ...

by Marnie Werner, VP Research & Operations Between 2000 and 2015, the price of farmland went on a tear. Prices climbed to levels unseen before, making people nervous. Now, after a respite between 2015 and 2020 where prices stayed fairly level, the farmland market is heating up again. These record prices have implications not just ...

EXCERPT: “A few years ago, Tiffany Jennen was looking for a large commercial space to lease in order to open a new gymnastics facility in Fergus Falls. She found one in a building that had previously been a Shopko home goods store. Shopko filed for bankruptcy in 2019. Its parent company cited piling up debt and a decline ...

In this episode, CRDP researcher Whitney Oachs discusses her new research examining the issues, barriers and opportunities facing rural energy providers in shifting their infrastructure to renewable sources. She is joined by Tim Velde, who sits on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Valley Cooperative Light & Power Association as well as on the ...

EXCERPT: “Federal COVID-19 relief dollars for child care providers will continue to flow through the states this year, cheered by both Republican and Democratic governors who say parents need affordable child care to get back to work. But child care providers and advocates warn that the federal money, which expires in 2024, won’t solve the ...