Author Archive

What does “rural” mean to you?

September 2nd, 2010

Have you ever asked a young adult, “What does ‘rural’ mean to you?”  Thanks to the GoTeach South Dakota program, I recently asked that question to a group of college students who have made the decision to teach in rural, high need schools in South Dakota.  To make the activity more interesting, I asked them to draw their thoughts on a map of South Dakota.  Their responses were very interesting.

What did they think?

The responses ranged from inventive to … interesting.  One respondent drew a lawn mower, suggesting that rural meant “slower traffic” and that it was ok to drive a lawn mower down the street because it wouldn’t be holding up traffic.  Another person drew a deer being shot by a stickman with a caption “Hello supper,” representing the opportunities of outdoor recreation offered by rural places.

There were some less flattering responses like, “I’m bored,” and “there’s no shopping.” Other responses were more positive including, rural community are made up of close-knit families and unique small towns. 

The most common response showed the cities of Sioux Falls and Rapid City being crossed out, representing that the entire state was rural except for these two communities. 

Overall, I thought it was great to see the diversity in their responses.  I see elements of each of them in the rural communities I have lived in. 

A few more thoughts

As I returned to work following the event, a quote that has hung on my office wall for the last 5-6 years caught my attention.  It originates from a study published by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation titled Perceptions of Rural America, and goes like this:

 This means that perceptions of rural America are centered on a series of dichotomies - rural life represents traditional American values, but is behind the times; rural life is more relaxed and slower than city life, but harder and more grueling; rural life is friendly, but intolerant of outsiders and difference; and rural life is richer in community life, but epitomized by individuals struggling independently to make ends meet. Rural America offers a particular quality of life including serenity and aesthetic surroundings, and yet it is plagued by lack of opportunities, including access to cultural activities.”  (source:  Perceptions of Rural America, W.H. Kellogg Foundation,  2002)

 

Dichotomies - both good and bad

I keep the phrase on my wall because it reminds me of the challenges of marketing and branding rural communities.  It reminds me that people react differently to phrases like “everyone knows each other in a small town.”  For some it conjures up images of safety and familiarity; for other, it suggests small towns are like Peyton Place.  The reality is that there’s a little of both in all rural communities. 

At the end of the session with the students, I offered two bits of advice:  (1) dig deeper into the stereotypes,  both positive and negative, that we hear about rural communities, and (2) reject the notion that all rural communities are the same.  I think that’s advice we can all benefit from. 

 

Note: The GoTeach South Dakota program is a federally funded Teacher Quality Partnership grant aimed at increasing student achievement and developing high quality teachers for high need areas. The program includes comprehensive education, training, support and professional development for teachers recruited to serve in qualifying school districts.

Photo Credit:  KTPUPP - Flickr

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You gotta get out of this place

August 27th, 2010

We’ve all heard stories from people who say their parents encouraged them to leave rural South Dakota.  But yesterday, I heard a story from a gentleman whose response is worth remembering.

The story began like most with a mother telling her son “You’ve got to get out of here so that you don’t have to pitch ’sh^#’ anymore.” 

The son listened, leaving the farm in northern South Dakota for a life in the health care field. But years later the son returned to share some wisdom with his mother saying, “You know mom, I’ve learned it’s the same old ‘sh^#’ no matter where you live.  Some of it just smells worse.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Launching a book read on Hollowing out the Middle

The above story was only one of many shared by participants at yesterday’s launch event for a “book read” of Hollowing out the Middle.  Led by Dr. Gary Aguiar and Dr. Merideth Redlin from South Dakota State University, the event brought together residents from Howard and surrounding communities who are concerned about youth outmigration.  Structured as discussion, much of the conversation focused on the impact parents, educators, and community members have on the youth outmigration. 

In a short interview following the discussion, I asked Dr. Aguiar why SDSU was helping to organize “book reads” in rural communities across South Dakota.  You can hear his answer to this and other questions in the video below.  I’ll just highlight, however, that the events lead up to a symposium with one of the book’s authors, Patrick Carr, in Brookings on Oct. 5-6.

 

What’s next?

There was a lot of good conversation at the event, but what impressed me most was the desire of the participants to continue to learn about the issue.  At one point, a participant from a neighboring community asked “How can I get a discussion like this started in my town?”  Dr. Aguiar said he would try to help any communities who are interested, but it probably wouldn’t be until later this fall or winter.

An alternative would be to grab a few friends, copies of the book, and then announce a time and place for a book discussion. It doesn’t have to be a big group.  Just try to keep the conversation and ideas churning.

I’d also recommend attending the symposium at SDSU on Oct. 5-6.  The best place for ideas and action to originate is from within our local communities, but our individual efforts can be amplified if we network across communities. And it will be a great opportunity to hear from the book’s author as well.

If you have any other thoughts and ideas on how we can deepen the conversion on brain drain, feel free to post a comment or drop me a line.  I’d love nothing more than to eliminate the phrase, “you gotta get out of this place” from our rural vocabulary.

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What’s going on in Hoffman, MN?

August 23rd, 2010

Thanks to a comment left on a blog post by Sheri Booms Holms, from the West Central Initiative Foundation, I learned about the community development efforts of Hoffman MN. Sheri lifted up Hoffman as a community that has “harnessed their can do spirit” in the face of decades of decline.  A couple years ago, most of Hoffman’s main street stood empty.  Enter Muriel Krusemark, who returned to town after years of managing a deli elsewhere.  She accepted the part-time job as  part-time coordinator for the Hoffman Economic Development Administration (HEDA), and that’s when all the fun seems to have started. 

Since Sheri left her comment, I’ve been scouring the Internet for information about what’s going on in Hoffman.  For a small town of 672, there’s a lot out there.  Perhaps the most informative sources are two short YouTube videos that capture Muriel’s presentation at this year’s Symposium on Small Towns at the University of Minnesota - Morris.  I’ve embedded both videos below.  (Note: unfortunately, the first part of Muriel’s presentation is missing.) 

(source:  “Muriel’s Hoffman presentation at the Symposium on Small Towns - part 2,” hoffeditor, YouTube, June 10, 2010)

 

(source: “Muriel’s Hoffman presentation at the Symposium on Small Towns - Part 2,” hoffeditor, YouTube, June 10, 2010)

 

In addition to the videos above and the links at the end of this post, I’ve also been talking to people about Hoffman, including Muriel, who I met at the Midwest Rural Assembly.  I’d like to lift out a bit of what I see happening in Hoffman.

 

8  ”bright spots” from Hoffman, MN

1) Asking “what can I do to help?” When Muriel first accepted her part-time job as economic development coordinator, she went around to businesses and asked “What can we do to make your business better?” In one situation, the business owner replied that he needed more space. Although she couldn’t finance a new building, Muriel helped connect him with a resource provider who verified that an expansion made financial sense. As a result, he moved into a larger space. Today his business is thriving.

2) Supporting entrepreneurs. Retail is tough in any small town. To address this issue, Hoffman created what might be termed a “business incubator.” Called The Galleria, the community purchased two vacant buildings on Main Street, and created attractive retail space from which multiple retail businesses could sell their products. Not only is the space affordable, but it addresses the issue of staffing; products from businesses are always for sale, even if the business owner is not always present. The Galleria is now privately owned and does not offer any formal businesses assistance training. But from the people I talked to, it sounds like Muriel is filling that void with advice she’s picked up over the years. Currently, there are twenty-two businesses operating out of this space.

3) Listening to the public. With assistance from a college intern, Muriel created a survey, asking the residents what issues needed to be addressed. High on the lists were increased healthcare offerings and a hardware store.

4) Improving health care.  When the community survey shows residents wanted more health care services in Hoffman, Muriel helped secure a grant to develop the Healthcare Mall. It replaced two more empty buildings on Main Street and has helped bring four medical professionals to Hoffman.  Now the elderly don’t have to drive elsewhere to receive medical care.

5) Building local economy.  Both the Galleria and the Healthcare Mall were public projects that help keep dollars in the community.  But an equally impressive effort has been the establishment of the Hoffman Farmer’s Market.  The market resulted from a rumor that went around town two year ago.  Since everyone was so excited about the rumor, Muriel decided she’d better create the market.  Listening to Muriel talk, I think it’s become more than a farmers market; it’s become a third place where residents come together to build relationships.

6) Creating amenities that attract people.  Hoffman is not located in a region noted for its outdoor amenities.  But in order to make the community more attractive to young families, they have taken steps to improve their recreational facilities.  For instance, they created an ice skating rink so that kids had something to do in the winter.  But when they noticed it was going unused, the community didn’t give up and call the project a waste.  Instead they discovered that children weren’t using it because they didn’t have skates. They addressed the issue by seeking a donation that helped purchase skates for children in need. 

7) Improving the housing stock.  It’s often easy to think that developing new housing should be a private sector project.  In Hoffman, the city took responsibility and helped create a new housing development, selling the lots for one dollar.  Even though the new houses that fill the development today are mostly from people within the community, I’m sure the development played a significant role in attracting the fourteen new families that have moved to Hoffman in recent months by opening up some of the older (and more affordable) housing stock.

8) Being transparent.  “Transparency” is a big word in the world of social media marketing.  Because word travels fast with social media, businesses have to be more open and honest with their customers than ever before.  (Just ask BP what happens when you don’t.)  I was very impressed to find many video clips of HEDA’s meeting being shared on Youtube.  Muriel tells me that most residents don’t access the videos online, but posting them as a part of the public record helps instill confidence and reduce false rumors. 

There’s a lot of good stuff going on in Hoffman.  What impresses me most is that there appears to be an understanding that there’s no quick fix to their problems.  The future will be tied to consistently developing lots of little projects that make sense in their community.  And with Muriel leading the charge, I’m sure Hoffman will have a bright future.

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Why rural communities need artists

August 20th, 2010

If I were in charge of giving out awards at the Midwest Rural Assembly, I’d give Becky McCray the “Best Tweet” award.  While listening to Deb Marquart speak about the role of artists in communities, Becky tweeted:

“Grow more artists, not just corn and athletes. Artists are the ones who reimagine a place, help create the future. Deb Marquart #mra10“

And if I were able to give out a “Most Insightful” award, I’d give it to Deb Marquart.  I’ve been thinking about the role of the arts as an economic development strategy lately, but Marquart tuned me onto another potential impact artists can make.  We need artists to help us solve the significant problems facing rural communities.

Marquart described artists as problem solvers, with a gift for looking at the world differently than the rest of us.  We need artists to bring those problem solving skills and perspective to the table as we deal with the economic and social challenges confronting our rural communities.  It’s key to helping us reimagine our futures. 

There was a lot of wisdom in Marquart’s words, so I attempted to recapture some of it in a short interview following her presentation.  You can watch that video below.

 

(Source:  “Deb Marquart on Why Rural Communities need Artists,” Youtube, Rural Learning Center, Aug. 16, 2010)

I think Marquart is right in her assessment of artists, especially if it includes a wide definition of the term.  Sadly, our communities don’t include artists enough in our community work.  Even worse, we make little effort to cultivate their development in our schools and communities. 

Later in the day, I participated in a discussion about the importance of teaching entrepreneurship to young people.  It was at that moment that I began to think about potential connections between artists and entrepreneurs.

Similar to the way Marquart views artists, I’ve always looked at entrepreneurs as problem solvers; they see an economic problem and attempt to find a business solution.  It’s got me thinking there’s a connection between teaching art and teaching entrepreneurship.  Perhaps programs and classes that cultivate artists could help grow more entrepreneurs, and vice-versa. 

Whether it’s artists, entrepreneurs, or someone else, we need to harness the energy and skills of people who bring a different perspective to the table and are good at overcoming obstacles.  Our reimagined future depends on it.

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Why’s this place boring?

August 19th, 2010

Deb Marquart immediately captured my attention on Monday at the Midwest Rural Assembly.  During her keynote presentation “Reimaging Place,” she explained to the audience that she left her hometown of Napoleon in rural North Dakota as a teenager because it was boring.  As she wrote a book about it as an adult, however, she discovered it was anything but boring.

The statement raised an interesting idea:  Do young people need to write a book in order to appreciate their hometowns? 

Although that question is a bit out there, it might not be as farfetched as one might think.  I’ve actually witnessed first-hand how young people can develop a connection to their community through writing activities. 

 

The Value of Place Based Education

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Mary Stangohr, a talented English teacher at Howard H.S. (SD) embedded place based education in her classroom.  In one of her units of study, Mary had her students read Broken Heartland by Osha Grey Davison, a book detailing the impact of industrial agriculture on rural communities. 

Whether they agreed with the author’s assessment or not, the book connected with most students because they could see similar trends in agriculture happening around them.  In some cases, it connected on an emotional level as some students saw how these changes impacted their parent’s farms, businesses, and places of employment.  It even opened the door for young people to talk to adults about issues that seldom get discussed.

But Mary didn’t end the project with reading the book.  She brought in a community historian who shared engaging stories about growing up in the community.  She took students on field trips to places like to Vilas, SD where students were able to visually experience what life was like in a town back in the 1920-30 before its population shrunk from 400-500 to 19 people today.  And then as a capstone, she required students to write a paper or produce a multimedia project that shared what they had learned.  

I’m not sure if student’s scores on the grammar section of mandatory testing increased as a result of the project.  But I’m positive that the activity encouraged them to dig in and connect more deeply to the subject, and that certainly made them better writers.

 

It’s more than good learning

Beyond the value of helping students become better writers, the project had another impact; Mary’s students came to understand their community better, and I think in many cases, to develop a deeper emotional connection to their hometown. 

In her own way, this is what Marquart shared with her audience at the Midwest Rural Assembly.  She grew up in her rural North Dakota community without knowing much about it.  Sure, she knew the people who lived there.  She knew they worked hard to eke out a living.  But she didn’t know the personal stories that made her community rich. 

Without those stories, it’s easy for any place to appear boring.

 

Photo Credit:  National Rural Assembly - Flickr (Shawn Poyter - permission granted)

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Brain Gain: calling on all “bright spots”

August 13th, 2010

I’ll be attending the Midwest Rural Assembly next Monday.  One of the aspects of the Assembly that I appreciate most is that in addition to the policy talk, it’s a great opportunity talk with rural leaders from around the Midwest.  This year, I’m particularly interested in learning about communities that are successfully addressing the issue often referred to as “brain drain.”  

By now, most everyone has heard about “brain drain.” Miner County, SD is a classic example of the phenomena:  for decades now, young people have graduated from high school, left for college, and settled in cities where opportunities appear to be more abundant. 

The phrase captures our attention today more than ever before because rural communities appear to be losing their “best and brightest” at a time when economists are recognizing the importance of “human capital” as a driver of economic development. 

But as Ben Winchester, a research fellow for University of Minnesota Extension , has noted this is only part of the story.  Many rural communities are experiencing a “brain gain” as people age 30 to 49 begin to move back to rural communities to raise families.    (source: “Rural Migration: The Brain Gain of Newcomers,” Ben Winchester)

We need to be intentional

I find Winchester’s research significant because this trend is occurring without most people knowing it.  Just think of the results if more communities decided to be intentional and work at attracting new residents.  I’m already aware of numerous efforts of this nature. For instance:

Clinton County, Ohio appears to be doing a nice of changing their community brand as a way of attracting young people. They’ve created the Clinton County Fellows program and are challenging young people to come back and do something special in their hometown.

I’ve also been very impressed with the work of the Next Generation initiative of the Gogebic Range of Iron County, Wisconsin and Gogebic County, Michigan.  They’ve developed a four pronged approach that includes youth retention, new resident attraction and new resident retention.  

While these Midwestern projects deserve attention as “bright spots,” I’m also interested in efforts further west as well.  My friends at the Strom Center have identified some good work in the oil country of North Dakota, and I just learned of another effort emerging out of the Upper Minnesota Regional Development Commission.  I’ll dig into these bright spots in the future. 

Look me up at the MRA

As I stated earlier, I’m hoping other people attending the Midwest Rural Assembly share my interest in the subject and will look me up.  I’ve even included a profile picture in case we haven’t met. 

If we don’t meet before hand, I think there’s an opportunity Monday afternoon from 3:00 - 5:00 for us to get together as well.  If I understand the agenda correctly, the session is intended as an opportunity for people to gather around topics of interest, identify what is working well, and then talk about policies that need further attention.  I intend to stand up and identify my interest in “people attraction and retention.”  If enough people are interested, I’m sure we’ll generate some good discussion.

I’m really looking forward to the event, and I hope you are as well. 

 

Note: I’ll be Tweeting (@Michael_Knutson) using the #MRA10 hashtag, and hopefully blogging from the event on Reimagine Rural.

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On being a good coach

August 6th, 2010

Morgan’s article, “Do you need a coach?” from a couple days ago caused me to do a little reminiscing.  Although my thoughts initially focused on how I’ve personally benefited from some non-athletic coaching, my mind quickly turned to how our community development work in Miner County has benefited from coaches over the years.

Although there are many people who have provided valuable insights, I think two individuals stand out:  Dr. Daryl Hobbs of the University of Missouri and Dr. Tom Kilian, a Miner County native and true renaissance man.

Both men brought years of wisdom to our effort.  That’s important because all communities, rural and urban, need an injection of new ideas.  But as I shared in a comment on Morgan’s original post, wisdom wasn’t their greatest gift.

As I reflect, I think their greatest impact was their ability to help us discover our own path.  Too often community development experts come into rural communities with the answers and try to fix problems.  That seldom works.

If you want to learn more about what makes these two men special, check out what they have to say in this video that we shared with people at the 2009 Midwest Rural Assembly.

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Rural America: Who’s getting younger?

August 5th, 2010

I doubt anyone is surprised by this news, but information published on the Daily Yonder confirms that much of the rural Midwest has continued to age.  Not all rural Midwestern counties, however, followed this trend.  Some got younger, including a handful of counties right here in South Dakota.

That’s good news for each of the counties that became younger.  But it’s also good news for those counties that became older; hopefully we can learn from these hipster counties.

What does the Daily Yonder article say?

Produced by Roberto Gallardo, the Daily Yonder article focuses on the proportional change in population under age 25 of all rural counties in the U.S during the last decade.  As the map to the right indicates, most rural counties (shown in red) experienced a decrease in the percentage of young people; those identified in blue became younger.  (source:  “Rural America inthe 2000s: Age,” Roberto Gallardo, Daily Yonder,  July 21, 2010.)

In total, nine rural South Dakota counties experienced an increase in the percentage of young people.  Those counties include:

Looking at the list, I’m a bit surprised.  I had expected to find Beadle and Brown Counties on the list, two counties benefiting from major new business startups in recent years, and reservation counties, where birth rates are typically higher.  I’m also surprised by just how “typical” these counties are.  Strike Clay and Brookings Counties, which house our state’s two largest universities, and the remaining counties are very similar to most rural counties in eastern South Dakota.

Why’s this important?

This research is timely for me because it comes on the heels of “The Rural Growth Trifecta” study, the most recent of a long line of studies emphasizing the importance of outdoor amenities to rural community development.  Comparing maps we can see that all of the South Dakota communities that grew younger rank low on the outdoor amenity scale used in “The Rural Growth Trifecta” study.

If outdoor amenities are key to attracting people to rural communities, and I agree they are, then why are these lower amenity counties getting younger?   I don’t have the answer to this question, but I’d sure like to know more.

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Creative Class: Rural Massachusetts style

July 30th, 2010

The Boston Globe reports that the arts have saved the rural town of Pittsfield in western Massachusetts.   After losing a GM plant, the community of 45,000 residents invested in attracting the Barrington Stage Company and building a strong arts community as a central part of its economic development strategy. 

As the Boston Globe article states:

“Once-vacant buildings in downtown Pittsfield are filling with galleries, theaters, residences, and restaurants. North Street, the city’s long-depressed main drag, now hosts regular street festivals, open houses, and art shows that draw thousands of residents and visitors. People are starting to believe that Pittsfield is an attraction, rather than a moribund pit stop on the way from Tanglewood to Mass MoCA.” (source:  “The Art of Saving a City,“  David Filopov,  Boston Globe, July 24, 2010.)

Sounds like the creative class theories of Richard Florida have worked in this rural community. 

Not everyone is buying this talk

Some community leaders, however, oppose the strategy and don’t think it’s been successful.  Dan Bianchi who recently lost a close election to become the community’s next mayor is quoted in the article saying: 

“It’s great that we attract the arts and support it,” he said. “But you can’t point to one significant business that relocated as a result of arts.”

Business relocation.  If that’s the only measurement for the strategy, this strategy is bound to be viewed as a failure.  After all, the major emphasis of the strategy is attracting people who will create their own business ventures. 

I like what Pittsfield has done.  It sounds like it makes a lot of sense for the community. But I’m not sure it plays out the same in small, rural communities in the Midwest.  After all, a town of 40,000 in Massachusetts is very different from the small towns that make up Midwestern landscape. 

It has to be authentic

Here I turn to advice offered by Dr. David Ivan of Michigan State University’s Land Policy Institute, and a presentation he made at the 2009 Small Town & Rural Development Conference  titled “Can Small Towns be Cool?”  While lifting up cultural and artistic sectors as a part of economic development strategies, Dr. Ivan acknowledged that successful cultural efforts “are genuine, often organically-driven by creative individuals within the community.”

Dr. Ivan goes on in the presentation to highlight how efforts to build the arts must be “authentic” in order for them to be successful. 

“Authentic” is very popular word in the marketing community today.  It suggests you can’t try to promote yourself as something you are not. 

Answering “what’s authentic?” is not easy.  But I think it’s something communities should be thinking about if they chose to consider the development of the arts as a part of their economic development strategy.

 

Photo Credit:  bvcphoto - Flickr, Sculture, Pittsfield, MA
Note:  Thanks to the Daily Yonder for bringing the Pittsfield story to my attention.

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Broadband: An entrepreneurial requirement

July 28th, 2010

I’ve been thinking about broadband a bit lately with the approaching Midwest Rural Assembly.  Spreading broadband to more rural communities was front-and-center at last years’ Assembly.  I’m sure it will be a hot topic again this year.

Broadband helps Break Barriers of Distance

Those of us who live and work in rural communities know the importance of high speed Internet connections.  Because of it, the barriers of distance are broken and more businesses are possible in small towns.  In fact, just the other week I met with an entrepreneur from Howard, SD whose business would not be possible without it.  The owner has an engineering background, and he needs the Internet to connect with clients around the country.  He’s a creative guy and wants to live in a rural community.  Without broadband, he might have to consider moving to a city.

Howard is lucky to have high-speed Internet, but not all rural places are that lucky.  My experience in rural economic development tells me that those communities who lack broadband access have little opportunity to attract entrepreneurs.  And without entrepreneurs, they have little future.

Digging into broadband access in South Dakota, I learned that 81% of South Dakotans currently have high speed access.  sources: (Broadband for America)  That will increase with the latest round of federal funding recently announce (link), but I doubt it reaches the current access rates in Finland, where 96% has high speed access.  (source:  “Finland makes Broadband a legal right,” BBC News, July 1, 2010)

 

More Can Be Done

It is in the long-term interest of the US to spread broadband access to every small town, so more people like my entrepreneur friend, can live where they choose without being limited to densely populated, and therefore connected, areas. Finland’s move to make access to broadband a “right” is dramatic (although mostly symbolic, since, as previously stated, 96% are already connected) proclamation that broadband is the way of the future; a statement that I strongly agree with.

What is important for us to focus on is that rural communities need to foster entrepreneurial economies, and those entrepreneurial economies require broadband access.   Lack of broadband access is like a death sentence for any community, large or small.  And that’s something nobody wants to see.

 

Note:  Broadband for America’s mission is “to make broadband access to the Internet available to every household in the nation….”  The map on their homepage makes it easy see to how accessible broadband is on a state-by-state basis.  You may also want to check out their blog.

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