Tag: demographics

April 2020 By Kelly Asche, Research Associate & Marnie Werner, VP Research Note to readers: We were just getting ready to release this report when the COVID-19 pandemic showed up on Minnesota’s doorstep and everything changed. We believe the findings of our report still hold true since they review the past trends, but we have ...

By Marnie Werner & Kelly Asche In the movies, you can always tell who the “red shirt” is—the guy brought along by the hero and his or her gang for the sole purpose of being the dinosaur’s first victim. He’s the happy-go-lucky guy who scoffs as they peer into the creepy dark cave and says ...

  We asked the all-important question, “What is rural?” The first in our new set of videos on rural issues and research provides the answer! 

Changing the story on careers in rural Minnesota For decades, the narrative speaking to rural high school students has been that to succeed, they must leave. But what if we could do something about that? August 2019 By Kelly Asche, Research Associate For a printable version, click here. All Articles in this Series: Finding work ...

By: Kelly Asche, Research Associate There isn’t a week that goes by here at the Center where we don’t use U.S. Census information in some form. Its importance in creating our research and helping to develop good policy cannot be understated. If you were to quickly breeze through our research for this year, you would ...

For years, the focus for economic development policy has been about “jobs, jobs, jobs!” Now, businesses and workforce development organizations are saying, “People, people, people!” Communities in Greater Minnesota are now recognizing that strategies focused solely on recruiting and retaining jobs have to change.

What is “Letters to the New Governor”? A compilation of essays giving insights and recommendations by experts from around the state writing on issues of importance to Greater Minnesota. They comment on the ideas and motivations behind some of our most difficult policy questions facing our state, including the region’s changing demographics, the rural economy, the ...

  Our newest publication is “Letters to the New Governor,” a collection of essays by experts around the state writing on an overview of the issues in Greater Minnesota. Some of the authors include Tim Penny and Charlie Weaver on why the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota need each other, Gary Wertish and Kevin Paap ...

  This week we talk about the Center’s newest undertaking: a new blog that will discuss our latest research and other rural issues. We’ll be posting new pieces weekly, at least for now during the legislative session, and at least bi-weekly after that.  We also talk about the Center’s new State of Rural report for ...