EXCERPT: “Enterprise Minnesota might have to stop its rural manufacturing programs because of federal cuts. Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Commerce told the agency not to start its traditional funds renewal process. ‘We have been told not to apply until further notice,’ said Enterprise Minnesota Vice President Lynn Shelton. ‘We are concerned.’ The ...

EXCERPT: “A group of first-year medical students at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Rochester has been learning directly from Minnesota Farm Bureau members about how to connect with and meet the needs of people living in rural communities. The education around rural healthcare, called the Rural Medicine Initiative, is offered through the medical ...

EXCERPT: “Rural hospital leaders are questioning whether they can continue to afford to do business with Medicare Advantage companies, and some say the only way to maintain services and protect patients is to end their contracts with the private insurers. Medicare is the main federal health insurance program for people 65 or older. Participants can enroll ...

On this episode, Julie Tesch, President and CEO of the Center for Rural Policy and Development, speaks with 3x Emmy-winning Documentarian and TV Anchor Cory Hepola. They discuss his journey from growing up in Perham, Minnesota and always being drawn back to small towns in his work and life. Cory currently produces the My Town ...

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research & Operations Greater Minnesota can be hard to define for people who don’t live there. Kind of amorphous. And it is hard to come up with a good single name that encompasses what is basically the whole state outside of the seven-county Twin Cities metro. But for us at ...

EXCERPT: “Gear up for construction season drivers – the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has announced which projects they’ll be working on this year, including some multi-year construction work which will finally be completed. Early Wednesday morning, the agency said there are roughly 180 road and bridge construction projects planned for the season, as well as ...

In this episode, Kelly Asche, Senior Researcher at the Center, interviews Erik Osberg, Rural Rebound Coordinator for Otter Tail County. They discuss how Otter Tail County created the Rural Rebound initiative, the research framework backing their initiative, and some tips for other rural regions wanting to develop a similar initiative.

On February 6th, 2025, Sourcewell hosted the Center for Rural Policy and Development for a 1.5 hour webinar highlight recent research in rural Minnesota. In this section, Marnie Werner, Vice President of Operations and Research, discusses her recent research about what parents can do in accessing mental health services for youth in rural Minnesota.  

On February 6th, 2025, Sourcewell hosted the Center for Rural Policy for a 1.5 hour webinar highlighting recent research on rural Minnesota. In the section, Kelly Asche, Senior Research, provides an overview of a recently published research describing the declines in nursing beds across rural Minnesota, and why they are occurring.      

EXCERPT: “The Minnesota Pharmacists Association (MPHA) held a legislative day in St. Paul, on March 5, according to Philip Hommerding, owner of Hunt’s Silver Lake Drug Store, part of the purpose was to call attention to the state’s growing pharmacy deserts. According to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), around 400,000 in Greater Minnesota live a ...