March 2005 Volume III, Number 3

Compiled by Deb Miller Slipek, News Finder Extraordinary &
Jane Leonard, MRP President & Editor
IN THIS ISSUE:

- Across The Field
- Policy & Programs
- Funding
- Meetings & Conferences
- Tools & Miscellaneous
- Jobs

ACROSS THE FIELD - by Jane Leonard

Societal & Economic Transformation
Just came back from the Windy City (and I don't mean Chicago!). The National Rural Development Partnership gathered in Washington, D.C. for the annual policy consultation - meaning we find our way up to Capitol Hill and tell our story and hope that federal decision makers come to their senses about cuts to rural America. I also attended the Small Business Administration's second annual conference on entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy. We are now seeing research emerge that validates what we've known all along: that the very nature of our economy is changing; that rapidly growing new firms are a major source of job creation (virtually all new net jobs come from small business); and to take advantage of this, we need to foster a more entrepreneurial culture.
According to a recent article on state trends published by the Council on State Governments in January, 2005, the U.S. economy has evolved from a manufacturing-based economy centered on basic natural resources and standardized products to a service-based economy focused on knowledge and ideas. "Today," according to the article, "people need to have critical thinking skills [to sort thru all the garbage coming across our desks], be able to convert information into knowledge, and use and understand emerging technologies."

Knowledge and technology have always been central to our roots here in Minnesota. Farmers constantly use their knowledge and technology - from the simple, elegant plow to Global Positioning Systems satellites in the sky. These and other natural resources-based businesses have worked over the years with knowledge generators and facilitators such as the University of Minnesota and UM Extension Service and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, and colleagues in the private college arena, and within the last generation, such specialized technology organizations as the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute and Natural Resources Research Institute, to value-add to what was once straight commodity production. Manufacturers here work hand-in-hand with knowledge brokers such as Minnesota Technology Inc, to increase their productivity.

All of these knowledge and technology generators have faced significant cuts in the past few years, just at the time when our economy desperately needs such catalysts to keep us competitive and growing. Minnesota was ahead of the knowledge game in the 1980s and 1990s. Cuts now in education, research and development threaten our standing just as the knowledge-driven economy starts to fully take hold across the world.
Minnesota Rural Partners continues to push for ways to help Minnesota stay on top. We learned last week that we will receive a $143,874 two-year grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, to build an interdisciplinary framework for community economic reinvention in 21st century rural Minnesota. Over the next two years we will work with communities and organizations to add more depth to the initiative we began over 5 years ago - from the 1999 Rural Entrepreneurship Academy, to the 2001-2004 Bizpathways.org online tools and Entrepreneurial Community Champions process and most recently, the Minnesota Entrepreneurial Gateway effort. With the Kellogg funds we will be looking particularly at affordable health insurance and community design strategies to help transform entrepreneurial communities. You will hear more about this endeavor in subsequent announcements as details emerge. Please stay tuned.

Voices from our Neighbors Out East
Speaking of transformation towards a knowledge society and technology-driven economy, we've also been working on the upcoming Freeman Forum - March 23 & 24 - (register at www.freemanforum.org), featuring one of the most articulate leaders of the Arab reform movement in the Middle East -- Dr. Ismail Serageldin. He will be speaking on "The Tides of Change." We in the Midwest need to share ideas with those who fight for freedom from the inside of the world's political hot spots. A Harvard-educated Egyptian, Dr. Serageldin is the director of the world-renown Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the historic institution that is reviving the "cradle of knowledge" for which Alexandria has been known throughout the centuries in both Western and Eastern civilization.

Why should Minnesotans care about what this guy has to say? You should care because he is leading his world through the same complex changes that face us, too. In a recent speech entitled "The Way Forward: The Arab Knowledge-based Society of the Future," Dr. Serageldin wrote the following:
"There is a tide of science, of technology, of connectivity, of globalization. A tide of ideas from Human Rights to Democracy. From gender equality to caring. There is a tide of openness to the other, of learning, dialogue and understanding. And we must take the current when it serves or lose our ventures."

While we send our men and women to Iraq and Afghanistan in the name of freedom, Dr. Serageldin is working from within the Arab world to transform it through reason and democratic thought and action. He seeks to create a renaissance that will stifle the forces of extremism, zealotry and intolerance. He works to help his world become once again a learning society, enlightened --not threatened-- by the world of ideas and innovation. Dr. Serageldin will give the main Freeman lecture on March 24 in Minneapolis on the Arab reform movement. He will also talk on March 23 on the Digital Future - Producers and Consumers in the Knowledge Economy in the morning that day, and on Agricultural Science and Technology in the afternoon. He will also update us on the Library of Alexandria, a center of research and learning important to the world community. I want to strongly encourage as many of you as can to come hear a voice of humanity from across the sea. Most of the lectures are free of charge or have a nominal fee. Check it out at www.freemanforum.org.

Finally, a personal note. A colleague and mentor to many, Dr. Ron Shaffer died early this month, succumbing to Lou Gehrig's (ALS) disease. He was a professor and researcher at the University of Wisconsin and many of you in the agricultural, community and economic development field either trained with Dr. Shaffer or knew of his seminal work in community-based economic development. He was one of the innovators who helped start the National Rural Development Partnership back in the late 1980s. He was a colleague of mine in the Community Development Society. Many will carry on his work and we must do so, in his honor and for the good of our society.

POLICY

--The big news now widespread is the Bush Administration's proposed budget which slashed community development funding by 33 percent and sends a number of programs to the Department of Commerce. For thorough analyses, go to The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities at http://www.cbpp.org/2-7-05sfp.htm The Center's wrap-up gives you state-by-state numbers.

--The February issue of the Main Street Economist is now available. Underemployment, the second in a series of Regional Asset Indicators is introduced in this issue. Sean Moore of the Center for the Study of Rural America discusses, "Regional Asset Indicators: Tapping the Skills Surplus in Rural America." This article can be found on the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Web site at: http://www.kansascityfed.org/RuralCenter/mainstreet/MainStMain.htm

--They Paved Paradise….Gentrification in Rural Communities Reports on a study of three counties that illustrated common scenarios for rural gentrification - defined as the process by which higher-income households displace lower-income residents, changing the essential character of the community. http://www.ruralhome.org/manager/uploads/Gentrification.pdf

--The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) has $4.6 million available in FY 2005 for grants for the Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program. The grants will support the development of Community Food Projects or assist current grantees. CSREES is looking for projects that meet the food needs of low-income people; increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own food needs; and promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition issues. The deadline is March 30. For more information, visit http://www.csrees.usda.gov/funding/rfas/community_foods.html.

--The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families is accepting applications for funding to support new community-based projects under the Social and Economic Development Strategies for Native Americans program. Approximately $18 million in FY 2005 funding is expected to be available for 110-120 awards; cost-sharing of at least 20 percent is required. Applications are due April 19. More information is available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2005-ACF-ANA-NA-0003.html.

--The Ms. Foundation for Women has $20,000-$40,000 grants available for nonprofits working to end violence against women. The application deadline is April 1. For more information, visit http://www.ms.foundation.org/ and click on "grants."

--Tribes, tribal organizations, and nonprofits can apply to the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Native Americans for grants to assist in assuring the survival and continuing vitality of their languages. The deadline is April 1. See Federal Register, 2/3/05, pp. 5888-913. For more information, contact 877 922-9262 or ana@acf.hhs.gov.

-- Blandin Foundation’s Get Broadband! community grants program is accepting new grant applications from rural Minnesota communities in 2005 to stimulate the use of broad-band based technologies. Minnesota Rural Partners and Community Technology Advisors Corp. is providing the community coaching and convening for the selected communities.

“The Foundation will provide resources, technical assistance and up to $15,000 to each qualifying rural community,” said Bernadine Joselyn, the Foundation’s Public Policy & Engagement director, who is responsible for the Get Broadband! program. It is anticipated that between six and eight awards will be made in each round of the program in 2005.

There will be two more rounds of grants in 2005, Joselyn said. The deadline for the next round is May 20.

--'Breakthrough Ideas," is a statewide contest to seek out, support, celebrate and promote Minnesota's newest and most innovative business ideas through an annual competition that connects resident entrepreneurs with our state's leading CEOs, investors and the University of Minnesota. Minnesotans can submit their ideas online at http://www.breakthroughideas.umn.edu between March 9 and May 6, 2005. The winner will receive $25,000 in seed capital, free public relations, legal, research and management support services. Second and third place winners will receive $5,000 and $2,500 respectively.

MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES

--U and Your Economy Workshops will be held around the state by UM Extension Service on:

March 10 - Marshall
March 24 - Owatonna
March 31 - Grand Rapids
April 7- Crookston
April 14 - St. Cloud

U and Your Economy is a showcase of research and programming that engages community leaders and describes how Extension and the University can support decision-making about local economic development strategies. Folks around MN will hear from, and chat with, Tom Stinson our State Economist, on the impact of the baby-boomers and their affect on public revenues and taxes. Laura Kalambokidis will present sessions discussing

--Freeman Forum scheduled for March 23 & 24th. A series of four lectures on topics related to the digital future & knowledge economy, sciences and the new agriculture, and perspectives on changing times and democracy in the Arab world. Insights very much integrated and relevant to our challenges here in the Midwest region and the U.S. in general. Dr. Ismail Serageldin, former Vice President of the World Bank and now director of the Library of Alexandria, Egypt is the featured lecturer. Most lectures are free, held at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. See http://www.freemanforum.org for more information.

--Explore Minnesota Tourism Growth Planning Sessions To Be Held Around State: Explore Minnesota Tourism will hold regional Tourism Growth Planning Sessions in several cities across the state to get input from tourism businesses and destinations on key issues for the tourism industry and strategies to grow tourism in Minnesota. Tourism Growth Planning Sessions will be held in Duluth on March 22; Detroit Lakes on March 30; Minneapolis/St. Paul on April 6; Pipestone on April 12; Grand Rapids on May 4; and Brainerd on May 18. Exact times and locations will be announced in advance of each meeting. For more information on the Tourism Growth Planning Sessions, call Peggy Lindquist at 651-296-4784 or 800-657-3535.

--National and local experts in Fiber to the Home (FTTH) deployment will share their expertise at Fiber Optics to the Home: Connecting Minnesota to the World, a one day conference will be held at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel in St. Paul, MN March 30, 2005. Get more details from the FiberFirst Minnesota web site: http://www.fiberfirstmn.org/

--Workforce Solutions: Enhancing Your ProfitAbility The Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council, along with the Southwest Minnesota Workforce Council and the area Workforce Centers will be hosting a conference-Workforce Solutions: Enhancing Your ProfitAbility-on Thursday, April 7, 2005 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at Prairie's Edge Casino Resort in Granite Falls, Minnesota. Keynote speakers are Dr. Roy Grizzard, Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of Labor and Terry Ventura, former Minnesota First Lady and Founder and CEO of the Jade Foundation. The focus of this conference is on the benefits of hiring people with disabilities. Topics to be covered include customized tax credit services, resources for connecting employers with workforce talent, accommodations for employers hiring people with disabilities, a panel discussion with regional businesses on why hire people with disabilities and information on the American's with Disabilities Act. Early Bird Registration (before 3/17/05) $30, regular registration $45. To register call 1-800-422-0687 or email register@swmnpic.org or on the web at www.swmnpic.org/events.html

--West Central Plans 6th Annual Workforce Solutions Conference. Three keynote speakers will highlight the 6th Annual Workforce Solutions Conference sponsored by West Central Initiative Fund, April 14, 2005 from 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the Arrowhead Resort and Conference Center in Alexandria. The conference title is "Productivity: Stretching Your Workforce Investment with Lean Technologies". "Policy Innovations for a Changing Rural Economy" will be the topic of Jack M. Geller, Ph.D. Al Podzunas will present "Preparing Your Team for the Global Challenge". Jennifer Bogdalek of Microsoft will speak on "Technology Solves Real Business Problems". For further information and registration contact West central Initiative at 1-800-735-2239 or online at http://www.wcif.org/.

--The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in partnership with the American Bankers Association, CFED, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is proud to present a national conference on entrepreneurship - Striking the Right Notes on Entrepreneurship, April 18-20, 2005 in Memphis, TN. The conference is designed to benefit states, regions and communities looking to explore entrepreneurship as a community and economic development approach.
For complete information and registration forms, please visit:
http://www.stlouisfed.org/community/entrepreneurship/default.htm

--Wondering what our small towns will be like 10, 20, or even 50 years from now? The Third Annual Symposium on Small Towns will be looking forward into the future of our small towns and rural areas. This two-day event is scheduled for June 7 and 8, 2005 and will be held at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Participants attending the Symposium will learn and discuss global trends, how rural communities are shaping them to meet future challenges, and to understand how our political framework and issues can be changed to better support small towns. Community projects will be showcased, participants will actively engage in visioning sessions, and small towns and rural living will be celebrated. In addition, performers from around the state will provide a celebratory evening of outstanding music, poetry, storytelling, and much more.

The Symposium is open to the public; individuals and teams are encouraged to attend the event to network with people and locate resources as you work to strengthen and shape the future of your small town. Fees are kept at a minimum to encourage participation. For more information and pre-registration go to the Center for SmallTowns web page at http://www.centerforsmalltowns.org, click on the Symposium link, or call at 320-589-6451.

--The Minnesota Rural Health Conference for July 18-19 in Duluth, Minnesota. The conference, "Smart Health for Rural Communities," will focus on innovative approaches that maintain and improve the quality and availability of health care services in greater Minnesota. Information is online at http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/orhconf.html
For more information contact maryann.radigan@health.state.mn.us or 651-282-6338.

--2005 MINNESOTA RURAL SUMMIT - July 28-29, 2005, St. John's University, Collegeville.
The theme for 2005 is "The Great Reconnect - Bridging Rural & Urban Resources for Community & Economic Success." We'll be showcasing efforts that bridge community and economic resources between rural and urban Minnesota, that bridge diverse cultures and shared heritage, and that bridge our spirit and will to strengthen and sustain our communities, our regions, and our state. Check out http://www.minnesotaruralpartners.org/2005_summit/

--MCN's 2005 Nonprofits and Technology Conference is just around the
corner! As you know, this is a great opportunity to present technology resources and information to Minnesota's nonprofit and charitable sector! Please contact Stephanie Haddad at 651-642-1904 ext. 227 or at Stephanie@mncn.org if you are interested in presenting.

TOOLS & MISCELLANEOUS

--The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has taken on a new leadership role in seeking federal grant funding for early-stage technology companies. Minnesota Project Innovation (MPI), Board of Directors officially transferred the program operations to DEED. Betsy Lulfs will lead this effort at DEED.

--Affordable Health Insurance for Microenterprise Recognizing the difficulty that microentrepreneurs have in accessing affordable health insurance, the Aspen Institute's FIELD (Microenterprise Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning, and Dissemination) program has compiled a set of resources for microenterprise practitioners that is available for download from this Web site. http://fieldus.org/li/HealthInsurance.htm

--The Aspen Institute's nonprofit research section has released a new report, "Volunteer Sustainability: How Non-Profits Can Sustain Volunteers' Commitment." The authors compare volunteers' motivations, goals, and expectations of their volunteer experiences with the characteristics and volunteer capacities of host organizations in order to identify potential pitfalls and opportunities in developing long-term volunteering relationships. To download the report, see www.worldvolunteerweb.org/dynamic/infobase/pdf/2005/vol_sustainability.pdf

--The American Library Association, an organization of nearly 60,000 individual and organizational members, announces that the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information has been selected as recipient of the inaugural Eileen Cooke State and Local Madison Award. http://www.leg.state.mn.us/foi/cogi.html. Named for distinguished Minnesota native, Eileen Cooke, the award will be presented annually on the anniversary of the birth of James Madison, champion of access to information. The State and Local Madison Award is named for Eileen Cooke, a Minneapolis native, graduate of the College of St. Catherine and member of the staff of the Minneapolis Public Library. Ms. Cooke rose to national prominence as the Director of the Washington Office of the American Library Association. For three decades she was, in effect, the chief lobbyist for libraries, freedom of access and literacy. Ms. Cooke died in May 2000.

--Transportation Toolbox for Rural Areas and Small Communities designed to assist public and private stakeholders in planning, developing, and improving rural areas and small communities, especially through transportation and related projects. It is a project through the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Transportation to address long term rural transportation needs http://ntl.bts.gov/ruraltransport/toolbox/index.cfm

--The University of Minnesota Duluth has established a master's degree program in advocacy and political leadership. For a related Pioneer Press story, see www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/10763688.htm

--University of Minnesota Morris' Center for Small Towns has been awarded a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant of $399,494 in the Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) program. The grant will establish a partnership with the City of Morris on a project called Adapting to Change: Managing Urbanization in Rural America. Outreach and research activities will focus on housing, economic development, and community organizing and neighborhood revitalization, including Geographic Information Systems Parcel Mapping; City of Morris Habitat for Humanity Chapter; Energizing Entrepreneurship and Business Mentoring Project; Adopt a Grandparent Program; and Take Back the Night/Operation Neighborhood Watch, among others.

JOBS/ FELLOWSHIPS / OPPORTUNITIES

--Are you interested in providing input on rural health policy and program development in Minnesota? Consider applying for a position on the State Rural Health Advisory Committee. The Committee has an opening for a consumer representative. The applicant must reside outside of the Twin City seven-county metro area and be willing to attend approximately five meetings per year. The Governor will make the appointment to this committee.

The Rural Health Advisory Committee serves as a statewide forum for rural health concerns and features a diverse membership. Committee duties include advising the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health and other state agencies on rural health issues. Applications will be online at http://www.sos.state.mn.us/openapp/index.html on Monday, March 7 or call the Secretary of State's Office at 651-296-9073. Deadline for application is Tuesday, March 29th, 2005. For further information contact Linda Norlander, Office of Rural Health and Primary Care at 651-282-6317 or linda.norlander@health.state.mn.us. To learn more about the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care and the Rural Health Advisory Committee visit http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/orh_home.htm.

Archive Issues:

February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
Mid-March 2004
March 2004
March 2004 Press Release
June 2003
Mar 2003
June 2002