EXCERPT: “The problem of housing affordability, long a concern in popular big cities, has moved to rural America. Nearly one-fourth of the nation’s most rural counties have seen a sizeable increase this decade in the number of households spending at least half their income on housing, a category the federal government calls ‘severely cost-burdened.’ Those counties, none ...

  We wrap up our conversation with Brad Finstad, state director for USDA Rural Development, about rural policy and its impact on rural communities and how the Center helps with the understanding of complicated issues.

EXCERPT: “The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Opioid Prevention Pilot Project involves eight communities across the state. Based on six months of data, these communities are expected to cut patient pill use by nearly 765,000 pills per year. In addition, 147 patients are receiving care for opioid use disorder, and Greater Minnesota now has 21 new ...

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research & Operations About 18 months ago I was sitting in front of a state senate committee on child care, talking to them about what I had found while researching the child care shortage for the previous two years. When I was done and others were invited to come up ...

EXCERPT: “The current state of Minnesotan day cares is anything but child’s play. And, when child care is one of the top issues facing Minnesota’s labor force, the industry’s decline in recent years could mean rough sledding for the economy if a solution isn’t reached effectively and expediently. As executive director of the Greater Minnesota ...

EXCERPT: “A new report released this week shows that homelessness is on the rise across Minnesota. A Wilder Research study says more than 10,000 homeless people lived in Minnesota in 2018, the highest number recorded since Wilder Research began tracking these numbers in the 1990s. Wilder Research studies Minnesota’s homeless population every three years. From ...

  After more than 15 years, we’re closing down RuralMN Radio. Former president Brad Finstad joins Marnie and Jim to talk in his capacity as state director for USDA Rural Development about what’s going on around rural Minnesota, what the Center is doing, and the synergies between federal and state funding for rural areas.  While ...

By Julie Tesch, President & CEO Have you read a newspaper lately? Was it your local newspaper? Was it in print or online? I’m fortunate to have a daily, regional newspaper delivered to my door every day. I also have two neighboring community newspapers delivered weekly. Why do I spend this money? It is my ...

EXCERPT: “As more and more licensed child care providers close up shop, worsening the child care shortage, lawmakers are considering a number of reforms geared toward reversing that trend. Sponsored by Rep. Ami Wazlawik (DFL-White Bear Township), HF1685, as amended, would allow child care providers to use a substitute caregiver for up to 300 hours ...

As we close in our final RuralMN Radio in two weeks, we take a look back at how things have changed in rural Minnesota over the last fifteen years, including the engagement of the rural voice.