October 2005 Volume III, Number 10

Compiled by Deb Miller Slipek, News Finder Extraordinary &
Jane Leonard, MRP President & Editor

IN THIS ISSUE:

- Across the Field: The Reflective Season
- Policy
- Funding
- Meetings & Conferences
- Professional Opportunities
- Tools & Miscellaneous

ACROSS THE FIELD, by Jane Leonard
A Paradoxical Time - the Reflective Season

We spent the weekend putting up storm windows and putting the garden to bed for the fall and winter. As I was down on my hands and knees in the soil pulling up rusted tomato cages and dying plants (always good for the soul, to get on your hands and knees in the dirt) I realized my mind and body were also gearing up for what I think of as the reflective season. Fall is when the Earth tells us to chill out and quiet down and think and reflect and not be so busy about growing, but take time instead to recharge and reflect.

That's hard to do when we are living in a multi-tasking world. Cell phone companies now sell us on the advantage of having appliances that let us watch TV, movies, read email and check voice mail AT THE SAME TIME, leaving no time at all for real, sincere face-to-face conversation. I thought about such craziness when I was at the state development conference last week on global competition. Several speakers said we needed to be hypercompetitive now in the world race with China, India and other former third-world countries nipping at our feet. We are racing ahead…to what? What is our plan for the future if the rest of the world is catching up?

Maybe we should slow down because that will give us the new competitive edge. Be thoughtful, engaged, comprehensive in our thinking and acting…that's the new competitive advantage, I thought to myself, down there digging in the dirt this weekend. Slowing down, not speeding up, will help us figure out how to deal with all these incredible challenges that are tumbling down on us in part because we moved too fast, we didn't listen, we were distracted "getting ahead" without foresight - the energy crisis, the Katrina mess, and more.

On my hands and knees in the garden, I thought about paradox…how we have to let the garden rest now to grow again in the spring. I thought about paradox and remembered how a very successful inventor, quoted in the latest issue of Newsweek, says that when he needs to come up with something new, he looks for the paradox in the problem.

The paradox in this situation - that we are in such a rat race already and now the urgent cries to move faster - is that we really do need to slow down to think and plan our next moves in a world that is so changed from even ten years ago when the tools of our age, the Internet and technology convergence (such as that demonstrated by the multi-tasking phone) were just beginning.

I did to help push information and communications technology into Minnesota in the 1990s when I helped start the MN Office of Technology. I believed then and I still believe now that Minnesota needed to be front and center in that arena if we are to have any hope of economic viability in the 21st Century as a cold northern state in the middle of a continent. Now, after 10 years of growth in that technology, we need a course correction. We're hyping applications that have the same early "glamour" as the cigarette ads of my youth, but now we know smoking kills. It can be deadly as well to talk on a cell phone while you are trying to answer your email while driving to your next meeting. What if we spent the same amount of time and advertising space on campaigns to use telecommunications and information technologies to bring rural communities more affordable access to medical services? What if the same amount of marketing dollars for Internet-based entertainment were used to help people anywhere in the state gain advanced degrees through the Internet - in math and science and foreign languages?…so we can long-term keep up with China and India, and not just the fleeting high we might get competing with the Jones next door who have the cool hyper-drive high definition 1000 channel satellite Internet protocol TV that pumps Survivor reruns 24x 7….downloadable on your cell/blackberry.

We need some time to reflect and plan a course correction. Not to take away the fun and games (I still like gizmos…) but to be more intentional about and investing as well in technology applications and strategic planning that creates more stable and widely shared sources of individual and community economic well-being. To help in that effort, Minnesota Rural Partners has been working behind the scenes with the Blandin Foundation, the Minnesota State Network Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation, and the Freeman Forum Freeman Lecture series to implement several opportunities this Fall to pause and plan. They include two meetings on information and telecommunications technology (on November 16 & 17 for telecommunications applications and policy and December 12 for community information technology), and one on Globalization and Farm Policy (the Freeman Lecture, December 9, at the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute).

November 16 and 17 is one such time - when curious, concerned, and committed Minnesotans gather in St. Cloud for the Growing with Gigabits: Making the "Net Work" for Minnesota conference. (Registration information is at www.blandinfoundation.org or www.minnesotaruralpartners.org Blandin's Get Broadband communities will showcase what they are doing to make good use of telecommunications technology to strengthen business, education, health care, and government. Industry and community leaders will engage in discussions about strategies that are making a difference in our lives and in our work.)

The November meeting is a chance to reacquaint ourselves with rural telecommunications policy 10 years after the first "Grassroots Call to Action: Telecommunications for Rural Minnesota" conference was held in St. Cloud. I helped organize that one, too, when a dial-up connection was hard to find in rural Minnesota and The University of Minnesota Extension Service and other collaborators were jubilant to get a national grant to extend 56 kilobit Internet connections into almost every courthouse for the Access Minnesota project. How far we have come, and still farther we must go to truly integrate these technologies into our community and economic development strategies? Yes, we can connect to email, voice mail, watch movies and TV all from our cell phone now, but are we on track to truly use these technologies to improve our lives in ways that really count?

On those very same days next month, over a continent and ocean away, the International Telecommunications Union will host the United Nation's World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis, (http://www.itu.int/wsis/index.html) in part to determine who should run the World Wide Web. The United States has controlled the WWW since the 1990s. We are the sole keeper of the master list of Web addresses, even for other countries. Our neighbors want and deserve some say. The world continues to challenge. We must respond.

Speeding up isn't always the answer. You can't carefully pull out the weeds and save the good but dormant plants unless you're on your hands and knees concentrating, slowing down long enough to really look at what you are doing. So listen to the signs of the season. To grow, we need to reflect and recharge. That's the new/old paradox that gives us the competitive edge.

POLICY

--Tomorrow we begin the first of four workshops across Minnesota, between October 12 & 19, on Energizing Entrepreneurship & Hometown Competitiveness, in conjunction with the Independent Community Bankers Association of Minnesota and the Federal Home Loan Bank. You can still register at http://www.minnesotaruralpartners.org. If you can't join us in person, you can still help us develop Minnesota's Entrepreneurial Gateway system --- please go to our online survey and share your wisdom: http://www.minnesotaruralpartners.org/MEG/survey.htm. Your input on policy and practice will be shared with others across Minnesota and across the country as part of the National Coalition for Rural Entrepreneurship.

--Nonpartisan approach grows in rural policymaking: The Founding Meeting of Prairie Rural Action will be November 14-15, 2005 at the Fargo Civic Center, Fargo, ND. Organizations and individuals throughout the U.S.Great Plains are invited to join Prairie Rural Action to promote new nonpartisan approaches and policies for revitalizing rural communities. This founding meeting is being convened by Northern Great Plains, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the Center for Rural Affairs, Renewing the Countryside, and the League of Rural Voters. For more information, see http://prairieruralaction.org.

--The 2007 Farm Bill discussions are all around us. Take part in one December 9 on Globalization and U.S. Farm Policy - the second Freeman Lecture of 2005. Situation: A World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel in 2004, acting on a Brazilian complaint, said U.S. cotton program subsidies are illegal, violating U.S. trade obligations accepted by Congress in 1994. That finding greatly complicates U.S. farm policy. Congress in 2007 must adopt new farm legislation, but how will it differ from today's policy? How will net farm income, dependent on farm subsidies, be provided, if U.S. subsidies are illegal? What farm policy will enable farmers to live on farmgate sales while excess global production depresses farm prices? The Freeman Lecture will shed new light on this dilemma with speakers who include the former Brazilian trade negotiator who led the successful challenge to U.S. cotton subsidies, along with a Tennessee economist who builds new policy ideas upon those that former Minnesota Governor and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Orville L. Freeman proposed for supply management a half century ago. A panel of Minnesota's U.S. Senators and Representatives are invited to provide their perspectives as members of agricultural committees in Congress who will help write the 2007 farm bill. Registration information will be available soon at http://www.freemanforum.org

FUNDING

--Building Community Amidst Diversity Small Grant Program. The Association for the Study and Development of Community is announcing a small grants and capacity building program, funded by the C.S Mott Foundation, to help understand and promote the value of diversity in neighborhoods or other communities. Cooperative agreements of up to $20,000 are available to community and neighborhood groups, nonprofit organizations, local governments, and local foundations. The Request for Proposals (RFP) describes the program, resources available, and application process and materials. A copy of the RFP and application can be downloaded from http://www.capacitybuilding.net/application.htm. Applications are due by October 31, 2005.

--The Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Foundation is now accepting applications for child care center enhancements. Grants of up to $4,000 will be awarded to child care programs to implement changes to improve the quality of care. The application deadline is December 31. More information is available at http://www.childcareabc.org
or call 610-992-1140, 877-493-6017.

--The 2006 Rural Hospital Capital Improvement Grant Program helps small rural hospitals update, remodel or replace aging hospital facilities and equipment. Eligible hospitals are nonfederal, not for profit, general acute care with 50 or fewer beds in a rural area or in a community of less than 15,000 outside the seven county metro. Applicants may apply for grants of up to $125,000. Pre-applications are due November 14, 2005. Applications will be available at http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/grants.htm. For information, contact Mark Schoenbaum of the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care at (651) 282-3859 or mark.schoenbaum@health.state.mn.us.

--State and federal loan forgiveness or loan repayment programs are available now to health care students or health profession residents. Minnesota State Loan Forgiveness Program applications are due December 1, 2005. Applications and information are online at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/loan.htm or contact Karen Welter at (651) 282-6302 or karen.welter@health.state.mn.us.

--Federal/State Loan Repayment Program is available for licensed providers practicing in health professional shortage areas. Information, candidate applications and site applications for the Minnesota State Loan Repayment Program are on the Minnesota Department of Health Web site at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/loan.htm. National Health Service Corps information is online at http://nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov/. Contact Deb Jahnke at debra.jahnke@health.state.mn.us or (651) 282-6334 with questions on either program.

--Children's television network Nickelodeon has announced the launch of the "Let's Just Play" Giveaway Program offering kids around the United States the opportunity to take action and enter for a chance to win $5,000 to improve their school or community program's fitness resources. Each month during the giveaway, $5,000 will be awarded to at least 20 randomly selected winners (five winners from four different regions of the United States). To enter, kids (6-15 years old as of May 31, 2006), partnering with teachers and other community-based leaders, tell Nickelodeon what they need for their public or private school (grades K-9) or after-school community-based organization to help them play better and why. There is a rolling deadline for entries through May 31, 2006. For more information, see www.nick.com/all_nick/everything_nick/ljp_grants.jhtml.

--Angel Organization for Your Community is a new publication by the Angel Capital Association and sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. To download, go to www.kauffman.org and search for Angel Guidebook or call 816 932-1000 to request a copy.

CONFERENCES & MEETINGS

--Meeting the Challenges of a Changing Minnesota October 19, 2005 (Wed.), 7:30am - 4:15pm, St. Paul, MN. Sponsor: Economic Research Group (ERG), a State of MN consortium promoting the sharing of policy information, with members from the Univ. of MN, Federal Reserve Bank, Hamline University, state agencies, MN League of Cities, private businesses, schools, and local government. 21st annual conference on policy analysis, exploring some of the pressing issues that challenge MN, includes engaging political involvement from Minnesotans, protecting our lakes, rivers and streams, and financing long-term care for the State's aging baby boomers. $25 - $125. Details at http://www.cce.umn.edu/policyanalysis

--Grant Writing Workshop, October 19th, 9:00 am - 12:00 noon. at the Country Inn & Suites, Walker MN. Fee is $40. To register contact Jolene Howard at 877-632-9255 or email @ jhoward@ifound.org.

--Helping Small Towns II - Tools for Community Survival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming October 19th through 22nd, 2005 is sponsored by the Heartland Center for Leadership Development. Scholarships are still available on a limited basis. This course covers: Appreciative Inquiry, Advanced Facilitation Skills, Measuring for Success: Ideas for building on what works for your community, Strengthening Social Capital: Tools for Attracting Young People, and Diversity as Opportunity: Overcoming community polarization. To find out more about the Institute and registration, go to www.heartlandcenter.info and click on the Annual Institutes button, or phone 800-927-1115.

--Mark your calendars for the 3rd Annual East Central MN Business Development Summit - October 31, 2005 at Grand Casino Hinckley. For more information go to: www.ecmntrac.org/summit/summit.htm

--Annexation, How to Seize Cooperation out of Controversy, October 25th, 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm. Kelly Inn, St. Cloud, MN. Learn the most current laws and rules governing municipal boundaries; how to transform controversy and preserve relationships through effective mediation; how other local cities successfully achieved orderly annexation agreements; and perspectives from both cities and townships. This workshop will feature presentations by Christine Scotillo of the Minnesota Department of Administration, Jack Dobier and Drew Hultgren, expert mediators, and representatives from the League of Cities and the Minnesota Association of Townships. Fee is $20. For more information or registration contact Rachel Durfee at rdurfee@ifound.org or call 877-632-9255.

--Grant Writing Workshop, October 26th, 9:00 am - 12:00 noon or 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm. Initiative Foundation, Little Falls, MN. Fee is $40. To register contact Jolene Howard at 877-632-9255 or email @ jhoward@ifound.org.

--2005 Minnesota Counter-Offensive: A Rural Summit on Methamphetamine Intervention November 1, 2005, 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at the St. Cloud Civic Center. Co-hosted by the Initiative Foundation and Hazelden Foundation in partnership with the Minnesota Initiative Foundations, this summit will feature national speakers, new resource materials for participants, and an exhibit area for resource partners. For more information, sign up for the conference mailing list by emailing info@ifound.org

--Duluth-Superior Small Business Resource Fair will be held November 2, 2005 from 8:30 am - 3:30 pm at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. It is FREE to attend! If you are in business or just thinking about starting your own business, this is an event you won't want to miss! Visit the Exhibit Hall and talk to non-profit organizations, for-profit firms, and government agencies that have programs to help you succeed in business! Take advantage of workshops offered every hour throughout the day - all FREE! For information and registration go to Minnesota Small Business Administration: www.sba.gov/mn or the Wisconsin Small Business Administration: www.sba.gov/wi Sponsored by the SCORE Association, MN and WI Small Business Administration (SBA), MN and WI Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), UMD Center for Economic Development, and the Northeast Entrepreneur Fund.

--eFolioMN Summit, Thursday, November 3, 2005, Hennepin Technical College, Brooklyn Park Campus, 9000 Brooklyn Boulevard, Brooklyn Park, MN 55445. The summit is an all-day event designed to bring together K-12, Higher Education, and Workforce organizations who use, or who are interested in, eFolioMinnesota. Successes, concerns, and strategies using the latest in Minnesota electronic portfolio technology. Many Minnesotans who have successfully applied eFolioMN for learning and for life. Register at http://efoliomnsummit.com.

--Minnesota Council of Nonprofits 19th Annual Conference will be November 3 - 4 at the St. Paul River Centre. Joseph Grady, of Cultural Logic and the Frameworks Institute, will speak on communications strategies. FRAMING: Crafting Messages that Build Support is the theme for this year's MCN Annual Conference. With more than 30 breakout sessions, the conference will have options that are valuable to people with all types of job responsibilities and levels of experience. This year's conference will feature eight tracks of breakout sessions: Executive Leadership; Finance and Management; Human Relations; Public Policy and Advocacy; Board Governance; Marketing and Communications; Fundraising; Theme-Based: Crafting Messages that Build Support. Registration fee for MCN members is $149, non-members $200 before October 20. For more information and to register: www.mncn.org/conference

--Founding Meeting of Prairie Rural Action will be November 14-15, 2005 at the Fargo Civic Center, Fargo, ND. Organizations and individuals throughout the U.S. Great Plains are invited to join Prairie Rural Action to promote new nonpartisan approaches and policies for revitalizing rural communities. This founding meeting is being convened by Northern Great Plains, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the Center for Rural Affairs, Renewing the Countryside, and the League of Rural Voters. For more information, see www.prairieruralaction.org.

--Growing with Gigabits Conference sponsored by the Blandin Foundation. November 16-17 in St. Cloud will tackle a new broadband vision for Minnesota to ensure a high quality of life and a globally competitive future for our state. Come hear about community success stories, public private opportunities and the pros and cons of various technology scenarios. More info and registration at http://www.blandinfoundation.org

JOBS & OPPORTUNITIES

-- Workforce Housing Study RFP The Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Council of Governments (http://www.fmmetrocog.org) has issued a Request for Proposals for preparation of a Workforce Housing Study - Regional Profile. By working through a diverse stakeholder group as well as gleaning techniques from other metropolitan areas, the Regional Profile will lay out 8 to 12 strategic initiatives. The Regional Profile is geared to be the first step in the initiation of a cooperative community dialogue on how to competitively meet the workforce needs of the regional economy. Consultants interested in a copy of the RFP should contact Wade Kline at kline@fmmetrocog.org or 701/232-3242.

--Regional Extension Educator in Community Economics Two positions have been created for people to work out of Mankato and the metro area, offering Extension's economics programming to Minnesota communities. Programs include community business and industry climate, tourism, public finance and Internet literacy. Both positions are part of the Community Vitality capacity area within University Extension. Applications due by October 28, 2005.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/units/director/hr/positions.html

--Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy This international nonprofit policy institute, based in Minneapolis, seeks a new president and a Trade and Global Governance Director. Through research, analysis, education and advocacy, IATP promotes resilient family farms, sound agricultural policy, healthy ecosystems and strong rural communities. http://www.iatp.org/iatp/jobs.cfm

MISCELLANEOUS

--Rural America at a Glance, 2005 Rural America At A Glance, 2005 is a six-page brochure that highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas. The brochure is the fourth in a series of reports that uses current social and economic data to highlight population, labor market, income, and poverty trends in rural areas. It provides information on key rural conditions and trends for use by public and private decisionmakers and others in efforts to enhance the economic opportunities and quality of life for rural people and their communities. See http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/EIB4/

--The Center for Rural Affairs has published a report examining a provision of the New Homestead Act and the impact it would have on rural communities, "Building Wealth in Rural Communities." Based on 2000 Census data, the Center estimates that more than 3.3 million rural households would qualify for Individual Homestead Accounts matching funds - about 16 percent of all rural households in the nation and 81 percent of households in the qualifying counties. Some of the report's highlights are at http://www.cfra.org/resources/summary_newhomesteadact.htm. To download the full report, go to http://www.cfra.org/bw_new_homestead_act_report.htm. For more information, contact Jon Bailey, jonb@cfra.org or call (402) 687-2100.

--The State and Local Policy Program of the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs has just released a report on "Knowledge Clusters and Entrepreneurship as Keys to Regional Economic Development." The report, based on the conference many of you attended last September, 2004, provides economic developers with an understanding of the latest research on the issues surrounding entrepreneurship and knowledge clusters as economic development strategies, along with practical new ideas and tactics. The report is available on the web. To request a printed version of the report, please send your mailing address to Janice Young at jyoung@hhh.umn.edu.

--U.S. Dept. Commerce, 9/13/2005 - Strengthening American Communities Initiative The President's budget proposal recommended a major update of federal economic development policy under the Strengthening America's Communities Initiative (SACI), which has not changed in 40 years. The proposed program will consolidate dozens of existing federally funded programs. This advisory committee report finds entrepreneurship and innovation essential to economic success. Specific recommendations include: increasing technical assistance funding for innovation-based strategy development; requiring long-term, innovation-based, and regional and community development strategies as a prerequisite for follow-on federal assistance; the replacement of entitlement grants with performance-based challenge grants within 10 years; and, to create effective forums for propagation and sharing of best practices in economic and community development. http://www.commerce.gov/SACI/

--"Gauging a Region's Entrepreneurial Potential" is now on the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's website This third quarter Economic Review article by Sarah Low, Jason Henderson, and Stephan Weiler develops new measures of entrepreneurial activity to show where such activity is occurring across the United States. The authors discuss key factors that foster entrepreneurship at the regional level and explore some policy implications for regional development. Go to http://www.kc.frb.org/PUBLICAT/ECONREV/ermain.htm

--The August 2005 issue of The Main Street Economist Jason Henderson, Sean Moore, and Stephan Weiler of the Center for the Study of Rural America discuss "Small Bank Lending: Tapping Opportunities for Rural Growth" in this issue. The authors discuss the differences in business lending by community banks in rural and metro areas. They also provide a discussion of the role that information plays when bankers engage in business lending. The article can be found on the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Web Site at: http://www.kansascityfed.org/RuralCenter/mainstreet/MainStMain.htm

--The Points of Light Foundation has issued Connecting Rural Communities: Volunteering and Neighboring, a monograph on the nature and practice of volunteering in rural America. It includes some of the effective strategies and solutions to address local needs and connect families to critical resources. Call 800-750-7653 or go online.

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