EXCERPT: “The Minnesota Legislature during its special session last Friday agreed to increase Local Government Aid (LGA) by $26 million in 2020 and $4 million in 2021. For the City of Crookston, which is considered a low property tax wealth city and is perhaps more reliant on LGA funds each year than any other city in ...

By Julie Tesch I recently read an article about Willmar in, of all places, the New York Times, and I was surprised and amazed (I’m a bit sad to say) at its positive view of rural Minnesota. I’m a bit sad at my level of surprise not because it was an article on Willmar, but ...

EXCERPT: “Polling by NPR finds that while rural Americans are mostly satisfied with life, there is a strong undercurrent of financial insecurity that can create very serious problems for many people living in rural communities. The findings come from two surveys NPR has done with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School ...

EXCERPT: “Greater Minnesota could see expanded access to broadband, more money for public schools and a tax cut for some as part of a budget framework put forth in the state Capitol. Legislative leaders and the governor late Sunday, May 19, announced their framework for a two-year $48 billion spending plan, which was set to ...

EXCERPT: “Economists say the answer is more immigrants — while at the same time President Donald Trump is trying to restrict them. Think of it as Minnesota posting a ‘Help Wanted’ notice. There are more jobs available in the next five years than workers to fill them. And state officials say that’s a major threat ...

  By: Kelly Asche, Research Associate The most recent report in our Finding Work or Finding Workers series shed light on what it takes to train and help keep employed that percentage of the population that seems to have the hardest time getting and holding jobs: people with high barriers to employment. With the extremely ...

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 ...