May/June 2006 Volume IV, Number 6

Dear Colleagues:

We wanted to send you this last update for May, 2006, as we head into a busy summer season. MRP staff will be taking some time off after the Symposium for Small Towns and Rural Summit June 6 & 7, so we wanted to be sure to get these timely JUNE items over to you.

--Jane Leonard & Deb Miller-Slipek

PITHY ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. PROTOTYPE INTERACTIVE MAP OF MN ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESOURCES IS UP! Throughout the summer we will be working on piloting the Minnesota Entrepreneurial Gateway (MEG )– which is built upon our existing on-line tools and on-the-ground strategies for rural community economic development. For the past few years Minnesota Rural Partners has been slowly (lack of consistent funding) but surely creating a statewide and localized clearinghouse of resources available to citizens and community leaders across Minnesota who are trying to help start and grow businesses.

To help people see the scope this monumental effort, we partnered with geography students at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, who know more than we do about Geographic Information Systems technology. They mapped the MEG database --- to help us show you visually where all these resources are located and where we are missing resources. Now you can “click” your way to business resources, and combined with www.bizpathways.org, create your own customized business development pathway. Check out the clickable map prototype on the MEG home page at http://www.minnesotagateway.net and then help us figure out a way to sustainably fund it. We also know we are missing resources and will also need to do some corrections. But we wanted you to see it before summer took your attention away. All ideas (and donations) are welcome! Many thanks to the students and advisors at Gustavus for their timely and generous volunteer assistance.

2. Time and space is running out to sign up for the 2006 Symposium on Small Towns and Rural Summit, “Working Better Together for the Common Good,” set for June 6 & 7 in Morris. Deadline to register is May 31. We’ve locked in a great Legislative Panel for June 7, and loads of workshops and great food on June 6 & 7 for just $60 both days, or $35 each day. Sign up at http://www.minnesotaruralpartners.org/2006summit/index.htm

3. Don’t forget the Minnesota Inventors Congress and their 49th annual Invention Expo -- set for June 9 – 11 in Redwood Falls. Way before everyone else jumped on the entrepreneurship and innovation bandwagon and WAY before reality TV got a hold of the concept, the good folks in Redwood were hosting ideas and idea-makers from around the state and the country. Find out more at http://www.inventhelper.org or contact Deb Hess at 507-627-2344 or hess@inventhelper.org

4. The Center for Rural Planning will be presenting two important and affordable community workshops next month. The Community Decision Making and Conflict Resolution Workshops are designed for hands on experiences for citizens, planning commission members, town board supervisors, county commissioners, and other decision makers to help them run efficient meetings, conduct effective and civil community conversations, and resolve conflicts. Presenters at this workshop include: Dr. Maria Cuzzo, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Wisconsin –Superior and a Mediator; Sue Lawson, Planning Director, Center for Rural Planning.

*Dates and Locations*

June 24, 2006, 9:00AM - 3:30PM Cook County Community Center,
Grand Marais, MN
July 15, 2006, 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM Silver Bay Recreation
Center, Silver Bay, MN

The Comprehensive Plans and Zoning Ordinance Workshops are designed for hands on experiences for citizens, planning commission members, town board supervisors, county commissioners, and other decision makers to better understand the role of comprehensive plans, zoning ordinances, and tools to create the communities that people desire. Presenters at this workshop include: Sue Lawson, Planning Director; Center For Rural Planning Board Members Terry Frank and Dave Miller.

*Dates and Locations:
*June 17, 2006, 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM Silver Bay Recreation
Center, Silver Bay, MN
July 8, 2006, 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM Lakewood Town Hall, 3110
Strand RD, Duluth, MN

Download a Registration Form at www.centerforruralplanning.org

The workshops are available at a minimal charge of $10, which includes lunch. Pre-registration is required and fees must be received prior to the workshop date. Each person attending will get a copy of the Center’s Community Planning Handbook.

5. Minnesota e-Health Summit: Building Momentum - June 28-29, 2006 -- provides you a unique opportunity to learn firsthand from the national and state leaders about the current progress and future directions for e-Health in Minnesota. The efforts support the Minnesota e-Health charge to empower consumers, connect clinicians, and protect communities. More information and registration at http://www.health.state.mn.us/e-health/summit/summit2006.htm

6. There is a new resource for people transitioning from the job market to the entrepreneurial life. Camp Jumpstart! -- now in its third session and convenes at the Archer House in Northfield, MN, June 30-July 2, 2006. Camp Jumpstart! is a sanctuary where budding entrepreneurs can give themselves ample time to give life to their dreams and let all their wild ideas run free. The cost to attend is $577; get more info: www.jumpstartentrepreneur.com

GRANTS OPPORTUNITIES

1. In the last Rural Round-up we posted an item on a grant with a web link that might have left some of you wondering, “where’s the meat?” Here’s the original announcement and the specific link: The Linking Economic Development and Child Care Technical Assistance Project is accepting grant proposals for innovative strategies that link economic development and child care. Funds are available in two categories: (1) small venture grants (in the range of $5,000) to help plan or initiate new ideas, policies or programs that apply economic development strategies

to the early care and education industry; and, (2) larger implementation grants, for organizations that are ready to move beyond the planning stage and begin to implement a new idea. The deadline is June 1. For additional information, visit http://www.earlychildhoodfinance.org/Meetings&Calls/VentureGrantRFP2006.doc

2. Youth Service America and Lionsgate have announced the "Bee" the Change Community Service Grant for literacy. One young person between the ages of 5 and 25 will be awarded a $1,000 grant to implement a sustainable community service project that increases literacy in his or her community and uses the movie “Akeelah and the Bee” as inspiration. The deadline is June 9. For additional information, visit http://www.ysa.org/awards/award_grant.cfm#nowavailable.

3. The National Vacant Properties Campaign and the Fannie Mae Foundation Maxwell Awards of Excellence awards will recognize outstanding work of nonprofit organizations in developing affordable housing while reclaiming vacant properties. The Foundation will award up to four grants of $50,000 each to projects showcasing excellence in the reclamation of vacant and abandoned properties in the production of affordable housing. The deadline is June 30. For more information, visit http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/grants/maxwell_awards.shtml.

4. The Blandin Foundation’s Get Broadband is a community-based program dedicated to increasing the use of broadband-based technologies to help your community, its residents and its institutions be more productive, efficient and economically competitive. The next deadline for the Get Broadband grant round is August 18, 2006. Up to $15,000 is available in matching funds. For more information and to sign up for the free Get Broadband newsletter, go to http://www.blandinfoundation.org/bsite/index.htm.

You can sign up for a pre-application workshop, which is an excellent way to introduce the broadband discussion and economic development connections to your community, conducted by Bill Coleman of Community Technology Advisors Corp. You can contact Bill at broadband@blandinfoundation.org or 651-426-7741 with any questions regarding the application process or pre-application workshops.

On a related note, please save October 18 & 19 this fall for the annual Get Broadband conference, set in Alexandria at the Arrowwood Resort.

JOB LISTINGS

County Extension Educator – Leadership and Civic Engagement, ¾ Time Position funded by Hennepin County. Application Review begins on June 15, 2006; the position will remain open until filled. http://www.extension.umn.edu/units/director/hr/positions.html

Request for Proposal for consultant(s) to serve as project manager for the planned Community Assessment, priority setting and visioning work of United Way of Southwest Minnesota. The deadline for responding is June 19, 2006. Questions should be addressed to Ruth Ascher, United Way of Southwest Minnesota, 507-929-2273 or unitedwaylc@iw.net.

Northern Plains Sustainable Agricultural Society is hiring an Administrative Director and a Stewardship Fund Director. Applications accepted until July 15, 2006. Contact Sharon Clancy, north1@drtel.net , PO Box 194, 100 1st Ave. SW, LaMoure, ND 58458

____________________________________________________

EDITORS' NOTES: We’ll be taking a slight siesta in June. Deadline for the July newsletter is July 7. If you have news, announcements, job listings, etc., please send them to jleonard@minnesotaruralpartners.org. We also accept paid advertisements and sponsorships to support the creation of the newsletter. Minnesota Rural Partners is a non-profit organization – we depend on YOUR investment in us for our existence.

Minnesota Rural Partners is a nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible.

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