Posts Tagged ‘North Dakota’

Hazelton, ND - And the stereotypes grow

February 18th, 2010

Something I didn’t mention in my post yesterday was that my heart goes out to the Hazelton, ND community.  It’s probably the only time Hazelton has made the national news, and it’s a negative story.

The story of a family leaving a community when they don’t feel comfortable could be told about most every community across our country - large and small.  It hardly seems fair to tag it on Hazelton.

But what troubles me most about the article are the stereotypes the article perpetuates.  For instance, the author writes; “Besides cash and free land, Hazelton had little else to offer except elbow room.”  A quick trip to the community’s website and blog shows that they’ve got a lot more going for them than free cash and land! 

In short, the community is portrayed as the bad guy, and the family as the victim.  As I wrote yesterday, “None of us, as outsiders, will ever know the complete story,” and I’m sure blame goes both ways. 

I could go on to identify other stereotypes, and I bet our readers can as well.  But the problems with the stereotypes don’t end with the story. 

 

It’s just the beginning

After posting my thoughts on the article yesterday, my good friend Marc Rentschler left me a message via Facebook saying that the Minneapolis radio stations were ridiculing small towns saying, “Of course they (the Tristani family) wouldn’t be welcomed. Small towns don’t want any change and fear anything new.”

I didn’t need to hear the exact words being said on Minneapolis radio stations to understand the negative things being said.  I’d already read them in the comment sections of newspapers and blogs from across the county that had published or commented on the story.  And the comments there are much worse!  No wonder rural communities have such difficulty attracting and retaining residents.  (see this post to see some of what’s being said elsewhere.) 

 

Problems do exist

Problems in rural communities obviously exist (much like the problems of large cities).  What I fail to understand is why people are so quick to place blame and tear others down.  It’s like people relish in the problems existing in small towns.

Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t want to let Hazelton or any small town off the hook, which was largely my point yesterday.  This story can be used as a great learning experience.  And that’s where I would hope the conversation can be focused.

 

Where do we go from here?

I don’t know what can be done to overcome the stereotypes perpetuated by stories like this.   But I’m going to spend some time thinking about that very subject, and I hope you will too.

 I’m going to begin by reading a study conducted at the University of Minnesota Morris titled “Media Messages of Rural: Lessons from Minnesota.“  I got the lowdown on it last week when I met with Ben Winchester and Neil Linscheid, two outstanding Minnesota Extension Educators who played key roles in producing the research. 

In a nutshell I expect to find that reporters draw on their urban expectations and definitions of rural as they write their stories.  My guess is that I’ll see the majority of the stories have a negative slant, and that the reporting seldom digs in deep. 

I hope, however, that reading it will help me get beyond placing blame on reporters and get to real solutions.  I’ll let you know what I find, and I hope you will share as well. 

 

Note:  A friend of mine reminded me that there’s also a danger in the stereotype of idyllic rural communities.  As he noted, perhaps the Tristiani family had unrealistic expectations for life in Hazelton.  Anyone who expects Mayberry RFD is bound to be disappointed. 

 

Update (2-21-10):  The Bismarck Tribune has published an updated story titled “Period of adjustment: Some transplants to Hazelton say they’re here to stay”

 

Photo Credit: Tom T - Flickr

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What are others saying about Hazelton?

February 18th, 2010

As I noted yesterday, there’s quite a bit of online conversation about the Hazelton story.  I thought I’d highlight some of it for readers so they don’t have to go looking for it.  Some of the comments are thoughtful, but most lack sincerity and understanding.  Hopefully we the conversation deepens over time.

 

Madville Times blogger Cory Heidelberger raises the argument that small towns can’t afford to picky in his post titled “Small Town Development:  You’ve got to want it” because small towns need every resident possible.  It’s a good point.  All small towns need to be open to new people and ideas.   

When I first read the comments posted about this article in the InFargo Forum, all I could this was, “Wow!  I can’t imagine the story generating this much interest.”  As of my writing there are over 250 comments about the article.  My second response was “Why are North Dakotans so negative about their small towns?”   Am I missing something or what?  I don’t have a problem with people pointing out issues with small towns, but the venom with which many of the comments are made is discouraging.    And the bickering, well that’s just embarrassing.  (Readers have a limited time to see this article before it’s archived.)

Jon Trouten offers some thoughtful comments in his post titled “What would it take to relocate to Small Town America” on his personal blog title.  It sounds like Jon grew up in small town Minnesota, and the idea of moving closer to his parents is appealing.  But as Jon notes, being married to another man with biracial and handicapped children would present some challenges.  Sort speaks to Cory’s point, doesn’t it? 

Perhaps the most radical blog post comes to us from the Miami News Times.  In an article titled “Small-Town Values? Miami Family Shunned After Moving to North Dakota,” the author makes fun of “small town values” saying “But we’ve always had a feeling that was a crock. We’d much rather live in welcoming, sunny South Florida than a judgmental small town any day. We’re not saying we’re angels here in Miami, but — damn it — we don’t shun anyone down here.” 

Shawn Fury, a freelance writer uses the Hazelton story to write about his hometown of Janesville, Minnesota. Titled “Small Town Blues,” the article is deeper than most small town reminiscing.  Shawn now lives in Manhattan, and doesn’t see much future in small towns.  But I appreciated his thoughts.

 

Update: Here are a few more posts I’ve stumbled upon since originally publishing this post.

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What can we learn from Hazelton, ND?

February 17th, 2010

“Did you hear the story on the radio about Hazelton, ND?” 

Those were the first words Lindsey shared with me yesterday morning as we hopped into a car before heading out on our day trek across South Dakota yesterday.  I hadn’t, so Lindsey explained. 

A family had moved from Miami, FL to Hazeton, ND (pop. 240) four years ago to take advantage of an incentive package for new residents.  Two housing lots and $20,000 were given to this family of four to move to the ND community.  The family started a business (which has since closed) and moved into a new house, excited by the opportunity to move from a crime laden, urban neighborhood.

Now four years later, they are ready to move back.  Not because of the much maligned North Dakota winter; but because they felt the community had given them the cold shoulder.  Michael Tristani, the father in the family, is quoted in the article saying, “It hasn’t been easy. No one really wants new people here.”  (source:  James MacPherson, “Small-town life fails to live up,” Associated Press via Yahoo News, Feb. 15, 2010)

Hearing Lindsey describe this story almost caused me to turn around and skip the meeting we were driving to.  Needless to say, she didn’t let me, and I was finally able to read the story this morning and learned that it’s being discussed all over the blogosphere. (see links at the bottom) .

Rather than focus on the details of situation, I’d like to offer some thoughts about what I think rural communities can learn from the story.  As I write, however, I want to be clear that I am not passing judgment on either the Hazelton community or the Tristani family.  None of us, as outsiders, will ever know the complete story. 

What can we learn from Hazelton?

1) Don’t assume that newcomers will know how to live in your small town. That concept crossed my radar a couple years ago in a book titled Get Urban. (I wrote extensively about it here.) The book’s author, an urban enthusiast, developed his thesis around the concept that many people who move to urban, downtown environments don’t recognize the nuances of life in the city. Their mental models are so tightly fashioned around living in suburbia that they think they have to drive out to suburbs to buy their groceries at Walmart, rather than stopping off at the local grocery while walking home from work. My guess is that we’ve all seen numerous more serious examples of this play out in our rural communities. But what have we done to help these newcomers?

2) Develop a “hosting concept” as a part of your community’s marketing plan. I touched on this over a year ago when I wrote a post titled “What if Starbuck’s marketed like a rural community?” A fun, insightful video embedded in the post pokes fun at how churches welcome new members. The point being, Starbucks wouldn’t be in business if its marketing strategy didn’t include efforts to “welcome” new customers; so why should churches expect anything different? I’d contend the same principle applies to rural communities; why spend money advertising your community if you don’t have a strategy to make people want to stay? At the Rural Learning Center, we’ve been developing a more robust “hosting concept,” which I’ll describe sometime in the near future.

3) Accept the mantra “The customer is always right.” I think communities who develop programs like this must be prepared to treat it like a business. The town is the product, the community is the owner, and the new resident is the customer. If the customer is upset, figure out why and do something to fix it - because the customer is always right. At the same time, most business owners will tell you that sometimes the customer may not be worth the headaches they create, and you have to find a way to let them go.

4) It’s about the relationship. For a long time, I was conflicted over the concept of offering incentives to people moving to rural communities. On one hand it feels like the strategy of offering incentives to businesses to move small, rural communities; maybe they come, but will they stay? On the other hand I appreciate the moxie of a small town who is willing to try to do something about their future. What I’ve come to believe is that the decision about offering incentives to recruit businesses and recruit people is a community-by-community decision. There’s no universal right or wrong. The chance of the initiative succeeding, however, is probably dependent on the ability of residents to build a relationship with the newcomers. Incentives may open the door, but the bonds of friendship are lasting.

5) What about the people who don’t receive incentives? This case is drawing a lot of attention, but my question is, “has your community been paying serious attention to the people who already live in your community?” My point is, try to make sure that everyone is satisfied. If you gain two new residents, but lose four current residents, you are destined to fail. Pay attention to the people who are living in your community now, and when someone leaves, have a conversation with them about why. And try to dig in deep–often the first response will not be the real reason.

There are a lot of stereotypes being thrown around in this story that worry me.  That might be worth discussing later.

Stereotypes aside, however, the story provides a good lesson for all rural communities.  If we want to grow our population, we have to get serious about how we interact with newcomers.  Hazelton is probably no better or worse than other rural communities, and there’s definitely more to the story than was reported.  They just made the headlines today.  Hopefully, your community is doing something to make sure it doesn’t make the news tomorrow — at least not in this way.

 

Other article related to this story

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Brain Drain or Brain Gain: We need to learn more

February 5th, 2010

Ben Winchester’s research on “rural brain gain,” has drawn some interesting responses in North Dakota. Based on an article titled “Report suggests ‘brain gain’ instead of brain drain,” which appeared in the January 28, 2010 Grand Forks Herald and was reprinted in the January 30, 2010 Fargo-Moorhead InForum, I’d have to say North Dakotans don’t find a lot of applicability in Winchester’s research for their state.  (If you are into negative comments, you’ll want to check out the comments at the end of the InForum article.)

Does Minnesota research apply elsewhere?

The skepticism begins with North Dakota demographer Dr. Richard Rathge who questions the applicability of research about rural Minnesota compared to rural North Dakota.  As he notes, people are more inclined to move to rural places that are high in natural amenities (e.g., West Central Minnesota) than to places with few natural amenities (e.g. North Dakota).

No doubt.  USDA research supports Rathke’s assertions.

But my gut still tells me that there’s something to Winchester’s research.  I’ve personally witnessed numerous examples of people who move to Miner County to raise their children.  The number of people moving in may not be as high as that Winchester found in his study.  But they definitely didn’t move to Miner County for the natural amenities.

And that’s why Winchester’s research is valuable.  We need to better understand what groups of people are moving to rural communities, and what’s their motivation.  Just saying young people are moving out isn’t good enough.

Does the term “Brain Drain” hurt marketing efforts?

When I originally raised the question “Should we banish ‘brain drain’ from our vocabulary?” in a blog post a couple weeks ago, I was trying to figure out if the term “brain drain” does more harm (in promoting our communities) than good (in raising awareness of a problem). I’ve yet to reach a definitive answer.

Based on what I’ve read in the Grand Fork’s article, I’ve concluded that Rathge would say that the question is mute.  At the end of the Grand Forks article, he is quoted saying:

“Here in North Dakota, we’ve seen many decades of outmigration of young adults. Community builders have been talking for decades about ways to hold them, including being positive rather than negative.”

“The bottom line is we need to provide opportunities for people who want to stay. We have to be serious about economic development in North Dakota.” (source: Chuck Haga, “Report suggests ‘brain gain’ instead of brain drain,” Grand Forks Herald, 1-28-09)

It’s more than a job

Getting serious about economic development in rural communities is vitally important.  But it requires a strategy that is more complex than new business recruitment alone.

That’s what I like about the research being conducted by Dr. David Ivan with his “Can small towns be cool?” project.  The themes he identifies in his presentations (which I outline here) offer rural communities a model for rural economic development worth consideration.

So, whether it’s brain drain or brain gain in our communities, I hope we’d all agree that it is something we ought to pay attention to.

Note:  Access to the Grand Forks Herald and Fargo-Moorhead InForum articles may require individuals sign up for a free membership with Forum Communications have been archived.  I did notice it has been reprinted and can be read on the Farm Bureau site.

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Reinventing restaurants (and rural communities)

January 13th, 2010

There’s no doubt that good restaurants are important to rural communities.  They make rural communities more attractive places to live.  They often serve as “informal meeting places where community is built” (e.g., third places).  And they often improve the local economy by giving people a place to spend their money locally. 

My guess is that Reuben Wentz must appreciate the importance of a good restaurant.  The 93-year-old retired farmer recently gave $500,000 to his hometown of Napoleon, North Dakota (pop. 857) to create a new community-owned restaurant.   

The restaurant replaces the old, deteriorating building that housed the community’s previous community-owned restaurant.  It sounds like they’ve got a good thing going with the restaurant.  Its features include:

It’s also home to the Logan County Economic Development Offices, which set up the foundation that manages the restaurant.  I bet many of Napoleon’s neighboring communities are envious.

It’s important to attract people

It sounds like the community is excited about the restaurant.  The Bismarck Tribune quotes foundation board member Jennifer Schumacher:

“It was such a moment of joy. I thought - I think we all thought - this is such a turning point for Napoleon,” she said. Without much debt to service, the new venture should succeed, she said.

“We have a new drug store, young people are moving in and wind towers are going up. With such a beautiful restaurant here in Napoleon, we can do it,” Schumacher said. (source: Lauren Donovan, “Napoleon benefactor builds restaurant for community” Bismark Tribune, 12-2-09) 

That’s economic development

Any community seeking to attract young people (Gen Y) has to evaluate the availability of local food services.  It’s something they look for when choosing a community to call home. 

With this in mind, I’ve been thinking about how the Napoleon might leverage this restaurant effort for further economic development.  Two thoughts have emerged:

First, what can be done to foster a true “third place” atmosphere, making it a place where people of all ages and backgrounds meet for conversation?  We know that conversation between people of varying backgrounds in third places can lead to greater community trust (e.g. bridging social capital).  But third places don’t magically emerge.  They take thoughtful consideration and effort.

Second, could the community-owned restaurant be leveraged to create a local foods initiative?  Perhaps, they could make a commitment to buying locally raised foods.  The kitchen could also be a “shared use kitchen” that helps entrepreneurs develop new food products. 

Both of those ideas will take more effort and possibly more financial capital.  They may or may not be right for Napoleon.  But rural communities need to think like this to maximize their economic development efforts. 

Small towns also need people like Reuben Wentz who are willing to invest in their community’s future. 

Note:  Thanks to John Crabtree of the Center for Rural Affairs for making me aware of this story in their January newsletter.   Readers may also be interested in past ReImagine Rural stories about community owned grocery stores. 

Photo Credit:  FreeWine - Flickr  

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Is your community on your Christmas list?

November 19th, 2009

We don’t often think of giving Christmas presents to our communities unless we are considering a donation to a community foundation or program. A recent post from the Strom Center at Dickenson State University reminded me how important it is for rural communities to create activities that encourage residents to shop locally this holiday season.  In many ways individuals who commit to buying their Christmas gifts locally are giving a gift to the community. 

Specifically, the Strom Center post highlights a “shopping celebration” they are sponsoring in Dickinson called “Ladies Night Out.”

Featuring Downtown businesses, Ladies Night Out offers an eventful evening for all ages. Over twenty downtown stores will be offering a special discount/promotion during this event. A majority of the stores will be hosting refreshments and food sampling. Various downtown professional businesses are sponsoring the event to make the night spectacular. Downtown bars and restaurants will be offering different specials to complete the night.”

Events like Ladies Night Out are a part of a burgeoning “shop local” effort many communities are working on this holiday season.  They provide the entertainment necessary to keep residents from driving to larger communities for their shopping.

Howard, SD created a similar event named Hometown Holidays back in 2001.  Geared more towards families, it offers a lighted parade, horse carriage rides, Santa Clause and much more.  It’s a pretty big event for a town of 1000 residents.

Reflecting on these two events has caused me to wonder what else small, rural towns are doing this holiday season?  With this in mind, I conducted a quick internet search, and found a few more innovative activities, which sounded fun:

There are undoubtedly a lot of other great ideas happening in rural communities.  And sharing them will help other communities make the most if their holiday season.  If you know of innovative holiday event, share them in the comment section below.

 

Photo Credit:  David R. Carroll - Flickr

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Go Bismarck!

June 5th, 2009

I often get frustrated with the national media when they describe “great places to live.”  What bothers me is that they paint communities in the Upper Midwest as ice boxes where nobody should live.  Why do they think it’s so much better to live in the South, where you can’t go outside in the summer because it’s too hot and too buggy or the Northwest, where it rains 50% of the time?

That’s why I found it refreshing to see a list ranking Bismarck, ND as one of the best places to retire.  No joking.  CBS Money Watch offered what I thought was a pretty balanced approach to evaluating communities and Bismarck made the cut.  Go Bismarck!

Note: Thanks to the Strom Center for brining this story to my attention on their blog.  Also, I thought I’d point out that I searched Flickr’s Creative Commons for photos from Bismarck, ND.  Interestingly, I found pictures of Alice Cooper, snow, flooding, the capital, and wildlife.  Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything that symbolized “Bismarck, a great place to retire.”  I think Bismarkians are going to have to start uploading more photos, so that their “Flickr image” matches their new-found recognition as a great place to live. You can’t just rely on the chamber of commerce for marketing anymore.

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Why growing entrepreneurs might be your community’s best bet

May 14th, 2009

Entrepreneurial growth is what your community needs! 

Yes, I’m being a bit bold, but I think this issue of entrepreneurship in community development deserves strong assertion.  The economic benefits of entrepreneurs are well documented. The US Small Business Administration reports that 44% of new jobs are created by startup companies compared to 55% from existing firms and 1% through relocation.   Further, startup firms create approximately 70% of new economic growth (Source:  What are the economic benefits of entrepreneurship, Extension 2008).  These facts, along with recent news from the Kauffman Foundation that indicates entrepreneurship did not lag in the current recession, mean that nurturing entrepreneurs is a strategy your community needs to consider. 

Beyond Economics

Growing entrepreneurs in your community is about more than economics.  Released in April 2009, the World Economic Forum’s Global Education Initiative report titled Educating the Next Wave of Entrepreneurs highlights the positive role that entrepreneur education and an entrepreneurial environment can have on community. 

Entrepreneurship education is about developing attitudes, behaviors and capacities at the individual level. Inherently, it is about leadership. It is also about the application of those skills and attitudes which can take many forms during an individual’s career, creating a range of long-term benefits to society and the economy.

An educational system (whether formal or informal) that nurtures entrepreneurs is simultaneously nurturing the community by building leaders, risk takers, and those who can turn ideas into action. 

The Role of Young People

The natural place to begin developing entrepreneurs in your community is with young people.  The attributes of young people are similar to the attributes of entrepreneurs.  And, young people are interested.  In 2007, the Kauffman Foundation surveyed young people about their interest in entrepreneurship. They found that 40% of young people already have or would like to start a business someday ( click here for the full story). 

Market place for Kids is one program ‘growing young entrepreneurs’ in the Midwest.  With eight regions across North Dakota, the program encourages students to explore entrepreneurship through classroom learning and hands on development of an idea that they think, develop, and build to showcase in a Marketplace.  You can watch videos of students explaining their inventions here.  My personal favorites are Smelly Sponge Brush, Learn 2 Lead Dog Leash, and the Wake Up Call Pillowcase.

At the end of the day, if we want both our communities and young people to succeed, we should be exploring entrepreneurship as a way to accomplish both.  If your community is already implementing some kind of entrepreneurship education program, please share! 

 

Note:  There are many other programs out there to help you develop young entrepreneurs in your community.  This fall, I highlighted the ESI: EntrepreneurShip Investigation curriculum produced by University of Nebraska Extension.

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Young Energetic People have got it going on

February 27th, 2009

Our posts about Young Professional networks (here and here)  caught the attention of a few of our North Dakota friends.  I wanted to highlight some of the comments left by Ashley Anderson who helped start the “Young Energetic People” network in Bowman, ND (population 1600). 

Ashley wrote:

 I’m glad you’ve noticed YEP, Bowman County! We have about 53 members, but you could get started with as few as 10 people in my opinion. We started our group last May with a big kick-off party….. Like with any YP group, getting it up and going-and getting people to always attend is the challenge.

We thought YEP was needed in Bowman County because we are a growing community-unlike some small towns. We have a lot of young families and singles moving in because of our thriving economy and oil production. We wanted these younger people to feel connected to Bowman and want to stay. All too often, a young teacher might move to town, not meet anyone outside of school, and leave after a year. We didn’t want that to happen…. (emphasis mine) 

Since I believe all organizations have a lot to learn when it comes to engaging Gen Y, I asked Ashley to provide some feedback on what they are doing in Bowman to encourage participation.  Here’s how she responded to the question:

We use a lot of email connection and postcards for bigger events. I think Gen Y, X and Millennial generations are very busy. Most have children and are involved with several organizations already. When we have an event, we need to plan and get the word out far in advance and focus on how the event will benefit them and not just waste their time. Planning around basketball and football games and other community events is crucial.  The other thing we’ve noticed is that in the summertime, it’s hard to get people together. It’s easier in the winter, just because choices are limited due to the weather.

The approach of YP groups like Bowman’s Young Energetic People  network is interesting.  In many ways they put social interaction at the front of their efforts to engage young people.  That seems to be a wise decision - especially with Gen Y - because studies show us that young people are very social creatures.  My guess is that over time, the participants in Bowman’s Young Energetic People will develop the emotional attachment to the community that causes them to want to lead these other more traditional community development activities.

Ashley also makes a good point when she says they try to “focus on how the event will benefit them and not waste their time.”  I’d be interested in learning more about how this works, but people are busy and can’t be involved in everything.  So, they will naturally gravitate to events and groups that offer some benefit to them as individuals.  I think they key is showing people how activities that benefit the community also benefit the individual.

There’s a lot more to talk about in what Ashley has to say.  I had wanted to write more about her last comment regarding young teachers only staying a few years because I can relate to it.  I came to Howard as a teacher and didn’t connect until I became involvedd in our community development efforts.  Hopefully I’ll dedicate an entire post to that subject later on.  So I hope anyone with some thoughts on the subject will share them with everyone. 

I’ll end this post with a few questions. Many rural communities the same size as Bowman feel they are too small to successfully create groups like this.  Bowman only has 1500 residents, and they are successful.  But are they an anomaly? Or can YP groups - or other community groups - successfully engage our younger generations?

Note:  (image courtesy of Bowman, ND community websites)

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Young Professionals Groups — quick facts

February 20th, 2009

Here are a few quick topics on young professionals groups that you may be interested in:

North Dakota formed a statewide initiative to connect Young Professionals Groups.  I wonder how their efforts have paid off?  

People have developed a lot of creative names for their groups, but the one I like the best is Bowman Young Energetic People.  I think this is a great name because it suggests that anyone can belong (i.e. you don’t have to be a “professional”) and that members are energetic — no coach potatoes allowed.  (The only online source of information I found on this group was with the YP North Dakota Network.)

The Iowa legislature created the Generation Iowa Commission to “advise and assist in the retention and attraction of young adults to Iowa.” They published their research in an on-line pdf that’s worth checking out.   Besides having an interactive website, the commission is made of young people (all under age 35).

If your community is considering the formation of a young professionals group, I’d recommend you check out YP Commons.  In a way they are a virtual young professionals organization.  They offer some networking opportunities and advice on group formation.

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