Year: 2015

Diversity in rural wealth: The many capitals of rural Minnesota

The uncertainty of where individual wealth will end up as baby boomers pass their assets on to the next generation has raised alarms about the future of our small towns. In this article, Ben look’s at wealth in a broader way, at the community rather than individual level. Looking at wealth this way shows that ...

Addressing the coming workforce squeeze

For most parts of the state, the coming workforce squeeze is already here. A smaller pool of workers means businesses—and communities—will be competing for their attention. Communities around Minnesota are starting to work on how to make their towns the places people want to move to. But part of making a community a great place ...

The coming workforce squeeze

It’s a demographic phenomenon planners have been warning about for years, and now it’s here. By 2035, Minnesota’s 65+ population is expected to grow by 93%, or 784,000 seniors, while losing 5% of its workforce-age population, or 170,000 people ages 15-64 as Baby Boomers pass the 65-year mark. Here’s the story.

Grocery Stores by the Numbers

Demographic changes in Greater Minnesota have been hard on local grocery stores. Between 2000 and 2013, Greater Minnesota lost 14% of its grocery stores. Read the fact sheet on the reasons, the implications, and some possible strategies for new models.
senior population growth

Challenges in building the long-term care workforce in rural Minnesota

The age wave we’ve been expecting for the last 30 years is here now, and now communities both in Greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro are facing the problem of where to find workers, particularly in the field of long-term care. This presentation outlines the issues, some takeaways, and some suggestions on what can ...
rail key findings

The state of freight rail: key findings

The State of Freight Rail sums up the key relevant points of the The state of rail: Untangling the issues that you can download and print out.
Trend in North Dakota oil field production.

The state of rail: Untangling the issues

This new brief on freight rail examines the role it plays in the state’s economy, and the complicated issues that go with it, including transportation costs for commodities and oil from North Dakota.