Year: 2022

EXCERPT: “Gunshots on the Midway. Though the public remained largely safe, it was an unwelcome end to the ‘Great Minnesota Get Together,’ and another shot of trauma in a year seemingly riddled with bullets. The violence has left many of us feeling vulnerable. But a new report on gun deaths in 2021 suggests its not ...

We know there’s a child care shortage, especially in rural areas. The question now is, “What do we do about it?” In our September 2022 webinar, we review the results of a survey conducted by the Center for Rural Policy & Development looking at a sample of the initiatives going on around Minnesota to address ...

EXCERPT: “Between 2010 and 2021, 136 rural hospitals closed, according to the UNC Cecil G. Sheps Center. Nineteen of these closures occurred in 2020, the most of any year in the past decade. That finding, one of several in a new report from the American Hospital Association, highlights the hardships under which rural hospitals have been ...

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 ...

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research & Operations Click here to read the main article, “Rural Child Care Solutions: From the Ground Up.” One factor that has been helpful in the rural childcare arena is the involvement of organizations with a regional perspective, operating in a wider area than a county but more focused—with greater ...

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research & Operations Click here for a printable version of this report. For a quick summary of this report, click here. Click here for more on what the MN Department of Human Services is doing to help with the child care shortage. Click here for more on the value of ...

EXCERPT: “U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is now accepting applications for ReConnect Program loans and grants to expand access to high-speed internet for millions of people in rural America nationwide. The Department is making more than $1 billion available, thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The program ...

EXCERPT: “A new mentorship program for women interested in pursuing public service positions is being offered through the Minnesota-based 100 Rural Women nonprofit. The program, titled the Elected Mentorship Network, will involve women in public office sharing their experiences. Their goal is to ‘create connections between women who were previously or are currently in office ...

EXCERPT: “Rural America could be on the verge of seeing the largest, single investment in its electrical infrastructure since the Rural Electrification Act of 1935 first brought power lines to farms. Rural electrical cooperatives have the opportunity to make that investment thanks to the $9.7 billion in clean energy funding signed into law by President ...