by Marnie Werner, VP Research A unique opportunity? For a printable version of this report, click here. To view the accompanying webinar, click here. To download the slides from the webinar presentation, click here. After a year of COVID, spiking unemployment, closed schools, and restricted businesses, rural Minnesotans may be looking at a unique opportunity in ...

EXCERPT: “Rebuilding Together Twin Cities — a nonprofit focused on repairing homes for older adults, veterans, and low-income residents — is establishing its first-ever greater Minnesota office, thanks to several grants totaling $275,000. ‘To do home repair work that folks need to either stay safe in their home or get around more easily in their ...

In a previous episode, we discussed the importance of rural grocery stores. Kathy Draeger, the statewide Director of the Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships at the University of Minnesota,  discussed their discussed their recently published report outlining results from a survey they sent to rural grocery stores  across Minnesota. For this episode, we brought her back ...

EXCERPT: “Although Minnesota unemployment numbers have been on a roller coaster during the COVID-19 pandemic, the bulk of those without work have been concentrated in a handful of occupations that are directly affected by pandemic shutdowns. This mirrors national employment trends. In rural Minnesota, unemployment is highest for workers in food preparation, sales positions, and office ...

By Marnie Werner, VP, Research & Operations Ready for a silver lining? So much of what we hear about the pandemic is doom and gloom, but as a new report we released last month on workforce and job vacancies showed, rural Minnesota is sitting at the crossroads of two important trends that have created a ...

EXCERPT: “The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has announced awards of $4.6 million in Convention Center Relief Grants and $8.54 million in Movie Theater Relief Grants to facilities across the state. These grants were part of a $216 million economic relief package signed into law by Governor Tim Walz on Dec. 16, 2020. ...

EXCERPT: “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, children in parts of Minnesota without high-speed internet have struggled to log on to remote classes, while businesses and employees who lack broadband have strained to connect to customers and co-workers. As Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, told Minnesota lawmakers last week: ‘We knew (broadband) was ...

For the last ten months, Minnesotans have been waiting along with the rest of the world for a vaccine to protect us from COVID-19. Now that we have one, though, officials face the next big issue: how to get those shots out to the public. For this topic, we’ve invited back Sue Grafstrom, a CRPD ...

EXCERPT: “Having been rocked by the coronavirus pandemic, cities in Greater Minnesota are calling on the state Legislature to offer them a lifeline and bolster programs that could help speed up economic recovery across the state. In a Friday, Jan. 29, news conference, the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities (CGMC) announced its legislative priorities for ...

EXCERPT: “The Greater Minnesota Partnership has selected Scott McMahon to serve as the nonprofit’s new executive director. McMahon is a former lobbyist with government relations firm Flaherty & Hood P.A., and has been with the GMNP since 2017, according to a news release from GMNP. He will lead the organization in its goal of advocating ...