DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy

This week we’re joined by Shawntera Hardy, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, to talk about Greater Minnesota, workforce and how DEED is helping with the child care shortage.

RuralMN Radio

Grow Your Own with Diana Anderson of the Southwest Initiative Foundation

Diana Anderson, president of the Southwest Initiative Foundation in Hutchinson, joins us this week to talk about a new initiative on their part to build opportunities for youth in the region, particularly for the 11,000 children who live in poverty there.

Job vacancies and the workforce shortage, pt 2

This week CRPD’s research associate Kelly Asche joins us again to talk about the workforce shortage and how it can turn out to be a positive story. Employers are starting to look at what were previously considered hard-to-employ groups, like people with criminal backgrounds and people with disabilities. There is also the work going on to promote rural regions and attract people to the rural lifestyle. The Millennial generation is now as big as the Baby Boomer generation, and they’re making decisions on where to live, Asche says.

Job vacancies and the workforce shortage, pt 1

An upcoming report by the Center for Rural Policy & Development shows that there is no shortage of jobs available in Greater Minnesota these days. CRPD Research Associate Kelly Asche joins Jim this week to talk about job vacancies, wages and more in part 1.

Interview with Commissioner Mark Phillips of the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation

This week on RuralMn Radio, Mark Phillips, Commissioner of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation, joins us to talk about the region’s stabilizing economy, how resource extraction businesses feed into vendor businesses, and strategies being implemented to recruit and retain people.

Blue Earth County’s Yellow Line Project pt 3

This week on RuralMn Radio, Phill Claussen, Blue Earth County Human Services Director, and Angela Youngerberg, Director of Business Operations for Blue Earth County Human Services, join us again to talk further about the county’s Yellow Line Project. This week they talk about how the project gives provides law enforcement and offenders more options than jail for those who don’t necessarily need to be in jail.