Year: 2002

The purpose of this study is to establish a baseline from which rural Minnesota’s manufacturing and technology-based companies can be monitored in their technology adoption and deployment. Of equal importance is its ability to help organizations like Minnesota Technology Inc. to better focus their technology and business assistance activities in Greater Minnesota. Overall, the study ...

On March 15th a bill became law mandating that all diesel fuel sold in the state of Minnesota be blended with a minimum of 2-percent biodiesel by 2005. Arguing that a biodiesel mandate is good for the environment, good for the rural economy, and maybe most importantly, will help us reduce our dependence on foreign ...

The purpose of this survey is to better understand the development and demand for Internet services in rural Minnesota from the perspective of rural telephone companies. It is important to keep in mind that today, Internet services are offered by a variety of providers, including cable TV providers and wireless providers, along with telephone providers. ...

Growth in the overall number of people owning home computers or in the overall number of people connecting to the Internet between 2001 and 2002 appears to be flat. As in 2001, approximately 60% of rural Minnesota households own a working computer and of those with a computer, approximately 80% are connected to the Internet. ...

The State of Minnesota funds its public schools primarily through a funding formula that provides school districts the same amount of revenue per pupil regardless of the size of their enrollment. In an earlier paper (Thorson and Edmondson 2000), we demonstrated that, similar to other areas of the economy, larger school districts incur less cost ...

To download the full reports click on the links below: Full Report Policy brief

It’s become apparent that because of the lack of broadband applications, many residential customers are unwilling to spend $50 a month for its speed and convenience, especially in today’s economy. Businesses, on the other hand, are going increasingly digital. They need broadband, or will, and rural businesses need the same tools as urban ones. If ...

To download the full report click on the link below: 2002 Manufacturers Survey Report

To download the full report click on the link below: 2002 Provider Survey Report