Posts Tagged ‘Next Generation – Gogebic’

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

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Posted in Community Development, Community Engagement, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (0)

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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Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, education, Rural | Comments (0)