Tag: rural

Elected roles in local government have a unique and vital place in our democracy, where neighbors elect neighbors to help their communities thrive. Unfortunately, we’ve all heard stories of increasing polarization and toxic political climate showing up in local settings. What’s it really like to run for office and serve in local elected roles like ...

On this episode, Marnie Werner, VP of Research and Operations, interviews Julie Tesch (CEO and President of CRDP) and Kelly Asche (Senior Research Associate) about their experiences working with and in municipal governments and their attempts to find, apply, and administer grants. What are some of the challenges, and solutions that would help our small ...

By Kelly Asche, Senior Research Associate The Center for Rural Policy and Development is currently working on a research project exploring migration trends of Southwest Minnesota high school graduates. This report will be released in early 2023, but as we explore the data, we would like to showcase a few interesting nuggets. The severity of ...

On this episode, Julie Tesch interviews Center for Rural Policy and Development Board member Martha Castanon. Martha is an Accredited Representative for the Immigrant Law Center in Moorhead, Minnesota. Julie and her discuss how her parents met in Comstock, Minnesota, the services that the Immigrant Law Center provides to immigrant and refugee populations as well ...

Starting with the 2020 Decennial Census, the U.S. Census Bureau is implementing a new framework to ensure privacy of the census takers – essentially, making sure that a nefarious actor can’t identify an individual from published census tables. Although the U.S. Census Bureau has been employing various strategies for decades, this new framework is very ...

In September, the Center for Rural Policy and Development released the results of an environmental scan of child care initiatives taking place across rural Minnesota. In this episode, Vice President of Research, Marnie Werner, interviews Don Hickman, the Vice President for Community and Workforce Development at the Initiative Foundation in Little Falls, MN. As an ...

by Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research Earlier this week I spoke to a group of business owners and childcare professionals in St. Cloud, where it’s not breaking news to them—or anyone else for that matter—that childcare’s 20-year downward spiral is now a major factor exacerbating the growing worker shortage.  As the pandemic upended all aspects ...

  About the Interconnected Series: Wherever you live, you have undoubtedly encountered the term “Urban/Rural Divide” that describes a divisive narrative in policy and politics based on geographic differences. In reality, we all want similar things – good healthcare and education, for example – but the solutions often look different based on where you live. ...

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research & Operations Click here to read the main article, “Rural Child Care Solutions: From the Ground Up.” While communities have been learning how to get together and figure out solutions for their local child care needs, at the state level, the MN Department of Human Services has also been ...