Category: Blog

March 2023 By Kelly Asche, Senior Researcher To nearly everyone, the education formula is a mystery. And where there’s mystery, there tends to be misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and incorrect narratives. Making changes to policy that is well understood is hard enough. Imagine trying to change policy that isn’t well understood. This is the predicament rural schools ...

By Marnie Werner, VP, Research As I work on our research projects, it often seems like all the topics I write about are gloomy and doom-filled. And they are usually. Here at the Center, we tend to write about problems—problems that need fixing—because the only way problems get fixed is if we know about them ...

Northern Minnesota saw significant declines in employment in the leisure and hospitality industry   By Kelly Asche, Senior Researcher January 2023 Every year the Center for Rural Policy and Development publishes the “State of Rural Minnesota,” a report outlining the demographic and economic trends in Minnesota using the most recent data available. Typically, the report ...

New population data confirms the migration pattern we thought was happening   By Kelly Asche, Senior Research Associate January 2023 Every year the Center for Rural Policy and Development publishes the “State of Rural Minnesota,” a report outlining the demographic and economic trends in Minnesota using the most recent data available. Typically, the report only ...

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 ...

By Julie Tesch, President & CEO “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”  – Dr. Stephen Covey, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” Election Day has always held wonders for me. I grew up in southern Minnesota going to our local township hall with my parents. I vividly remember the wood-burning stove and wondering ...

The number of residential housing builders still isn’t at peak levels of 2006. October 2022 By: Kelly Asche, Senior Research Associate Now more than ever we are seeing the linkages between economic development, workforce development, and housing. No matter where you turn, it seems that small communities are trying to crack the code on how ...

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 ...

By Julie Tesch, CRPD President   The weather is hot and steamy in Minnesota, so that must mean it’s county fair time. Growing up, the county fair was my favorite place on earth. It was the place where I got to see my friends, who I hadn’t seen since school let out, ride some rides ...