Year: 2019

Why do I live here?

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research & Operations (Note: The links in this post are not affiliate links. No one at the Center makes any money if you click on them.) When I saw it was my turn to write the blog post this week and that the assignment was “Why do I live here?” ...

Hutchinson Leader: New hemp market taking shape in rural Minnesota

EXCERPT: “Seventy-five years ago, a May newspaper article reported 5,000 tons of hemp were stacked at the site of the Hutchinson hemp plant where 3M now stands, with 2,000 more yet to be hauled there. Another article in October reports the Hutchinson plant is one of 11 to be closed in Minnesota following the end ...
What is rural? Farm, cows, grain.

What is Rural?

  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! 

WCCO-TV: How Wind Energy Is Affecting Rural Minnesota

EXCERPT: “What started with just a few wind turbines 20 years ago, now turns out nearly 20% of Minnesota’s electricity. But the towering blades haven’t come without questions and controversy in rural Minnesota. In last year’s Super Bowl, ad experts ranked Budweiser’s commercial that promoted wind energy as one of the best. On a farm far away, ...

Alexandria Echo Press: Rural city leaders ask for large bonding bill

EXCERPT: “City leaders from Greater Minnesota are calling on Governor Tim Walz and legislators to pass a large public works package that invests at least $1.5 billion in infrastructure needs throughout the state. That message was the main theme that emerged from last week’s Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities Fall Conference, which was held at ...

KARE-TV: Couple wins cafe, changes the flavor of small town dining

EXCERPT: ” In Sherburn, Minnesota the first light of day comes from the Cup N’ Saucer Café. ‘It’s our morning stop, 6:30 morning stop,’ Brian Steen says. Steen sits among the other farmers and retirees at a corner table by the café’s front window. Their table. As coffee is poured, the conversation shifts easily from ...

Minne Inno: DEED’s Launch Minnesota Initiative Offering ‘Innovation Grants’ to Entrepreneurs in Greater MN

EXCERPT: “Minnesota startups now have a new source of state funding. Launch Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s new statewide effort to accelerate startups, is taking applications for Innovation Grants. Launch said in a release that these grants are designed to ‘advance the most promising, innovative and scalable technology startups in Minnesota’ ‘These grants will ...