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Posts Tagged ‘Minnesota’
My Return and “Rewriting the Rural Narrative”
December 21st, 2011
My return to Reimagine Rural as a guest blogger is finally at hand. And fittingly, the subject of my post is a Lakeland Public Television interview with Minnesota Extension Researcher Ben Winchester. Titled “Rewriting the Rural Narrative,” the interview focuses on how many of the messages we hear about Rural America – and assume to be true – are often incomplete. For instance, Ben’s research shows that while young people do move away from their hometowns following high school, there is a movement of college educated adults age 30-45 year olds who are moving to small towns. In that context, saying Rural America struggles from “brain drain” is not completely accurate. Regular readers of Reimagine Rural know that story; we’ve shared Ben’s research numerous times. What I enjoy about this interview, however, is that Ben fleshes out additional advice for rural communities. For instance:- Rural communities are not all about agriculture. Ben cites statistics suggesting that fewer than 10% of rural Minnesotans are engaged in agriculture. Communities need to understand this statistic when making decisions about their future.
- The main reasons people move to rural Minnesota are not jobs. Ben’s research identifies the top three reasons as: slower pace of life, safety and security, and the low cost of housing. Rural communities need to consider how to tap into these reasons as they seek to attract new residents.
- Broadband Internet connections are not necessarily a pull factor for new residents. People have come to expect quality access. If you don’t have it, it will push people away.
- It’s just not people who grew up in rural communities who move to rural communities. Ben’s research suggests that only 43% of newcomers have a previous relationship to the community. Their connections are much more anecdotal; perhaps they visited the region once, liked it, and decided to return.
- Rural leaders need to remember that rural residents live in a regional economy. Some of Ben’s anecdotal research indicates that rural residents drive up to 45 miles to eat, shop, work, and play. With that in mind, communities would be foolish not to promote great restaurants and entertainment options in neighboring communities – even though those communities may be looked at as rivals.
Tags: Ben Winchester, brain gain, Minnesota
Posted in Community Development, Economic Development | Comments (2)
Developing Rural Doctors: A Success Story
June 29th, 2011
I’ve known for a long time about the growing shortage of doctors in rural areas. But until I read Jennifer Vogel’s recent article, I had no idea of the disparity between rural and urban primary care doctors. In an article she wrote for Minnesota Public Radio titled, “Small town docs: The search for someone who does it all” she writes:While around 12 percent of [Minnesota] state residents live in its most rural areas, the Department of Health estimates that fewer than 5 percent of doctors practice there. The primary care doctor-to-patient ratio in Hennepin County, for example, is one to every 508 people, according to a recent report measuring health statewide. In rural counties, however, the ratio can run closer to one for every 2,000 people. Five rural counties have no primary care providers at all.”
It’s an identity issue
I’ve suggested previously that offering financial incentives is not enough to solve the problem. Unless young doctors embrace a rural identity, they will simply take the money and run, once their service commitment is up. The University of Minnesota Medical School's Duluth campus understands this well. First, they begin by recruiting students who grew up in rural communities. It appears that in their interview process, they further scrutinize candidates to make sure the candidate identifies with rural places. Second, they match medical students with small town doctors and create training experiences in small towns. Once there, they will continue to receive the support and training they need to be successful as small town doctors. While both steps are important, I think the second part is vital. The longer a person lives in an urban setting – and medical students spend a long time living there – the more likely they are to embrace an urban identity. And the results speak for themselves:Nationally, fewer than 10 percent of graduates become family physicians and an even smaller sliver put out a shingle in a small town. Yet, 51 percent of the University of Minnesota-Duluth's graduates become family doctors and 45 percent of graduates practice in rural communities, a greater portion than from any school in the country.” (source: “Small town docs: The search for someone who does it all,” Jennifer Vogel, Minnesota Public Radio, June 20, 2011).This is not the traditional training model for doctors; it’s the product of a school committed to producing great doctors and serving rural communities. Whether we’re talking doctors, teachers, engineers, or entrepreneurs, we need more schools like the University of Minnesota-Duluth who recognize this commitment. Photo: A.Drain - Flickr
Tags: doctors, Duluth MN, Identity, Minnesota
Posted in Community Development, Health Care, Rural | Comments (5)
Reflections: Strategies to attract & retain newcomers in West Central MN
June 15th, 2011
If your rural community is serious about growing its population, then you need to develop a people attraction and retention plan. And that plan has to be something more than hiring a person to manage your community’s business recruitment strategy. A few weeks ago, I recommended that communities begin the process of developing an attraction and retention plan by asking newcomers, “Why did you move here?” Both projects I highlight in that post – the West Central Minnesota project and the Gogebic Next Generation Initiative – began with this approach. But then what? What does a community do after it discovers the motivations of people moving to the region? How can they use this information to create a plan? Ben Winchester, Research Fellow with University of Minnesota Extension, has some thoughts.What does Ben recommend?
Ben is the guy who coordinated the research for the West Central Minnesota project. He published the research in a paper titled “Regional Recruitment: Strategies to Attract and Retain Newcomers.” At the end of the report, he offers eight strategies for communities to consider as they develop a people attraction and retention effort. The strategies Ben recommends fit into three broad categories:1) Putting the region on the map strategies; 2) Employment strategies; and 3) Newcomer support strategies.
Rather than summarize each strategy, I want to highlight a few of my reflections on Ben’s recommendations.Five thoughts I want to share
1) Putting the region on the map is more than advertising. Rather than “selling” their communities to outsiders, Ben recommends that rural community leaders would be better served by focusing on how they can help individuals who are trying to decide if they can and should move to a small town. In other words, give them the information that helps them make their decision. Ben offers some advice on what information potential newcomers to West Central Minnesota are seeking. And while you should use this as a starting point, I highly recommend that you start with your own research. In the end, your effort will be more successful because of it. 2) Share stories about people who have recently moved to the region. We talk a lot about the power of stories here at Reimagine Rural. Potential newcomers will see themselves in the stories you share and will say, “I want what that person (who just moved to your town) has.” As Ben notes, this can be accomplished most effectively through social media tools. But if your community is not ready to take that step, stories can be shared on traditional websites as well. 3) Think regionally. People live in or near towns, but towns are a part of a larger eco-system. A person may live in one town, work in another, go to the movies in third, enjoy friends in a fourth, and go shopping in still other communities. If your effort focuses solely on your town, potential newcomers will develop a limited impression of what life will be like for them in your town. 4) Business recruitment is not the only way to help create employment opportunities. Of the four “employment strategies” Ben offers, none involve recruiting businesses. I appreciate that because I believe there are many other ways for rural communities to help create economic opportunities. Now, if your community already has a successful business recruitment strategy, then you should continue. If not, consider one of the more personalized approaches Ben describes. Even if you are unsuccessful at helping each newcomer to your community discover or develop an economic opportunity, they will appreciate and remember your efforts to help. 5) Don’t overlook the importance of helping newcomers connect with the community. If I had to select only one retention strategy, it would be to develop a process for helping newcomers connect. We often assume that it is easy for new residents to make new friends and get involved in our rural communities. But research in West Central Minnesota reflects the opposite; newcomers actually had difficulty connecting in the region. Don’t make the mistake of assuming your community is any different. To be honest, we haven’t formulated a people attraction and retention effort in Miner County. We’ve dabbled in many of the strategies Ben recommends in his report, but attraction and retention hasn’t been a clear focus. Hopefully, that changes in the future. And when it does, one of the first places I’ll recommend we start is with this report. We can learn a lot from our friends in West Central Minnesota. Photo Credit: DonkeyHotey - Flickr
Tags: Ben Winchester, brain gain, marketing rural communities, Minnesota, people attraction, storytelling
Posted in Community Engagement, Economic Development, Quality of Life, Rural | Comments (4)
MinnPost: What are young adults thinking?
June 9th, 2011
Rural leaders need to listen to young adults and students who live in their communities. Doing so will provide perspective and understanding into how young adults view life in rural places.
Unfortunately, most of us don’t have (or don't make) the time to do so. That’s why the “Rural Minnesota: A Generation at the Crossroads” project by MinnPost.com is so important. With financial support from the Otto Bremmer Foundation, MinnPost contributors are traveling across rural Minnesota interviewing high school students and young adults, garnering their thoughts about life in small towns.
The interviews and supplemental stories are packed with information. For instance:
In Sandstone, MN, we meet Jacqueline Griffith who tells us of the push and pull factors that have ultimately lead her to return to Sandstone.
In Willmar, MN, MinnPost introduces us to twenty-two-year-old college student Abdalla Mohamed, who explains what it is like to grow up as a minority in a rural community.
And in New Ulm, twenty-four-year-old Bob Martens shares the duality of loving his community and wanting to see it change.
I’m looking forward to future MinnPost articles in this series. I’m not sure where the interviews will go, but I’m confident that they will continue to provide a great macro view of what young people are thinking.
At the same time, however, I hope that the articles inspire more rural leaders to begin holding conversations with young people in their own communities. Not only will it provide more concrete information, but it’s a great way to build a relationship with them.
And we should never forget the power of relationships in the process of improving our communities.
(listen to Jackie Griffeth talk about Sandstone. Source: "Rural Minnesota interview: Jackie Griffith from Sandstone," MinnPost, April 7, 2011)
Tags: conversation, Minnesota, MinnPost, young people
Posted in Community Development, Community Engagement, Rural | Comments (0)
Homework Assignment: Why are people moving to your region?
May 27th, 2011
I’ve got a homework assignment for you. And it’s going to take a little research. Last week I identified the 30-44 year-old age group as a potential sweet spot for rural communities seeking to attract new residents. At the same time, I challenged people to do their own research and decide for themselves what age group makes sense for community. The challenge begs the question, “Why do people move to your rural town?” Many of us have general answers to this question: It’s a great place to live. Good schools. Lower housing costs. But those answers lack the specificity and details communities need if they hope to be serious about attracting new residents. I know of two projects in the Upper Midwest who are serious about attracting and retaining new residents, and they’ve been doing their homework. The first is located just across the border in Minnesota, where the Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission (UMVRDC) recently conducted a study titled
“Regional Recruitment: Strategies to Attract and Retain Newcomers.” Although the region has typically fared better economically than rural South Dakota, farming and the “prairie pothole” topography dominate. The second effort is a bit further away. Called the Gogebic Range Next Generation Initiative (NGI), this project is located in Iron County, WS and Gogebic County, MI. Although different in geography and environment – iron mining, trees, and low mountains dominant – we share similar outmigration patterns. Like us, the region’s population peaked in the 1920s, and young people are often encouraged to move away.
While both regions deserve an “A” for their research efforts, I don’t believe it is cheating when other rural communities take what they learn from this research and apply it to their own communities. To help, I’ll share a few highlights from my notes.
Newcomers have different characteristics
In the case of West Central Minnesota, the study showed that new residents have slightly different characteristics than current residents. Dawn Hegland, Executive Director of the UMVRDC, recently identified a few of these differences in a report to the Yellow Medicine County Board. She explained that new residents:tend to be well-educated with higher-than-average incomes, and are more likely to buy or start businesses, take leadership positions in the community, and engage in volunteer activities. Sixty percent of them had no previous ties to the area.” (source: "Yellow Medicine County Doing OK," Steve Browne, Marshall Independent, May 11, 2011.)She also noted that some of newcomers moved to the region without having a job in place. That’s an interesting dynamic worth further investigation.
Gogebic Next Generation Initiative
Among the discoveries I find most compelling from the Next Generation Initiative research is a ranking of the “location preferences” that attract new residents to the Gogebic region. Two factors stand out in this research: First, because the study parallels existing research from the Michigan Cool Cities Study, we see that the reasons people move to this rural region are very different from the reasons people move to urban areas. (see image below) As the project leader, Will Andresen notes rural communities who focus on developing and promoting community assets that urban places have in abundance, may be investing in areas that their target market does not seek. A better approach would be to invest in existing assets that attract new residents. Why not make those assets even better? (source: “Voices of Rural Wisconsin Part Four: Shaping a Healthy Future,” Portal Wisconsin, audio interview)
A second take away from the NGI research is that people who move to the Gogebic region do not rank the need for a job as a top priority. This does not imply that economic opportunities are not important. People have to be able to make a living. But it does suggest that communities can’t place all of their eggs in the job creation basket.
Are you ready to get started?
The West Central Minnesota and the Gogebic projects offer us a glimpse into why people are moving into two rural regions. I’d be interested in hearing how closely what they have discovered matches with what you’ve experienced in your community. I also hope that you will share the results of any research you’ve conducted. Having access to your research won’t eliminate the need for communities to do their own homework. But it will give them a jump start on the process. Photo Credit: jsorbieus - Flickr
Tags: brain gain, Michigan, Minnesota, Next Generation - Gogebic, people atttraction, UMVRDC, Wisconsin
Posted in Community Development, Community Engagement, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (0)
Finding Windom: What a difference a blog can make
May 25th, 2011
Editor's Note: Increasingly, community and economic development officials are turning to blogs as a means of communicating with their constituents. But what happens when a community member takes on that responsibility? That is the situation in Windom, MN where Mari Harries created a blog titled My 2 Cents: Finding Windom. I've been following Mari's writing for around a year now, and I find it inspirational. Not only is Mari sharing her passion for her community, but she's building a dialogue about Windom's future. Last week, I asked Mari some interview questions, and she graciously responded. After reading her comments below, I hope you will check out the blog. Maybe you are a "Mari waiting-to-happen" in your community.Tell us a little about yourself?
I grew up in Windom, Minnesota, and while I enjoyed growing up in rural Windom, I couldn’t wait to leave after high school graduation with absolutely no intentions to come back. During college I started to realize just how important my family was to me and decided after college to move back to Windom.
I dodged a lot of questions from community members about my decision to move back and felt like I didn’t live up to these passive expectations to be successful “out there.” It was a very hard transition after moving back to Windom, but after awhile I got more comfortable with my decision.
Now, I live in a beautiful, old house near the downtown square of Windom with my husband and my one-year-old son, Henrik. We enjoy riding our bikes around town, we enjoy the city’s parks, the river and lakes. We just love Windom.
Why did you start to blog about your community and what type of information do you share?
I started the blog because I love two things: writing and Windom. So why not combine the two? Not only do I think Windom is a great place to be, but it has the capability to be so much more. I felt there was so much potential that wasn’t being utilized. So instead of complaining about it, I thought I would try to do something about it. I made a commitment to myself and the community in my first blog post that I would not only do everything that I could to make a difference in my community, but I would track my journey through the blog. Not only would I blog the journey for others to read about and find inspiration from, but the blog would be used to seek assistance, guidance, ideas, resources, or anything that could help me in the journey as well. I started writing about positive things that people might take for granted, like Windom’s history, the beautiful courthouse, the businesses, recreation. I write personal stories about my family, my memories of Windom, my hopes and dreams for Windom and what I’m working on to make it a better place. The blog lead to people getting excited about community revitalization. I would get a lot of emails from community members, former residents, and classmates telling me how they have always loved Windom and felt it needed and deserved some TLC.What has been the result of the blog?
The blog lead to a handful of people coming together to form Finding Windom, now a non-profit organization dedicated to making the community a better place. Finding Windom has done a lot of great things in the community and is working on a lot of great things right now and for the future too. Since the inception of the blog, I have had the pleasure of meeting a lot of great people. I have had the opportunity to do more writing for other entities as well, such as Minnesota 2020. The exciting thing about Windom and Finding Windom is that the possibilities are endless! And we like to have a little fun making our community a better place to be. It is absolutely amazing all the wonderful support we have had from the community, businesses and even former Windom residents and Windom High School alumni. It has been awesome hearing memories and stories about Windom and hearing all the ideas the community has for Windom as well.What else have you been up to?
My online efforts have lead to so many offline activities that I’m having a hard time keeping up with my online efforts now—a good problem to have! Since the inception of Finding Windomwe have:- Started a support local campaign titled, The Little City That Would, which is going strong. The Windom Economic Development Authority has adopted our support local campaign efforts as their own marketing tool.
- Working with the city council to do community outreach in order for the city council to organize strategic planning and goals for the city.
- Started a community portal website (coming summer 2011), findingwindom.com, which links all aspects of the city, along with a community online calendar, community Facebook pages, while encouraging other city/community entities to update websites to look unified and user friendly.
- Worked with local businesses to guide them as far as marketing and consumer happiness, as well as encouraging local businesses to utilize the internet by stressing that if you are not online these days you do not exist to a huge population of people.
- Our latest and most fun endeavor was reaching out to our youth by hosting a Community Pride Day on the last day of school to show our students how to get involved in the community by picking up trash around town and visiting with local businesses and organizations to get an idea of all the great things the community has to offer. On this day, our landscaping students helped build a pocket park on our downtown square!
Tags: Blogging, Minnesota, social media, storytelling, Windom MN
Posted in Community Development, Community Engagement, Leadership, Rural | Comments (2)
It’s 30-44 year olds, stupid!
May 18th, 2011
Your community wants to attract new residents, right? “Live, Work, Play,” proliferates on websites today. But who are you trying to attract? Too often the answer is “everyone and anyone.” The idea being that we can’t afford to miss any opportunities. But marketers everywhere know better. Trying to create and promote a product for everyone is a surefire way to create and a product that nobody wants. But who should you target? That’s the tough question. Jim Russell from Burgh Diaspora believes he has the answer: It’s people ages 30-44.Why 30-44 year olds?
For those who don’t know, Russell is a “geographer with a special interest in diaspora economics.” He believes retention strategies are “a colossal waste,” that economic development happens when talent is abundant, and that cities can benefit from the talent they export. He’s passionate about Pittsburgh, even though he doesn’t live there.
There’s usually no middle ground with Russell, but he shares innovative ideas – and usually supports them with research. He’s definitely worth following if you want to better understand the attraction game.
In a recent post titled “Retention Efforts Target Wrong Age Group”, he cites Australian research suggesting that college graduates leave to see the world, but they often return, sometime between ages 30-44. This leads Russell to write:
“I've advocated for the attraction of the 30-44 cohort. They are likely to stick around once you get them there. Good luck retaining a recent college graduate who moved to your city. You might call them place sluts. Hipsters are particularly salacious, following the scene wherever it might pop up. The good news is that they pave the way for thirtysomethings, who price out all the twentysomethings your town spent so much money trying to retain.”
The message is: Younger adults are going to leave because it’s in their DNA to leave. But they might seek to return in their thirties or early forties when it’s time to raise a family.
Minnesota research concurs
Several years ago, Ben Winchester, a research fellow with Minnesota Extension, discovered a trend that supports Russell’s analysis. In a paper titled “Rural Migration: The Brain Gain of Newcomers”, Ben shared research showing that rural counties in West Central Minnesota were losing high school graduates, but were gaining college educated adults who were migrating to small towns to raise their families. But here again, we see an opportunity to narrow the field as we seek to build and market our communities.Does one size (or age) fit all?
While focusing on people age 30-44 makes sense in most cases, there may be situations where other age groups should be considered. Perhaps conditions in your community are unique, enabling you to focus on younger adults or Baby Boomers. The point is, do your research and figure out what makes sense for your community. And above all, don’t fall into the trap of trying to be something for everyone. That’s a surefire recipe for disaster. Photo Credit: Doug Wallick - Flickr
Tags: Ben Winchester, brain gain, marketing rural communities, Minnesota
Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (5)
What is your community doing to support teleworking?
March 25th, 2011
While taking a break over lunch today, I caught a story on MPRNews titled, “Telecommuting levels the field for some rural Minnesotans.” It caught my attention because that’s what I’m doing this afternoon. I’m using a wireless, broadband connection in a café as I get some work done while I’m away from the office. It’s rare that I don’t spend at least two days a week working distantly. The article reminded me of a project I’ve read about in Fergus Falls, MN. In an effort to increase the number of people teleworking in their community they have:- talked to experts in the field to learn more about what the community could do to support the growth of teleworking.
- erected a billboard designed to attract both teleworkers and businesses who use teleworkers.
- hosted a workshop attended by 80 people who are interested in learning more about the concept.
Tags: broadband, Fergus Falls MN, Minnesota, telework
Posted in Economic Development, Rural | Comments (9)
Are you waiting for some else to tell your story?
March 3rd, 2011
Quick! Can you identify a dozen unique stories about your community? Better yet, do you already have a list ready just in case a news reporter contacts you looking for information? Yesterday, I wrote a post suggesting rural communities need to do a better job of using social media to tell stories about their communities. I suggested stories are key because people see themselves in the stories you tell. I had that very experience today when, thanks to a KARE 11 in Minneapolis news story, I pictured myself in Hendricks, MN (pop 725).“Tripping with Perk"
The story is the first in a series being developed by reporter Eric Perkins of KARE 11 in Minneapolis. Titled “Trippin’ with Perk," the series will highlight small towns across Minnesota. Its purpose is to lift up the personalities and characteristics that make each small town unique. ("Trippin' With Perk: Eric travels to Hendricks," Eric Perkins, KARE 11, March 2, 2011) Watching the video made me want to visit Hendricks. The idea of eating a lutefisk pizza alone is enough reason for me to make the road trip. But watching the video, I also began to picture myself potentially living in Hendricks. And I bet I wasn’t alone. That’s what good stories do.What are you waiting for?
As I reflect on the video, I’m reminded how unprepared many of us in small towns are to tell our stories. Being prepared starts with knowing what information you want to share. In fact, one of the reasons Perkins chose Hendricks is that Paul Olsen from Hendricks responded to Perkin’s information request with a list of a dozen story ideas. Not all communities were ready with such a list. Even if you have a list of story ideas, however, you can’t sit back and wait for the reporter to call. As I suggested in yesterday’s post, technology enables us to tell stories ourselves. It might be a video, or it might be a blog story. But we can tell the stories just as well as a television station from the big city. Who knows, maybe we can tell it better. Note: I want to thank both the @StepUpYourBiz for sharing a tweet and my friend Loren Budahl for posting a link to his Facebook profile about this story. I also want to commend KARE 11 and Eric Perkins for making the effort to show what makes small town life unique.
Tags: branding, Hendricks MN, marketing, Minnesota, social media, storytelling
Posted in Community Development, Community Engagement, Economic Development, Quality of Life, Rural | Comments (0)
Is Local Food Elitist?
January 6th, 2011
Rebecca Terk at Big Stone Bounty recently asked an interesting question: Is local food elitist? It's a question that I wrestle with quite often. In her post, Rebecca writes:
Out here in the rural areas where I've been living for the vast majority of my life, the local food craze might seem like more of an urban fad than a legitimate lifestyle choice (and out here, even the phrase, "lifestyle choice" will raise some eyebrows).... With a background steeped in sit-down family meals and gardening as a form of both sustenance and competition (my mother and her father vied for the first full-sized bell pepper of the season), it seems to me that urbanites are really just catching on to what rural people have known all along-food from your farm or garden is fresher and tastes better." (source: "Is local food elitist?" Rebecca Terk, Big Stone Bounty, Dec. 29, 2010)This last phrase stuck with me. "It seems to me that urbanites are really just catching on to what rural people have known all along." Is that really true? I hope it is. But I also know that some rural residents are critical of local food initiatives.
Where does this tension come from?
Reading Rebecca's post prompted me to remember a passage from Kent Meyers book The Witness of Combines (1998). Meyers writes about his life growing up on a small farm in southern Minnesota. In one of his stories, he reminisces about his mother's canning experience, and how she would grow irritated at hearing young mothers brag about the enjoyment and fulfillment they received canning ten quarts of tomatoes from their garden. Meyer's mother would can 120 quarts each year. As a fulltime farm wife that was her job. It was hard work. And she did it because the family needed to save money. It was also work that she gave up as soon as she was financially able to do so.How would Michelangelo feel?
Meyers goes on to compare his mother's canning expertise to that of an artist like Michelangelo. We often forget the blood, sweat, and tears that artists put into their work. Hearing others talk about how easy it is to replicate that work must be a bit demeaning. Thinking in these terms, I wonder if that's how some modern agricultural producers feel when they hear talk about the local foods movement. Often the stories we read and hear make the local foods initiatives sound easy and cool. If that's the case, I understand the tension that sometimes exists in rural communities about local foods initiatives. So, is local food elitist? I don't think so. Readers here know that I'm a firm believer that rural communities should consider a local foods initiative as an economic development strategy. But I do understand the tension that exists among food producers. And I believe that both Rebecca Terk and Kent Meyers can help people on both sides of the fence understand each other a bit more. Photo credit: Mike Gogulski - Flickr
Tags: Big Stone Bounty, local foods, Minnesota
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (5)