2005 Minnesota Rural Summit
"The Great Reconnect - Bridging Rural & Urban Resources for Community & Economic Success"

Join us July 28-29, 2005, for the lowest registration cost EVER ($225 early bird) at the eighth annual gathering of the Minnesota Rural Summit -- really the Minnesota Summit, with its theme: The Great Reconnect - Bridging Rural & Urban Resources for Community & Economic Success. We are meeting this year in Collegeville, at St. John's University (just northwest of St. Cloud, just off of Interstate 94 in Central MN). Think of it as your summer college reunion where we'll be showcasing efforts that link community and economic resources between rural and urban Minnesota for the greater good of all. It's fitting that we converge in central Minnesota - in Stearns County -- which has the highest percentage of agricultural sales in the state, yet is also where rural literally meets urban in the physical, economic, social and cultural landscape.

Why "the Great Reconnect?" Why not the Great Connect?

At one time, Minnesota's rural and urban areas were much more tightly related, by economic, social, and family ties. We need to re-connect for the 21st Century and renew those ties because our current and future success depends on relationships and networks that link knowledge and know-how to stoke new flames of development. Our past counted on raw natural resources from rural Minnesota to create our economic base. Our future depends on conserving those resources and connecting ideas and innovations to build new social and economic opportunities and enterprises. Some, like locally-grown foods and fiber, wind energy and bio-fuels, are still tied to natural resources. We must also look to emerging and shared knowledge to develop products and services, some not even dreamed of yet.

Re-connecting to reinvent our economic framework

To re-connect wisely requires three steps:

Context will be provided by the first general session Thursday morning, on Minnesota's Changing Demographic and Economic Landscape followed by a panel of community members who represent the range of diversity that is Minnesota today, including the vital aging population, Hmong, Hispanic, and young farmers. How are they bridging rural and urban resources? What are the connections that can lead to community and economic success given the changing demographic and economic landscape in Minnesota?

To provide new connections - new/old ways of thinking, our Thursday afternoon speaker is Ken Meter, President of the Crossroads Resource Center, a non-profit organization that helps rural and urban communities through the use of tools and strategies for self-determination, including regional economic indicator studies and creation of a regional investment fund to help build local wealth. Meter's work challenges traditional notions regarding economies of scale. Small enterprise development, sustainable community practices, and urban-rural connections strengthen local markets, given the opportunities of today's changing economic and demographic landscape.

Connection Stations follow Ken's presentation, where nearly 20 best practices will be showcased on topics ranging from housing, finance, transportation, land use, and more.

Thursday evening we have a special treat, with the finals of the statewide competition - Long Arm of the Small Town Storytelling Contest. Sign up for the regional semi-finals being held throughout the state as a roll-up to the Summit. Click here for more information and registration forms.

And Friday's closing morning session will give you the action framework -- tools and strategies to work locally and connect statewide and nationwide to take advantage of entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy. Over 30 organizations across Minnesota are building the Minnesota Entrepreneurial Gateway, an online and on-the-ground framework in which local communities (urban & rural), regions, and our entire state can better organize, manage, and connect resources to support entrepreneurship and start and grow a diversity of enterprises. Attend this session and you'll be blown away by the collection of tools now available to make smarter, better decisions and take action on community and economic development for the 21st Century.